It’s been doing the rounds in the fashion world, and has popped up now and again as a theme in film and fictional ideas. The black goo or liquid. I’ll note some of the references that have come together for this idea.

X-files – the film, and was where I first noted its use all those years ago. When the ancient site was discovered and the kid fell down into the hole, his eyes then being shown as glazed over by black liquid after he was infected by it.

Prometheus – a black liquid that had something living in it, or was entirely an organism, it’s not specified what exactly it is. Just theorised that it was part of our origin, or of the other beings shown in that film.

Graphene – if you have seen the videos of how it moves, then you will notice it has the appearance of a black liquid, or slightly thicker like putty almost.

Black oil photography – this is where it seems to have become mainstream. With all sorts of ‘celebrities’ and known faces having it used for effect. It does look odd, choosing to have what is an oil spill as part of something expected to be nice to the eye. It’s art darling, you know. But there are those who wonder about it not being about just art, and it isn’t just a cool gimmick to entice people to buy their magazine, or concept. That there is something quite a bit darker to it.

For a slightly more tongue in cheek one, I think of one of the Creep Show episodes from back in the day, of a black slick in water (which really just looked like binbags), which stalked and ate a bunch of teenagers who were trying to enjoy a day on the lake.

Venom – the films where it appears a black gooey substance is how the force manifests to take form.

To me I always just thought it was an odd look, to go for a black oil slick, or tar look as part of an aesthetic, making it look slimy and dirty, rather than pleasing. Although I guess that’s a matter of opinion, some may find the images attractive, rather than disturbing or bland. And all of the other representations of it mentioned above that fall into the ‘fictional’ realm, do not have good outcomes, so I can see why it’s of concern to some people. And as we know, these are some strange times upon us, where we often get shown in advance what creepy and disturbing things they would like people thinking about and seeing just like in any Show and Tell routine. Stay sharp people, looks like the creepy isn’t slowing down any time yet…

(c) MKW Publishing