More media lies about goths and emos

A newspaper article insults a goth teen just for liking his friends!!

You silly Lotto!

Dec 9 2007 by Nathan Bevan, Wales On Sunday

NOW for a new weekly section called Well, Bloody Give It Back Then...

First recipient of the WBGIBT Award is £8.4m Lotto winner Jenny Southall from Newport.

Or, more precisely, it’s her teenage son Jamie who I’m naming and shaming for refusing to move from their pokey council house a mile away. Apparently, the young goth doesn’t want to leave his friends behind – besides, he’s probably only recently finished painting his entire bedroom black and has no doubt just perfected infusing his sheets with the rancid stench of fetid teenager.

Jamie, with that much dosh you can buy more friends, better looking ones, ones who don’t cover their faces with Mother’s Pride while listening to Fields Of The Nephilim records.

Last time I looked Britain was a free country people can wear as much or as little makeup or the clothes they want. If you don't like that well then move to Iran or another country where teenagers can be arrested for dressing in the wrong way or listening to the wrong kind of music.

In an article on the remake of the classic St Trinians fifties films is par for the course for the Daily Mail. Unless the film does portray emos as self-harming goths which I certainly hope it doesn't.

Meet the tribes of St Trinian's | the Daily Mail

6th December 2007

Modern girls: (left to right) Trustafarian (Juno Temple), Chav (Kathryn Drysdale), Geek (Lily Cole), The Emo (Paloma Faith), Posh Totty (Tamsin Egerton. Click ENLARGE to see the full profiles

There is a geek with granny glasses and knee-length skirt who is such a computer whiz she can mastermind a multi-million-pound art theft.

There's a chav Essex girl and a freakish creature with pink and black hair who is so emotional that her eyeliner is constantly running down her face.

"The actresses chosen to play the St Trinian's girls needed to be uncompromising, upfront, genuine, and most importantly independent minded, and this is exactly what we got," says director Oliver Parker...

"Girls at modern schools today are divided into gangs and cliques. By visiting a number we were able to plug into the mindset of today's girls and get a sense of which bands they were talking about, what cliques they had and what slang they were using."

"We went round to lots of schools to do our research including posh public schools and comprehensives,' adds co director Barnaby Thompson.

"After talking to the girls for ten minutes, what was interesting was that they all talked about the same things. So we have Chavs, Emos [emotionals - self-harming teenage Goths], Trustafarians, Geeks and Posh Totty in this film.

But hey this is the Daily Mail which printed one of the most inaccurate and stupid articles ever written on emo (and there is great competition for that particular award) in August 2006. Check out:

EMO cult warning for parents | the Daily Mail

Oh yes watch out for those fearsome emos...

The Emos - short for Emotional - regard themselves as a cool, young sub-set of the Goths.

Although the look is similar, the point of distinction, frightening for schools and parents, is a celebration of self harm.

Emos exchange competitive messages on their teenage websites about the scars on their wrists and how best to display them. Girls' secondary schools have for some time been concerned about the increase in self harm.

One governor of a famous boarding school told me that it was as serious a problem as binge drinking, but rarely discussed for fear of encouraging more girls to do it.

Although it is invariably described as a 'secret shame', there is actually a streak of exhibitionism about it.

The internet has many sites dedicated to Emo fashion (dyed black hair brushed over your face, layering, black, black, black), Emo bands (Green Day, My Chemical Romance), Emo conversation (sighing, wailing, poetry).

Kerrang responded by pointing out the Daily Mail knew nothing about Emo. Anyone with a passing interest in youth culture could see the article was so stupid it was amazing. Emos=goths makes no sense what so ever as for the bands it lists as being emo well.

The interesting thing about the film is that it clearly is based on the real tribalistic divisions in schools which do result in conflict. Interestingly a recent initiative in Somerset deals with the same themes:

Kids teach adults a lesson
Weston & Somerset Mercury, UK - 5 Dec 2007

YOUNGSTERS dressed up as 'chavs' and 'emos' to help members of Nailsea's older generation understand more about youth culture.

Three pupils from Nailsea School, in Mizzymead Road, were invited to a Neighbourhood Watch meeting to try to improve relationships between the two generations.

Scott Davie, Libbi Cooper and James Daley donned drainpipe jeans, tracksuits and hoodies as they explained what members of different culture groups liked wearing and what their interests were.

The meeting was part of an initiative by Nailsea School and the Neighbourhood Watch group to try to breakdown barriers and stereotypes between the younger and older generations.

Nailsea School teacher, Dilly Taylor, said: "We are looking at ways of getting the two generations together, to get rid of some of the fear for the older people, and to encourage youngsters to be more conscientious in looking out for the older generation in their communities."

Members of Nailsea Neighbourhood Watch are now planning to give a presentation to youngsters at the school about the aims of their group.

Chairman Don Plevey said: "We want to develop a relationship between Neighbourhood Watch and schoolchildren because older people often perceive youngsters as some kind of threat, when they aren't.

"We are convinced that if we establish a relationship between youngsters in the town it will help prevent vandalism and other problems. We are also thinking of setting up a Watch scheme for youngsters."

Pupils have been thinking of ways to spend more time with older people in the community.
One of the suggestions includes inviting members of the group to the school cafe or meeting up with them in town to try to forge friendships. About 3,800 households in Nailsea belong to the Watch scheme and members meet at the United Reformed Church hall in Stockway North on the second Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm.