The goth look on Lisbeth Salander played by Rooney Mara for David Fincher’s “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and Noomi Rapace played Lisbeth for the Swedish version, is being questionable by some people. Some of you may ask, why the goth look? I can see why some people would feel uncomfortable with her look. I’ve seen plenty of real women that has a similar goth look.

Before Stieg Larrson created this Lisbeth character for the Millennium series, he had this weird and messed up vision in his head of what Pippi Longstocking would have looked when she’s a full grown adult. Pippi Longstocking was a very popular character for children’s books in Sweden. Pippi Longstocking was also pretty well  known in the U.S. too. Everything about Lisbeth is Pippi Longstocking inspired.

If you read the Millennium books, Lisbeth has the words, “V. Kulla” spray painted on the front door of her apartment. Where does “V. Kulla” came from? It’s the abbrievation of Villa Villekulla which is the name of Pippi’s house in the children’s books. Salander originally was born with red heair but she dyed it to black. Pippi had red hair too. Lisbeth’s face is very similar to Pippi as well.

In the books, Lisbeth is an expert researcher and a pro computer hacker. Before, Mikael Blomkvist met this woman in the books, he kept picturing her as a smart, rich, and beautiful lady. Nope. When he actually met her in the first novel, she turned out to be a scary looking goth girl instead. Lisbeth wasn’t rich, she had financial troubles and would do just about anything for money. That’s why she agreed to work for Mikael ’cause she was desperate for a job. While she can be a tough and difficult lady to get along with, there is a heartfelt and emotional part about her too. She can be a fun loving girl at times too.

I think the reason for the goth look is not only for the entertainment part of it, without it, people wouldn’t pay attention to the books. The Millennium series wouldn’t be popular without the goth look. They want people to be scared of her look at first, but when you actually get into the character, you’ll think to yourself, “Wow, she’s actually a great character”.

The reason for her tough girl attitude, is that she had a tough life growing up. Everybody treated her like garbage, she was raped, etc. As a 12 year old, Lisbeth, set her own father on fire, because he beat her mother that left her with permanent brain damage.

The goth look is so she can be a different and new person. The look is her way of moving on from her dark past. She wanted to move forward and not look back. She felt that she could be a better person with that look.

I really am looking forward to David Fincher’s version, and I hope he stays true to the novel, this time, and not leave anything out. I will be there to see this in theater. I still haven’t read the other two Millennium books, “The Girl Who Played With Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicks the Hornet’s Nest” but I’ll get to them soon. There are still other books I need to catch up on.

Kev