2:05PM Jess McGuire | As easy as it is to poke fun at the angsty youth of today, with their deep love of mascara and sweeping fringes, when what first looks like a standard case of the pubescent sooks actually ends in a suicide, it’s a tragic situation and there are no laughs to be had (unless you were born without a soul and are the type of person who lists kicking elderly cripples in your Facebook interests).
So believe me when I say I am not taking the piss out of
this terrible story of a thirteen year old girl who took her own life in the UK
A girl of 13 killed herself after becoming obsessed with a fashion which links death with glamour, an inquest heard. Hannah Bond hanged herself from her bunk bed with a tie after becoming an ‘Emo’.
Oh god, not again – are we really going to blame a hilariously rubbish genre of music for the death of another teenager? Is it not more likely that poor Hannah Bond was struggling with depression anyway, and the fact she wore too much eye makeup and listened to My Chemical Romance has absolutely nothing to do with her suicide? When a young sport star commits suicide, do the press go apeshit blaming the cult of Sherrin and a brutal culture which encourages phsyical aggression amongst teenage boys?
Sadly, this explanation of “emo” culture tacked onto the end of the Hannah Bond piece actually made me laugh. And then I felt awful. But
come on -
The Emo phenomenon began in the U.S. in the 1980s. It is a largely teenage trend and is characterised by depression, self-injury and suicide.
Followers wear tight jeans with studded belts and wristbands. Their hair is dyed black and worn in long fringes to obscure their faces.
Emo – from the word emotional – is a reference to the angst-filled lyrics and melancholy themes of the rock music central to the culture.
One of the foremost of these “suicide cult” bands is My Chemical Romance, from New Jersey. Their first single, Welcome to the Black Parade, from the album The Black Parade, was released in 2006 and became a huge hit, going to number one in Britain.
The concept album follows the story of a character called The Patient, who dies of cancer. The Black Parade is a nickname for the place where Emo fans believe they will go when they die.
I’m sorry. Repeat that?
THE BLACK PARADE IS A NICKNAME FOR THE PLACE WHERE EMO FANS BELIEVE THEY WILL GO WHEN THEY DIE.
Unbelievable. Has anyone ever heard of this musical Valhalla, where Panic! At The Disco and Simple Plan blares through speakers constantly and everyones parents finally
get them?
Lindsay Tanner is gonna have to write
another presentation on “emos”, I think.
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