Another video that I have a problem with:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri6ySOHoDfk
This video is taken from a live television news broadcast. The section comments on what the anchors report to be a new "fashion" amongst young people today. According to the news report, "Emos," or "Emotionals" are merely teenage kids who strive to achieve social acceptance by doing the apparently extreme and dangerous actions characteristic of the "Emo fashion." They purportedly cut themselves and attempt suicide in order to become more popular and advance up teenage social ladders.
There are two issues at hand here that both confuse and frustrate me. The first concerns the news agency's credibility and the qualifications of whoever was hired to do research for this episode. Without even knowing any of the genuine background knowledge regarding emo as a musical genre, a logical viewer should be able to pick out the suspiciously far-fetched statements highlighted in the news report. Let's face the facts: These reporters are telling us that kids are trying to kill themselves so that they can be of higher subsequent social status. Does that really make sense, even to a hormone-fueled adolescent?
Logic, of course, is only the first shot to be fired at this terribly misinformed news report. Plain facts show how incredibly far-off the reports are. The word "Emo" does not refer to a suicidal teenager. It is not the apt term for the social currency in the purported Internet quiz circles. It is not even a noun. If the news agency had gotten their facts right, they would have realized that "Emo," or "emotive hardcore," was a spinoff of the hardcore punk musical movement back in the 1980's.
My appreciation of and interest in the genre aside, I find it saddest how the news report seemed to jump to the conclusion that the "Emo fashion" is a menace that must be contained. Surely, if the news agency must warn parents about one thing, shouldn't it be the possibility of self-inflicted injuries themselves, instead of long hair and black clothing? Isn't it a bit late to have finally publicly announced that teenagers inflict pain on themselves and attempt suicide (for a wide variety of reasons)? Isn't it a bit presumptuous to automatically connect this damaging behavior (that has been around for centuries) to quirky fashion or Internet braggadocio, when common sense suggests that there are deeper, more serious causes of self-inflicted injuries?
It appears that the mass media has once again taken the path of least resistance. Obviously, threats are more easily publicized when they are easily seen. It's almost too convenient to red-flag typically angsty teenagers who happen to show off their ubiquitous angst by dressing differently and listening to depressing music. By ignoring how teenagers are typically unsettled anyway and that depressing music has existed for centuries, the media capitalizes on changing trends and misinformed parents by creating these myths. This isn't the first time it's happened. First it was Elvis, then flower power, then punk rock, then skateboarding, then video games, and now it's "Emo," whatever that means. A new myth is created with every passing generation so that adults can pin their kids' emotional turmoil on some sort of visible threat.
For the lack of a better conclusion, I don't see this trend ending anytime soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri6ySOHoDfk
This video is taken from a live television news broadcast. The section comments on what the anchors report to be a new "fashion" amongst young people today. According to the news report, "Emos," or "Emotionals" are merely teenage kids who strive to achieve social acceptance by doing the apparently extreme and dangerous actions characteristic of the "Emo fashion." They purportedly cut themselves and attempt suicide in order to become more popular and advance up teenage social ladders.
There are two issues at hand here that both confuse and frustrate me. The first concerns the news agency's credibility and the qualifications of whoever was hired to do research for this episode. Without even knowing any of the genuine background knowledge regarding emo as a musical genre, a logical viewer should be able to pick out the suspiciously far-fetched statements highlighted in the news report. Let's face the facts: These reporters are telling us that kids are trying to kill themselves so that they can be of higher subsequent social status. Does that really make sense, even to a hormone-fueled adolescent?
Logic, of course, is only the first shot to be fired at this terribly misinformed news report. Plain facts show how incredibly far-off the reports are. The word "Emo" does not refer to a suicidal teenager. It is not the apt term for the social currency in the purported Internet quiz circles. It is not even a noun. If the news agency had gotten their facts right, they would have realized that "Emo," or "emotive hardcore," was a spinoff of the hardcore punk musical movement back in the 1980's.
My appreciation of and interest in the genre aside, I find it saddest how the news report seemed to jump to the conclusion that the "Emo fashion" is a menace that must be contained. Surely, if the news agency must warn parents about one thing, shouldn't it be the possibility of self-inflicted injuries themselves, instead of long hair and black clothing? Isn't it a bit late to have finally publicly announced that teenagers inflict pain on themselves and attempt suicide (for a wide variety of reasons)? Isn't it a bit presumptuous to automatically connect this damaging behavior (that has been around for centuries) to quirky fashion or Internet braggadocio, when common sense suggests that there are deeper, more serious causes of self-inflicted injuries?
It appears that the mass media has once again taken the path of least resistance. Obviously, threats are more easily publicized when they are easily seen. It's almost too convenient to red-flag typically angsty teenagers who happen to show off their ubiquitous angst by dressing differently and listening to depressing music. By ignoring how teenagers are typically unsettled anyway and that depressing music has existed for centuries, the media capitalizes on changing trends and misinformed parents by creating these myths. This isn't the first time it's happened. First it was Elvis, then flower power, then punk rock, then skateboarding, then video games, and now it's "Emo," whatever that means. A new myth is created with every passing generation so that adults can pin their kids' emotional turmoil on some sort of visible threat.
For the lack of a better conclusion, I don't see this trend ending anytime soon.
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