Yet Another Teen Suicide

Serious article today, sorry.

I'd like you all to look here:

http://ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/emo_music_attacked_over_teen_suicide.html

Once again we see the media up in arms, stating that all these horrible influences are warping the precious children. We saw this with the Grand Theft Auto series, Marilyn Manson was (wrongly) blamed for Columbine, and various copycat-killings have been attributed to the influence of films, mostly those of the horror genre. (For example, the ban on Stanley Kubricks "A Clockwork Orange" although that was self imposed.)

However, the total lack of research by reporters into how these so called "emo" bands operate is concerning, an example of this can be found on the Daily Mail website:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=400953&in_page_id=1770

Anybody who sees "emo" as a dangerous cult may possibly need their head looking at. It seems that our scaremongering friends in the media are terrified of freedom of expression, and wish to shield children from things that they may enjoy, could make them think, and god-forbid, help them form an identity. This approach of subtle conformity is truly disgusting.

I would like to say to those who feel this way about "emo" to possibly do some more research on the subject. None of the "emo" fans I know would glorify self-harm, and the whole scene largely works as a way of helping those who may be upset, something which is very common amongst teenagers. Perhaps instead of jumping to conclusions and using examples such as the poor girl who tragically ended her life (as seen in the first link) the media should try asking around slightly more, talking to normal teenagers on the street, or even getting a comment from the bands themselves.

-Az

P.S. This whole post is dedicated to the memory of Hannah Bond, the aforementioned girl, and my thoughts go out to her parents at this time.

EDIT: One of my loyal readers pointed out the following to me:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1935735/Popular-schoolgirl-dies-in-%27emo-sucide-cult%27.html

Which is slightly less uninformed than The Daily Mail, but still pretty bad. One example can be found with speaking about “the black parade” - a place where “emos” believe they go after they die. Pardon me for actually knowing something about recent pop music, but "The Black Parade" is a concept album by the band "My Chemical Romance" and listening to it in no way glamourises death, especially in regards to suicide.

Emo is not a cult, it's simply a fashion trend. Still, despite the abhorrant error in reporting "The Black Parade" as some kind of afterlife, I give the Telegraph some grudging respect. "While most fans simply enjoy the music and dress, others take their fascination to a sinister level." The combination of emo and suicide is not a hugely common one. I pray that the media will not make people believe it to be so.