The suicide of a schoolgirl who had apparently become obsessed with ‘emo’ culture has, once again, drawn attention to the movement and its teen followers. Recording a verdict of suicide after Hannah Bond, 13, had hanged herself, the coroner noted that she had “become an aficionado of the emo fad.”
Emo has deep and spreading roots, which few who are close to it regard with much alarm. What began as narrowly defined musical genre more than two decades ago has since broadened into an attitude, a lifestyle and a fashion statement that has found a spiritual home on the internet.
The movement sprang from Washington DC’s energetic mid-Eighties punk scene, picking up its name when the music was described, perhaps dismissively, as ‘emotional’ or ‘emotive’. After falling in and out of favour over the next decade or so, the bands and their followers migrated onto the web, where lyrical veneration of pain, loneliness and depression combined with a largely teenage fan base to create an extensive online culture.
View: The Full Article @ Times Online
Emo has deep and spreading roots, which few who are close to it regard with much alarm. What began as narrowly defined musical genre more than two decades ago has since broadened into an attitude, a lifestyle and a fashion statement that has found a spiritual home on the internet.
The movement sprang from Washington DC’s energetic mid-Eighties punk scene, picking up its name when the music was described, perhaps dismissively, as ‘emotional’ or ‘emotive’. After falling in and out of favour over the next decade or so, the bands and their followers migrated onto the web, where lyrical veneration of pain, loneliness and depression combined with a largely teenage fan base to create an extensive online culture.
View: The Full Article @ Times Online
Both.
Both.
Lmao +1
True. I used to listen to them, but they've got stale now.
BTW, their actual genre is Alternative. I should have mentioned that in my OP.
...Oh, you're serious...
Have you listened to the lyrics?
LMAO...
BTW, their actual genre is Alternative. I should have mentioned that in my OP.
True, although most Emo's will agree that they're "alternative" themselves
The more coverage this is given, the more parents should question what their kids are feeling / how they are behaving.
Emo itself is not the problem - there are normally other issues that lead people to it (somewhere they feel less alone, can identify with others / express themselves etc).
It's very sad that this young girl chose the path she did but it is not the fault of the music / Emo scene - there must have been other, deeper issues.
The more coverage this is given, the more parents should question what their kids are feeling / how they are behaving.
Emo itself is not the problem - there are normally other issues that lead people to it (somewhere they feel less alone, can identify with others / express themselves etc).
It's very sad that this young girl chose the path she did but it is not the fault of the music / Emo scene - there must have been other, deeper issues.
100% agreed. More useful information would be the suicide rates within all teenage pop-cultures. People who aren't emo commit suicide all the time.
Thank you. One should not blame mental instability on the media unstable people consume. An obsessive personality may be fueled by media, but it is not created by it.
Absolutely. If someone surrounds themselves with music that elaborates "pain, loneliness and depression" then it's only going to magnify those feelings. I think all teens go through this (I know I did) but not all teens drown in a culture emphasizing pain and loneliness.
I find it bitterly ironic that the Emo culture brings teens together in a sense of belonging when Emo is all about suffering and loneliness because that's all these kids really want at the core - to belong.
Absolutely. If someone surrounds themselves with music that elaborates "pain, loneliness and depression" then it's only going to magnify those feelings. I think all teens go through this (I know I did) but not all teens drown in a culture emphasizing pain and loneliness.
I find it bitterly ironic that the Emo culture brings teens together in a sense of belonging when Emo is all about suffering and loneliness because that's all these kids really want at the core - to belong.
I don't think there's anything wrong with these feelings or music that explores these feelings or even some of the fashion. But there's something definitely off with dressing in the same pre-made style as millions of other kids and listening to the same pre-marketed music as millions of other kids and thinking your feelings are authentic. If anything is wrong with fashion this decade, thats it, everyone is trying to dress in a way thats individual and authentic, and they all end up looking the same, because they buy their look from the same catalogues.
As for emo kids who have emotional problems, I would guess for some people this culture distorts their identity.
"That use can have serious consequences, according to the report. Teenagers who smoke marijuana to self-medicate can compound their depression, the report said.'
"Depressed teens are more than twice as likely as others to abuse or become dependent on marijuana, it said. And teenagers who use marijuana more than at least once a month are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than teenagers who do not use the drug, it said."
( http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/09/depre...uana/index.html )
You are just agreeing with the article.
I find it bitterly ironic that the Emo culture brings teens together in a sense of belonging when Emo is all about suffering and loneliness because that's all these kids really want at the core - to belong.
No, emo is not about "pain, loneliness and depression", not at all. Other teenage groups would spend their time wasted talking about boobies, farts, and sex, however emo groups mature by discussing the topics that are emotion driven.
Just the same, emo music is not just about the negative emotions that you believe, but rather all. For example the band "Dashboard Confessional", they are tagged emo, even though their music is about love and happiness.
Again, the focus and misconception about emos being depressed is well stated by the article here "In any case, most psychologists suggest that expressing feelings of angst or depression is healthier than bottling them up.". It is just because the emo culture are not not ashamed to express and discuss their emotions, whereas the other "boobies and farts" cultures are (dare I say due to their lack of maturity, talking about your emotions is gay, just like how girls have cuties, grow up).
As for emo kids who have emotional problems, I would guess for some people this culture distorts their identity.
Again, the emo culture, they dress differently, but so does all the non-emo cultures. Each culture dresses the same. When you head out clubbing, the emo clubs have a fashion sense, the slut clubs have their own, the older clubs their own, the rave clubs, the general clubs, etc etc.
I for one, prefer the "emo" clubs over the other clubs, as the other clubs, they judge you on what you wear (eg. dress standards for getting into a club, and etc. that guy is wearing bad clothes, he is uncool), however, the emo clubs judge you on who you are.
I for one, prefer the "emo" clubs over the other clubs, as the other clubs, they judge you on what you wear (eg. dress standards for getting into a club, and etc. that guy is wearing bad clothes, he is uncool), however, the emo clubs judge you on who you are.
I don't really care for any sub culture that all dresses the same. My impression though was that while they're all dressing the same, people in the emo culture think they all have their individual style, while really they're just buying into a pre-fashioned style and doing their own variation. There's also nothing bad about focusing on emotions and deeper topics, but when you do that because its a cool thing to do rather than just being honest then you become very pretentious about it.
Spending all your day talking about deep angst that you think is cool is not better than talking about "boobies and farts". Normal people have feelings but they don't fetishize them and often get over them. If you think emo clubs really judge you on who you are, I wonder what you think the emo reaction to a Republican would be.
Need more pictures!!
..however, while people thought Goth's were "sad" they were really more angsty in a more "I don't care what you think, I like spooky stuff" kinda way.
I thought I was the only one to use the term specimines when it comes to hot women :o
Edit:
Blaming the music these kids listen to is just passing the buck. I listen to Cannibal Corpse and you don't see me turning into a serial killer/rapist/or some combination of the two, just because I listen to Death Metal. People these days are too willing to just give up on their kids and give them some money to make them go away and stop bothering them. I always had strict rules and had to do this and that or else I got my self beaten up by my Dad. I didn't have the option to kill myself like these kids do, because I had simply to much stuff to do to have time to plan to kill myself.
Last edited by Oxuyoska on 10 May 2008 - 17:04
Just look at this hunky spunky cartoon! Beat dat ass! Don't take no sas!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Cgxmiq_j5Ew
Thanks to my daddy murdering mah ass as a kid, I'm as happy as can be to this day! Now I KNOW how to behave.
okay I'm sorry, that was kinda messed up.
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