Low-life

A low-life or lowlife is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community. Examples of people who are often called "lowlifes" are thieves, drug dealers, hustlers, freeloaders, scammers, gangsters, gangster girls, drug users, alcoholics, thugs, underage mothers, prostitutes and pimps.

Often, the term is used as an indication of disapproval of antisocial or destructive behaviors, usually bearing a connotation of contempt and derision. This usage of the word dates to 1911.

Repudiation

Upwardly mobile members of an ethnic group, committed to schooling, education and employment prospects, will often repudiate as lowlifes those who opt instead (willingly or unwillingly) for street or gang life.

Attraction

The lure of the low-life for those in established social strata has been a perennial feature of western history: it can be traced from the Neronian aristocrat described by Juvenal as only at home in stables and taverns - “you'll find him near a gangster, cheek by jowl, mingling with lascars, thieves and convicts on the run” - through the Elizabethan interest in cony-catching, up to William Burroughs' obsession with the hobo, bum, or urban outlaw, and through to the anti-heroes of Cyberpunk.

Lowlife (comics)

Lowlife is a semi-autobiographical comic book series written and drawn by Ed Brubaker, published by Slave Labor Graphics and later Caliber Comics. Collected editions were put out by Aeon Press and Black Eye Books.

Synopsis

The Comics Journal described the book as following the "frustration and cynicism of disenchanted slacker kids finding excitement in their uneventful lives."

Development

Lowlife was Brubaker's first professional work. The work is semi-autobiographical, based upon the lives of the author and his friends but "with the names changed."

Influences on later work

Brubaker cited his work here as an influence on later works: "I'm exploring the same themes in my Batman comics and my Catwoman comics that I was probably exploring in Lowlife: family relationships, personal relationships, people not being able to escape their past. . . .That's the stuff that interests me, and that's the stuff I write about."

Critical reaction

Lowlife was described by The Stranger as "Part fiction, part autobiography, the narratives hover between sincerity and parody, with moments of transcendence that lift it out of the realm of the ordinary comic book."

Theory of a Deadman discography

This is the discography of the Canadian rock band Theory of a Deadman. So far, they have released five albums and have had twenty-eight singles released.

Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian rock band from Delta, British Columbia signed to Roadrunner Records. The band also includes traits of other music styles, such as country, metal and more acoustic elements. The band's lead singer, Tyler Connolly, gave Nickelback's Chad Kroeger a demo tape of their music while at an after-show party. He liked it, so he gave the band a record deal under his label, 604 Records and Roadrunner Records.

Studio albums

Singles

Promotional Single

Other charted songs

Music videos

References