Should we be scared of emo? The Daily Mail says so. After the suicide
of the 13-year-old emo schoolgirl Hannah Bond, who hanged herself in her
bedroom in Essex last September, a series of headlines have screamed: “Why
no child is safe from the sinister cult of emo”, while accusing the American
emo band My Chemical Romance of encouraging suicide. Across Latin America
it’s even worse. Emo kids are subject to violent attacks, prejudice and
media abuse. This gloomy, gothic teenage rock cult, which began 20 years ago
in America, has never been so controversial.
Emo emerged in the late 1980s as a more expressive offshoot of the Washington
DC hardcore scene with bands such as Rites of Spring and Rain. The term
stands for “emotional hardcore” – punk with a broken heart. Since then the
term has become a catch-all, covering stadium emo acts, such as My Chemical
Romance, and the poppier end of the spectrum such as Fall Out Boy and Jimmy
Eat World. Its appeal is particularly strong for sensitive teenagers as it
has the kind of morbid appeal that in the early 1980s gave potency to bands
such as Joy Division and, later on, to the goth movement.
The look is a sort of glam gothic: heavy mascara, for boys and girls, floppy,
dark fringes with a chunk dyed a brighter colour, black skinny jeans. In
Britain and America, emo is mainly popular with middle-class teenagers. In
the rest of the world, as its popularity spreads, it’s a different story.
British fans of My Chemical Romance are outraged with The Daily Mail’s
coverage. Tomorrow, up to 300 of them will meet in Hyde Park and then
demonstrate outside the paper’s London offices, handing out leaflets. The
protest is being coordinated by 16-year-old Anni Smith via the very
professionally produced websites www.projektinterlude.com
and www.whatthefrank.co.uk.
“The Daily Mail say My Chemical Romance are a suicide cult. Which
isn’t true at all,” she says. “I don’t want to pass judgement on Hannah’s
death. But My Chemical Romance is an easy target.” She points to the
statement that the band issued on their website: “We have recently learnt of
the suicide and tragic loss of Hannah Bond,” it read. “My Chemical Romance
are and always have been vocally antiviolence and antisuicide. As a band, we
have always made it one of our missions through our actions to provide
comfort, support, and solace to our fans.”
The band’s UK record company, Warners, denies any connection with the protest.
But it certainly won’t hurt sales of their forthcoming CD/DVD, The
Black Parade is Dead, featuring footage from shows in New Jersey and
Mexico City.
Coincidentally, Mexico is one country that has recently experienced a wave of
antiemo attacks. The emo cult is growing throughout Latin America, and its
followers are regularly subjected to abuse, prejudice and even violent
attack. They are seen as homosexual, antisocial poseurs, weird and
fanatical. In March antiemo attacks swept through Mexico.
On March 7 a mob of 800 in the city of Queretaro went looking for emos to beat
up. On March 15, a silent march against the attacks, organised by a gay
rights group, was staged in the same city.
In Chile there are reports of skin-heads attacking emo kids. In São Paulo,
Brazil, emo teenagers report regular attacks, especially in the city’s
poorer Eastern suburbs. In Lima, Peru, a gang of anarchist punks recently
attacked emos, kidnapping one who was kicked and punched before he was
rescued.
For South American emos, the appeal is more about identity, means of
expression, and style. Especially for those in the continent’s enormous
urban sprawls, where the increasing economic boom means that families have
internet and cable television but where there are few outlets for
increasingly sophisticated teenage youth.
This is clear in the shabby, nondescript Galeria Brasil in Lima, situated on
the edge of the city’s drab, grimy, suburban sprawl. It’s one of Peru’s most
famous destinations for rock fans. But this grubby concrete mall, with its
CD and T-shirt shops, looks like a Hackney tower block. Teenagers idle out
their afternoons playing out-of-date video games for 25p an hour. Looking
around, it’s easy to see why a cult about teenage identity and isolation
might spread so quickly.
Jimmy Carrillo, a Peruvian TV reporter, profiled emos recently. “The emo
movement is very strong here in Lima,” he says. “It’s a new movement. It’s
very colourful, weird, very estranged from other movements.” Emo is gaining
ground in poorer, transitional barrios such as Villa El Salvador and Los
Olivos, where people are open to the influence of American rock and MTV. But
the prejudice against the perceived homosexuality of emos runs deep. “This
is a very macho country. So homosexuality is taboo,” Carrillo says. Anarcho
punks particularly hate them. “They hate homosexuals. And they look at the
emos as people who stole ideas and music. It’s a double punch.”
Junior Medina, 20, is a singer in Lima’s hottest emo band Ediana. “We are
called gays, queers, pussies, faggots,” he says. “The lyrics are one cause,
because they are romantic, about heartbreak.” Their followers are accused of
being poseurs. “Emos are more concerned about the way they look,” Medina
says, fiddling with his floppy fringe.
Yet Latin American emos are fighting back. In March Medina took part in a
studio debate for the Peruvian TV chat show Enemigos Intimos, in
which emos were heavily satirised. “That was fake,” he says. Realising some
of the other emo participants were imposters, he waited until 1am, and
filmed two of the vacant emo teenagers – actually channel employees –
leaving work. Medina posted the video on YouTube. The national newspaper El
Comercio ran an exposé and the show’s producers were forced to
apologise.
“Emo isn’t emotional, it’s just queer,” is a popular saying among fashionable
youth in Brazil’s most style-conscious city, São Paulo. When the cult hit
the city in 2006, homemade “comedy” videos appeared on YouTube showing how
to lynch an emo.
The assumption among many Brazilians is that emos are gay, unsociable, and
self-centred – none of which goes down well in this conservative, sociable
country. Victor Sousa, 20, is a former emo and he encountered plenty of
prejudice, he says. “The homosexual prejudice is unfair. People say that,
but it isn’t true for everyone.”
Typical of emo’s critics is Ligia Terceira, 30, a salesperson in Shopping
Tatuapé, a vast, hectic mall in Zona Leste, São Paulo, where many emos
gather and where many are attacked. “Many of them look like homosexuals,” he
says. “It seems they don’t like people. They exclude themselves from
society. They have closed minds; they’re radical and fanatical.”
Being gay is less of a problem in São Paulo’s cosmopolitan centre, which
recently staged its giant gay parade. In the suburbs, it is. In Brazil, as
in much of Latin America, emo provides an ambivalent zone where gay or
straight but sensitive teenagers can go without being judged.
In Brazil things are moving fast. A new, upmarket emo cult called From UK is
now popular with teenage girls. It has a more glamorous look, also called
“emo de luxo”. From UK adopts British gothic teenage styles – labels such as
Miss Kitty, white Converse, lots of eyeliner. It’s hugely popular on MySpace
and orkut – the Brazilian networking site – where you need a “nick” (or
nickname) and the right look to be accepted.
On a late Saturday afternoon in Buenos Aires, the sun is fading on the leafy
Praca Rodriguez Peña, but the square is buzzing with teenage wildlife.
Crowds of black-clad alternative youths gather to hang out, smoke and glower
at each other. One gangly teenager has a piece of paper pinned to his back
that reads: “Give me a hug”. To the outsider, these teenagers look like one
tribe, with their floppy fringes and baggy black clothes. But these
Argentine tribes – gothics, “alternativos”, punks – have just one thing in
common: they don’t like emos.
“Everybody has problems,” sniffs one gothic youth with a ring through the
middle of his nostrils, a black shirt, and black painted eyes. “If you can
face your problems, you’re a man. If you can’t, you’re a marecón
[gay].”
We eventually find some teenagers prepared to admit that they are emos.
Emanuel Alvarez, 17, skinny and sensitive-looking, is from the rough
neighbourhood of La Matanza. “There’s no one like me who lives there,” he
says. He gestures around the square. “Here, we know we will find people like
us. That’s why we come.” His friend Maria Belen Spelanz, 17, shows off her
best emo pout. “Some emos believe that when they die they go to a place
called the Black Parade, a place like purgatory,” she says. “But the ones
that cut themselves are not emos. It’s a cry for attention.”
Which, despite what The Daily Mail would have us believe, is what emo
is really about. The suicide of Hannah Bond is an isolated tragedy. And the
media has always sought to sensationalise the darker side of rock music,
from “Satanist” heavy metal to Joy Division.
In our evermore interconnected global village teenagers have increasing
problems with isolation and alienation, but thanks to the internet they come
together to talk about it and, yes, dramatise it. Emo is not the cause, it’s
just a symptom.
And for many it’s just a means of expression, another teenage pose.
“It has to do with the dress and the fashion,” Maria insists, tossing her
hair. “We like the music because it expresses what we are feeling,” adds her
friend. “But in Argentina, the emo thing is more aesthetic. We don’t believe
in the Black Parade.”
In Britain, Anni Smith agrees. “It’s a beautiful story. But I don’t believe
I’m going to go to the Black Parade when I die, I can say that for sure.”
i kknow what its like to be hated just because im an emo.but it is the same as gay people who are not accepted.we are all humans ,we are all not the same but we all have feelings!! so why is being an emo such a crime??
elisha, crawley, england
Im emo and i still enjoy life all emo stands for is emotional and its a way to show your individuality i agree with Ryan from Greensburg the predjuduce is disgusting
Daniel , Grimsby,
The PREJUDICE here is disgusting. I am EMO AND I LOVE LIFE. I enjoy each and every day. This is simply the style I choose and the music I like. Yes there is a wide spectrum in any group, but do not judge me. Why are people prejudice-what is wrong with them?
Ryan, Greensburg,
i am emo and think that is disrepectful that they treat us like as if whe were difrent from them we are all humans we just belife in a difrent way of life emo is not a culture or a religion i think it a way to escape from are problems emos are just teenagers who are crying in pain
angel, san fransico,
Well i live in São Paulo and i consider myelf Alternative and its ridculous what we, different people [not just emos] have been facing in here..People do call you faggot or queer everywhere you go and theres a lot of repression and sometimes organized attacks simply to hurt whos different!
Erik Steves, São Paulo, Brazil
well im from italy and the discrimination against emos is much worse than in latin america. becas over here it is overwhelmingly orthidox catholic and they call us many things like sds,es which stands for suicidal damed satanist
lusanco, milan, northern,italy
i dont think my chemical romance have anything to do with these scuicides
i class myselve as emo but i dont selfharm or want to kill myself
emo is not a cult and i hate it how the newspapers only show the scuicides of emo what about other people adults and charvs its wrong and i dont agree with it
stacey shoker, newcastle upon tyne, england
I'm half south American and know all about the emo phase there.. its not as extreme as the journalist makes out. Yes they dress like it but their state of mind is DEFINITLEY not the same.
But it just had to be the Daily Mail.
Might go and check the protest out as a break from exams!
Jade, London, England
40 something New Romantic= David Brent!
Ricky Gervais was in a new romantic band in the 80's.
Diane, London,
It's only kids being kids. They thought punks were gonna cause the ruination and destruction of society, if I remember...
DM headline "The Filth and the Fury"
Anything they don't understand...
Jack, Sth Harrow,
reason, not just to look good and fit this emo stereotype.
Millie, Manchester, England
It's articles like this that brain wash the ignorant into dehumanising and vilify people like myself who enjoy alturnative culture, to what consequences? Alienation and introspective behavior? The very traites people complain about, when you point a finger you have four point right back at you.
Dawn, London, UK
whats happend to the indie rockers lately? they not been seen out in the streets and i can't find any
are indie rockers the anti-emo?
paul, hartlepool, england
I cannot remember her name, but a few months ago there was the tragic story of a woman who was killed simply because she was a goth. Though the problem is no where near as bad as in South America, there is still alot of abuse and hatred directed at emos...stuff i've experienced first hand.
Howard, Sevenoaks,
Had the same old thing in the 1980s with depressed goths at my school. It didn't start in the USA, as many original gothic bands were British and the USA still thinks its cool. I bet they will be saying Punk is new and original next.
Anna, Wiltshire, UK
"The Black Parade" is the place where people who listen to emo music go to when they die? does that mean "Club Tropicana" is where Wham fans go?! let's not make this more than it is, emo is a fashion trend and a type of music, not a religious belief!
Michael, Ballymoney, Northern Ireland
when i was in high school it was greebo's goth's skaters etc these are terms for something people identify with and something in which they connect to other people, surely the chav-yob culture is the one that should be tackled they are the ones who are actually detrimental to society!
andy, plymouth,
Jeez, MCR are not emo.
Nor can you be 'emo' - it's a genre of music.
Andrew, Ayr, Scotland
I've often been referred to as emo, and I don't really like MCR that much. Emo has become something of a catch-all term for anyone who isn't a chav or a scal, In Liverpool at least. Also, emos? Depressed? Ha. I know loads of "emos" and they are definitely the happiest people I've ever met.
Alex, Liverpool, UK
While all of this is 'interesting' MCR has never gone out and said they were an 'emo' ban, far from it... cause they are NOT an emo band. But hey, it's tough to stop a rolling train. MCR have a lot of emo fans, and that's great - as anyone knows, emo kids are cool, kind, and loyal. MCR rock!
Andy, Edmonton, Canada
im an emo, but unluckly im ill so i can not do the march. But every 1 have got the wrong picture of emoz, and it out of order that every one is picking on us emoz. I have loads of friendz that r not emo and they dont mind me so dont get the wrong picture of us. ok? just please leve us alone.
annya, kent,
Emos are just well-behaved, sensitive kids - personally I've never had any trouble from them, unlike chavs and sloanes. Why doesn't the Mail demonise the people who attack emo, for a change? Or how about blaming Hannah Bond's parents or school for failing to prevent her suicide?
Helen, Exeter, UK
What's that, Times? Kids sometimes try and be different and provocative and are influenced by music and fashion? Adults and kids sometimes don't understand eachother? Newsflash! *irony*
Claire, Plymouth,
I encountered a vast array of 'emo' styled teenagers at an event over the weekend, most of them carrying 'free hugs' banners! They couldnt have been further from the Daily Mails depiction and a far more positive bunch than the usual anti-social misfits I see hanging around off licences.
Colin , London,
Teenagers protesting against an article in The Daily Mail - how quaintly British and reassuring!
Shirley, London,
I am extremely annoyed by and angry by this story. As sharkey said, the established alternative cultures have been completely ignored in this story and therefore the public only know what the emos think. As for the rest of us, I can safely say we couldn't care less about the emo culture.
It's a fad.
Sam watkins, Portsmouth, England
Well if the Daily Mail says its true, it must be!! LOL! Hardly a rag known for its balanced journalism is it!?
GLS, Liverpool,
Emos are harmless. Affected poseurs, vacuous fashionistas - yes. They're kids! They're supposed to be all those things!
Emos are mostly placid and non-violent - don't wanna mess up their hair assaulting you, do they?
They'll all sell out and become conformists eventually, don't worry.
Sean MacDhai, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
I reckon the Emo kids would probably be more likely to commit suicide if subjected to "Daily Mail Music", probably induced by the stultifying boredom of having to listen to Michael Bolton, Sealion Dion, Phil Collins & Simply Red.........!!
Simon, Tunbridge Wells, England
Society needs to stop blaming music, tv, movies, video games etc. for the ills of our young. Honestly, it is sad what happened to that young lady, and there are millions more our there just like her. We need to focus on helping not hating people who are different then us.
Matt, Cleveland, OH, USA
Emo? That fad passed by a couple years ago. Get with the times!
William, Seattle, USA
This is abserd! Can't people see that the emo's are the victims here? You all think your so high and mighty trying to stamp out steryotyping but in doing that your taking a massive group of people and sticking a collective label on their foreheads! What you fail to see is they're not all the same!
Katherine, Stafford, England
Not so much dangerous as another sad sign of how lost so many youth are. Modern society's radical individualism has left them high and dry. They need something outside of themselves to believe in, not something that encourages them to be even more introspective and consumerist.
D.L. Anderson, Crossett, AR/U.S.A.
Finally! Someone is standing up for emos! Its unfair that they are victimised when these people clearly have no idea what theyre talking about; did the mail even do ANY research? Anyway; the only difference between emo and indie etc. is that indie wear brighter colours!
Fred, Chichester, England
it's not a cult, its just another bunch of people with the impression that their lives are "so hard" - but as you say, they're mostly middle class.
Tom, 18
Tom, reading,
Readers have gotten used to the immigrant bashing, so why not pick another group and start afresh?
Howard, Manchester,
Glad to hear that the South Americans are taking up the fight. EMO is a dangerous cult which needs to be crushed - like any other movement encouraging teen individuality. If they bring back army cadets and national service, none of this would happen.
Tom Leeburn, London, Great Britain
being a music fan in his mid-40s and curious as to what all the fuss was about I bought a copy of MCR`s "Black Parade". Imagine my surprise then when it turned out to be nothing more sinister than recycled Queen and the Electric bloody Light Orchestra with a das of the Smashing Pumpkins. This is it?
Martin Perfect, Lausanne, Switzerland
Emo kids are like most teens, they want attention, they want to be different and they want to belong. The emo scene is trendy, the music is good (I prefer metal personally) and anyone can be in the scene. They feel different, but accepted. It's far from being dangerous. It's a normal part of life.
Alex, Colchester,
I agree with Lauren Dod completely. MCR cannot be blamed for it, they made a statement and said the theme of their new album The Black Parade was hope and courage. Not 'you should all kill yourselves coz we said so'. The Daily Mail is the worst n/p in Britain that claims things to get on the BBCNews
Alice, WGC, England
Wasnt the same sort of stuff said about rockers, mods, punk, skinheads, ravers etc etc etc ad nauseam !!
Typical adult reaction to a misunderstood teenage subculture...
At least they arent shooting and stabbing each other eh hmmm hmmm
Swilly, london, UK
What's the only thing sillier than a goth/emo with a suntan?
One in flipflops
;)
Mat, Brighton,
emus? Have I missed something?
Eric Skelton, Cardiff, Wales
I'd like to stand up in solidarity with the emo kids, even though I'm neither a kid nor emo. They seem like good people to me, and don't deserve to be hassled just for failing to fit some procrustean ideal of "normal".
Julian Morrison, Reading, UK
It's strange that no-one seems to want to canvass the opinions of the established 'alternative' cultures - Rockers/Metallers, Punks and Goths - on our views on the emo culture.
If you're interested, we don't particularly care for it, but character limit on here prevents me from saying why.
Sharky, Liverpool,
I think they are okay its much better than goths as in my opinion emo's have much better dress sense! I am not emo at all but like my chemical romance and fall out boy as they are great tunes for the gym!
these kids dont intimidate old people and to me seem a nice bunch lets let them be.
Ben, london,
I thought emos were the new goths - them music is the same... any way belive it or not most kids grow out of it ...
we dont see to many 40 something new romantics do we
katy, London,
It sounds like some angst ridden Teenagers beleive themselves to be too good for this world. Like any 'Cultish Thing', gullible and daft people will 'Follow Fashion' even if hanging onself is deemed as the 'Ultimate Fashion Statement' like unmarried Teen Mums with their pregnant bellies on show!
B Clark, Chelmsford, England
Teens who commit suicide or murder do it because they're mentally unstable, not because some band glorifies it. Stop pointing the finger at whatever "odd" teen subculture that happens to be popular at the moment. Emo didn't kill Hannah Bond, just as Goth didn't kill students at Columbine.
Dana, Boston, USA
here,there are LOADS of people dressed as emo.i dont consider them as emo,though.half of them are posers.it started w/ something real, something we teenagers undergo.then it became a fad.maybe because of its stark honesty.fashion's just a part of it.it's an expression.sadly,now it's about who's cool
danielle, manila, philippines
An interesting article - thank you. My youngest daughter is a bit into emo, though God forbid she should confine herself to only black skinny jeans. Her eldest sister refers to her and her boyfriend as 'emo and emo-er'! They are a happy, thoughtful pair but are often threatened and insulted by neds.
Chowbelanna, Perth, Scotland
I wish I was young, skinny and fashionable, like the EMOs. I'm now a fat old bloke in a suit working in an office. That said, I had my fair share of angst listening to the Smiths and Joy Division in my time. If I was 21 now I'd be doing everything in my power to annoy the Daily Mail.
Tom, London, UK
Surely not the Mail telling us we should be scared of something!?
ted, Brighton,
Same story
Different generation
It shall pass just like;
Teddy boys
Hippies
Punks
Metal heads
Ravers
Why do all these "sensitive individuals" look the same ?
steven kelly, swindon, uk
Sorry you lost me on 'sinenrs' (sic)!
Tom Wolfe, Croydon,
Emo is just goth for a new era. There is nothing wrong with good old-fashioned teenaged angst. Leave them to it - at least they have fashioned sense and emotional awareness.
The chavs are far more antisocial.
Nessa, Poole, Dorset
One of my colleagues is an emo. Chirpy guy with his hair over one eye, who wears skinny jeans that don't suit him - his legs are too short. It seems to be more of a look than an attitude, really.
M.R., Stockport,
Hang on. I'm not an emo, but I'm also not an idiot, so I feel I should explain something. The Black Parade is not a place emos think they go when they die. It's a phrase used in one of MCR's albums as a metaphor for death. That's it. It's not a cult, just a fashion statement. Textbook moral panic.
Dan, Cardiff, Wales
This is quite simply farcical.
Just because Rod is not here to defend Emo, it should not allow such abuse.
I think we all started to get annoyed with his antics towards the end.
However, he remains a favourite amongst Emo kids.
Craig Wight, Manchester, England
It's ironic really, because I can't think of anything more likely to drive me to suicide than reading the Daily Mail.
Laurence Davison, Sydney, Australia
An interesting article; I had a friend in school who was an emo, and I have to say, contrary to those stereotypes, he was definitely not gay, not suicidal and loved emo-ness just because he enjoyed the music and fashion. Sure, there are extremists, but like everything, they are a minority.
Nick, London,
i think it's sick that my chemical romance r being blamed for her death, through their music they have helped me overcome problems in my life! Also stereotyping people by the way they look encourages bullyin and can lead to sucide, newspapers should think about that! i love mcr they can't be blamed
lauren dod, Welwyn Garden City, england
Is the author the same Dom Phillips that was the editor of Mixmag back in 1993, say around the time kids that were in to house music were being demonised by the media?
Manoj, Tokyo, Japan
hallelujah!
thank you, the times, for finally showing that we're not all a bunch of suicidal sociopaths
a proud emo, Bolton,
the distance between myth and science sometimes is just one foot, for life, the wonderful and meaningless is not the obvious, you can listen to it, you can play for it, anyway, you need think it yourself, much more deeply, not just crushing...
Alec, Beijing, P.R.China
Perhaps everyone should unite against those horrendous people who thinks it's alright to kill and maim a person for simply dressing differently, regardless of whether or not it's just another teenage fad. It just appals me how the media keeps vindicating the way these children and young are treated.
lolita , riga , latvia