You can now buy these online directly at this website http://www.backstreet-merch.com/stores/sophielancaster/
You can even get them in batches of 5. There are also links from the Sophie main website.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Sophie Lancaster - Wristbands on Sale online here
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Russian Duma vows to stamp out evils of Goth and Emo
Alternative people in the supposedly free west have to put up with a lot of rubbish but nothing to compare with this:
Educational Policy Turns Protective
Kommersant, Russia -
For example, the draft law “On Moral and Patriotic Education and Guarantees of the Rights of Children in the Informational Sphere” envisages that all informational products, from books and films to websites and computer games will be divided into groups by audience age as “6 and older,” “12 and older,” “16 and older” and “18 and older.”
Specifically, children under 6 will be allowed to read books and watch cartoons where there is “non-naturalistic description of violence justified by the genre and topic under the condition of sympathy with the victim and a condemnatory attitude toward violence.” After 16, it will be possible to hear “expletives justified by the genre” and watch “depictions of sexual acts between men and women that do not have a pornographic nature.” The draft law “On Children’s Toys” would ban the production and importation of toys that “provoke aggression,” “model actions of a sexual nature,” “justify extremism and a criminal lifestyle,” “depict horror or unbearable pain” or that are created “on the basis of the psychologically incongruous.” That might be, for example, candy in the shape of skeletons or stuffed toys in the shape of bacteria or viruses.
Other legislative initiatives propose imposing a curfew for schoolchildren from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. During those hours, children would be unable to be present in public places under threat of punishment to their parents. Attempts by schoolchildren to send SMS messages with obscene words (including those in Latin transcription) would be blocked by the cellular operator. Schools would be forbidden to observe “artificially borrowed holidays not appropriate to Russian cultural values,” such as Halloween and St. Valentine’s Day.
The drafters of the concept took a particular negative stance in regard to the Goth and emo youth subcultures, which are characterized by black clothing, piercings and a depressed outlook on reality. They authors compared the danger those subcultures hold for society to the dangers of skinheads, soccer hooligans, National Bolsheviks and even anti-fascists. Emo youths, according to the concept, “are subject to suicidal tendencies” and Goth children cultivate bisexuality. “The cost of the sexual services of an underage boy prostitute with Goth attributes is lower than for students in military schools but higher than for usual gay prostitutes,” the authors say, demonstrating their knowledge of life. The government would use informational campaigns for healthy lifestyles to fight the nonconformists, as well as the introduction of “Basics of Orthodox Christian Culture” in the schools and a legislative ban on tattoos and piercings for minors (“with the exception of women’s earrings”).... “The proposed measures are like an imitation of busyness,” commented Galina Kozhevnikova, deputy director of the SOVA anti-extremist center. “Skinheads and Goths cannot be fought with the same methods. The result of the fight will be the same – youth protest will grow even more, and youth will be attracted to everything forbidden, making it even more popular. Our state fought hippies, rockers, metal fans, and lost every time, because there will always be a youth subculture.”
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
Teenagers who model themselves on Western youth subcultures like Goths — who are accused of “cultivating bisexuality” — are to be regarded by the authorities as social nuisances in the same league as skinheads, football hooligans and anti-fascists.
The authors of the legislation, which mirrors other government measures to promote Russian nationalism, say urgent action is required to end a moral crisis inspired by the West that has seen a dramatic rise in alcoholism and addiction among teenagers.
“Today we have a lost generation of wandering morons whose parents’ moral vision was robbed by perestroika,” said Stanislav Govorukhin, a Duma deputy.
“We have taken the worst from the West because we failed to resist the encroachment of Western values.” He denied accusations by liberal activists that the new laws represented an attack on freedom of expression.
“The essence of freedom is that there should be moral restrictions — that is what freedom is,” he said.
Round of media on the anti Mail march
Emo is no suicide cult
New Statesman, UK -
“The Daily Mail has written a few articles attacking My Chemical Romance, and calling them an emo suicide cult. Recently they blamed the band for the
Good article at the Guardian:
Fear of a black planet
guardian.co.uk
The Mail's 'war on emo' is pure bigotry: once again, teenagers are being castigated simply for expressing their individuality.
Emo runs high as fans defend band against Daily Mail
The Observer Blog, UK -
Daily Mail - Legacy of Distortion Part II - Luke Mitchell and the Murder of Jodi Jones
The sensationalised reporting surrounding the case of Luke Mitchell and he murder of Jodi Jones is also interesting. This was a terrible case but the focus on goth found generally in the media was simply media sensationalism full of distortion interconnecting the murder with goth, Heavy metal, occult and Satanism. The Police in the case did not help with their focus. Luke Mitchell was a sick killer but the reporting linked innocent fans of bands and certain music to murder in an unjustified way. As always Columbine goth myth is mentioned in fact neither of the murders there really liked Marilyn Manson or goth and nor did they wear trenchcoats generally (see Columbine - The Legacy of Hatred).
Read some of the earliest reports:
Was 'Goth' Jodi the victim of a ritual black magic murder?
BYLINE: TAMZIN LEWIS
Mail on Sunday July 6, 2003
SECTION: STH1; Pg. 13
THE brutal murder of schoolgirl Jodi Jones may be linked to satanism and black magic, detectives revealed last night.
Senior officers confirmed that the 14-year-old girl's association with Goth culture is a major part of their investigation into her killing.
Jodi and her boyfriend Luke Mitchell, also 14, were followers of the morbid subculture which celebrates death, depression, anger and hatred. Extreme elements of the Goth world have been known to dabble in satanism and black magic.
Jodi's mutilated body was found dumped by a country path near her home in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on Monday.
The officer leading the hunt for the killer, Detective Superintendent Craig Dobbie, described the attack as 'the most violent death I've experienced in 28 years in the police'.
Jodi's throat had been slashed and she had multiple stab wounds including a large injury to her stomach. The Mail on Sunday has knowledge of other aspects of the way her body was mutilated but cannot reveal them for police operational reasons.
However, the 'sinister' nature of her injuries has led detectives to investigate her association with the movement.
Last night a senior police source revealed: 'We will be looking at what Jodi and her social circle were interested in and an obvious area will be their ties to the Goth movement.
'We will be examining if the manner in which she was killed has any links to the violent world that many Goths find fascinating and will be speaking to all her friends who had similar interests.' Jodi was killed after failing to keep an appointment to meet Luke. The alarm was raised after her mother Judith sent a text message to Luke's mobile phone saying her daughter was late returning home.
As Jodi's grandmother and sister began searching a wooded area used by locals as a shortcut, Luke stumbled upon her body lying behind a wall.
On Friday police questioned the boy for several hours and a team of forensic officers removed more than 20 large brown paper bags and yellow sacks from his family's home in Dalkeith as they combed the detached house, garage, garden and cars for items.
The couple were part of a small band of friends who enjoyed grunge and Goth music, dressed in dark clothing and dyed their hair. Jodi was a fan of bands such as Nirvana, Korn and Queens Of The Stone Age and loved dressing in Goth-style clothing.
Teenagers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 12 fellow students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado and then committed suicide, were labelled Goths because they wore black trench coats and listened to Marilyn Manson.
After the 1999 shootings, critics of Marilyn Manson claimed that the singer's dark lyrics may have inspired the killers.
Three days after Jodi's death, Luke placed a floral tribute near to where she died with a card which quoted Nirvana star Kurt Cobain who committed suicide nine years ago.
The card said: 'The finest day I ever had, was when tomorrow never came.'
And again in this article:
'Satanism' link to the brutal murder of schoolgirl Jodi
DAILY MAIL July 7, 2003 BYLINE: GAVIN MADELEY
SECTION: ED_SC1; Pg. 6
THE maniac who murdered schoolgirl Jodi Jones may have been obsessed with Satanism and the occult, detectives said yesterday.
The nature of 14-year-old Jodi's injuries - precise details of which are being kept secret by police - hint at a 'ritualistic' aspect to her death.
Murder squad officers are looking closely at the teenager's Goth lifestyle and musical tastes for clues. As prayers were said for Jodi and her family in local churches yesterday, officers were focusing a 'major' part of their inquiry on the macabre song lyrics of many of her favourite bands and on the morbid literature she read.
Both she and her boyfriend, 14- year- old Luke Mitchell, were followers of the Goth movement. Fans favour dark clothing, heavy make- up, tattoos and body piercings.
Some, at the extremes of the Goth scene, profess to 'dabble' in witchcraft. Occult imagery is a major part of the look and lyrics of Goth bands.
The possible link to Satanism comes as detectives await the outcome this week of crucial DNA tests on Jodi's body and clothing.
Detectives hope scientists will find a clue to the killer's identity from the body - one of his hairs; a flake of skin; saliva. Even fibres from his clothing could help track him down.
Jodi's body was found by her boyfriend near a secluded path close to her home in Dalkeith, Midlothian, a week ago.
Her throat had been slashed and she had suffered multiple stab wounds, including a large gash injury to her stomach...
A senior police source said last night: 'We will be looking carefully at what Jodi and her social circle were interested in. An obvious area will be their ties to the Goth movement.
'We will examine if the manner in which she was killed has any links to the violent world many Goths find fascinating.' Jodi, a fourth-year pupil at St David's RC High School, and her small circle of friends listened to bands such as Korn and Nirvana, dyed their hair and dressed in dark clothing.
Her favourite film was Queen of the Damned. It became a cult classic, in part because its star - pop singer Aaliyah - died in a plane crash before filming was complete.
Jodi also read the works of poet Sylvia Plath, who wrote about death before she committed suicide in 1963.
Jodi was killed on her way to meet Luke, using the popular Roman Dyke shortcut. She left her home at around 5pm last Monday after the pair had exchanged text messages. Within an hour, she had been brutally murdered
When the trial ended the connections continued:
Obsessed with drugs and death, a descent into evil BYLINE: GRACE MCLEAN
DAILY MAIL January 22, 2005
His parents Philip and Corinne split up in 1999, and by the time he was 14, Mitchell was claiming to smoke hundreds of cannabis joints a week, was obsessed with knives, and immersed himself in a Goth subculture which celebrated Satanism.
A fan of Marilyn Manson whose songs are said to have inspired murders all over the U.S. and Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain who committed suicide in 1994 Mitchell's burgeoning sexuality drove him to pursue schoolgirls with a predatory appetite.
"MARILYN Manson is perhaps the most notorious figure in the Goth rock music scene.
A media manipulator and self-styled 'Antichrist superstar' he has taken the first name of Marilyn Monroe, and the surname of a serial killer, Charles Manson, to create a disturbing public persona.
His Satanic lyrics and grotesque videos were blamed for the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado when two neo-Nazi teenagers killed 25 of their classmates.
Goths have a huge following among British teenagers who dress in black and revel in looking pale and gaunt."
But this long article furthers the accusation between Manson and murder. As discussed earlier the columbine murderers were neither goths nor were they Manson fans really.
SHOCK ROCK
BYLINE: GRACE MCLEAN; JONATHAN BROCKLEBANK
DAILY MAIL January 22, 2005 SECTION: ED_SC1; Pg. 15
ROCK star Marilyn Manson's influence on teenagers has already been blamed for several murders across the world. Now Jodi Jones's name may be added to that list.
While the question of any link between Jodi's death and Manson's fascination with the notorious Black Dahlia Murder remained the subject of intense debate in court, it is clear the two crimes bore chilling similarities.
As they came to interview Luke Mitchell, detectives made the connection almost at once. They believe he became fascinated with the 1947 Los Angeles murder after Manson painted a series of gruesome watercolour paintings of actress Elizabeth Short's dismembered body.
Jodi's face was slit from just below her mouth, across the cheek almost to her ear. Similar injuries were found on both sides of Miss Short's face.
Jodi also suffered a terrible knife injury to one breast. In Miss Short's case, part of her breast was removed and, police believe, kept as a souvenir by her killer.
Miss Short's killer cut her in two across the middle. Jodi also suffered terrible wounds to her abdomen probably inflicted after death although there was no apparent attempt to dismember her.
Post-mortem pictures of Miss Short were depicted in a catalogue of paintmannequinings by Marilyn Manson. The possible link with Jodi's death was established when detectives raided Mitchell's home and found that he was a fan of the star.
Manson's name was scrawled across Mitchell's school jotters, and two days after Jodi's death he bought a DVD and CD package containing a short film made by Manson called Doppelherz. It featured images of a young girl lying naked on open ground and of two girls in corsets bound together in the woods with bags over their heads.
A police source said: 'We very quickly made the connection between Mitchell's obsession with Manson and the murder of Elizabeth Short. Jodi's injuries were so similar it was frightening.
' Mitchell was absolutely obsessed by Manson and the violence surrounding his work.' Born in Massachusetts, Elizabeth Short had came to Hollywood in August 1946 to try her luck in the film business.
It was two months earlier, while living in Southern California, that the nickname the Black Dahlia was born at a corner drugstore she used to frequent. It was a play on the recently released film noir The Blue Dahlia, starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.
ON January 15, 1947, Betty Bersinger caught a glimpse of something in a vacant lot which looked like a broken mannequin. As she grew closer, she realised the body was human and called police.
It was the most sickening thing the officers had ever seen. The dead woman seemed posed, lying on her back with her arms raised over her shoulders. She had been cut in half at the waist.
Her face and body had been slashed viciously, with cuts running from both edges of her mouth to the ears. Rope marks were also found on her neck.
The 22-year-old was identified from her fingerprints as details of the case spread across America, gripping much of the country with morbid fascination.
At least three men made false confessions.
In a book written by a childhood friend of the victim, filmmaker Orson Welles was even suggested as a suspect because an unused set from his 1948 movie The Lady from Shanghai was decorated with female body parts, including a face mutilated like Miss Short's and a body cut in half.
Meanwhile, police believed the real killer was taunting them. They received items belonging to the victim in the post and, later, notes which said: 'Catch me if you can.' Some detectives came to believe it was the perfect murder because of the lack of hard evidence.
Police officers in the Jodi Jones case think Mitchell, too, believed he had committed the perfect murder. One detective said: 'He thought he had got clean away with it that the case was too circumstantial for him to go down.' Today interest in the Black Dahlia murder is as keen as ever and it is in no small measure due to death metal stars such as Marilyn Manson peddling the horrors of the case almost as if they were something to be celebrated.
Commenting on the infamous murder, Manson once said: 'The crime was never solved and I've been obsessed with it since I was very young. The first picture, A Smile I, is how she came to Hollywood with hopes of becoming famous.
'The second, A Smile II, is how she was left, in a sad way, very famous. I think this is one of my best pieces. So I hope no one buys it, cos I really don't want to lose it.' Filming of a new movie about the Black Dahlia murder, starring Josh Hartnett, Mark Wahlberg and Scarlett Johansson, is due to start in March and there is even a U.S heavy metal band which calls itself The Black Dahlia Murder.
In 2002 they devoted a whole album to Miss Short's murder. It contains lyrics which would appal most yet their audiences are largely impressionable, often confused teenagers.
One song has the lines: 'And in my dreams I cut your mouth from ear to ear/Dissecting your angelic body in the quiet of your room/ 'How splendidly I carve into your tender heart/I'm shuddering between the sheets.' The same song has the lyrics: 'As I caress your perfection/My angel, I'll tear your insides out.' AS for Manson whose name is a combination of Marilyn Monroe and killer Charles Manson his Satanic lyrics and disturbing videos were once blamed for the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, when two teenagers went on the rampage, killing 25 classmates.
Manson argues his name was wrongly linked with the crime on the basis of erroneous early news reports on the massacre which said the killers were wearing Marilyn Manson T-shirts.
Five years ago, his lyrics are also said to have inspired three teenage girls identified only as 16-year-old Milena, Ambra, 17, and Veronica, 17, to stab the 61- year- old Mother Superior who had taught them at their school in Italy.
Police found the girls were obsessive fans of the singer, their school diaries were scrawled with Manson's lyrics and they had made a pact to worship the Devil.
Responding to criticism over the murder, Manson said: 'You can find inspiration for man's behaviour wherever you look. I think people have to take responsibility for their own actions. I don't think I have ever tried to create things to encourage people to hurt others, or themselves.' He claimed his stage show helps teenagers release their pent-up aggression, rather than encouraging violence in their everyday lives.
' These kids are getting out everything that they can't get out the rest of the week the rest of the year. That's a catharsis for them, that's what rock'n'roll's supposed to be.' With his name now inextricably linked with the Jodi Jones murder trial, parents may well wonder i f Manson's peddling of the grotesque to teenagers really is a welcome catharsis or a potential trigger for slaughter
This article by MELANIE PHILLIPS is shockingly blatant in its attempt to link drug use to goth culture. Drug use is rife right across British youth of all types not just goths, plu I seriously doubt that there statistically any more goths from broken homes than any other group:
Cannabis caused a 14-year-old to kill. Yet still they say it's harmless
BYLINE: MELANIE PHILLIPS
DAILY MAIL February 14, 2005
With websites now dedicated to Mitchell, too, there are fears that a disturbed young person might try yet another copycat murder. Such fears are hardly groundless.
In 1999, the killings in America at Columbine High School in Denver were committed by two young Manson fans.
What we are facing now among a section of our young people is a terrifying breakdown of the bonds not just of socialisation but of civilisation itself.
This is the result of a number of ruinous changes in our society - in which the growing acceptability of drugs is a significant part.
For these young people, the moral obligation to accept the difference between right and wrong has disintegrated. From all sides, they are bombarded by the message that the only thing that matters is their own pleasure and gratification.
Duty, responsibility, shame and stigma have all but evaporated. Difficulty, pain or failure are viewed as assaults on their right to be happy. What trumps everything else is the need to protect their feelings. Instead of providing boundaries to give young people the security that is vital for emotional health, the adult world has simply abandoned them.
Family disintegration shatters their sense of themselves, schools leave them floundering in their own ignorance and immaturity, and the commercial world exploits and encourages their premature sexualisation.
It is among these rising numbers of confused, unhappy or disturbed children that the 'Goth rock' cult of satanism, self-harm and nihilism principally has its lethal appeal.
Daily Mail - Legacy of Distortion Part I
Giving the Mail recent statement claims they are unbiased and gives fair coverage over all. I decided to look back over the years to see if the Mail's tendency to distort the truth noticeable in two recent articles was noticeable elsewhere. It is interesting to note that the Mail did give good coverage to the Sophie Lancaster case highlighting the prejudice of the attackers to some extent. It is odd they should then follow up that with their articles on Emo.
This even seems more odd when you see this article from their sister paper on My Chemical Romance:
Mail on Sunday March 25, 2007 Sunday
Who said Romance was dead? BYLINE: TIM DE LISLE
For years, the generation gap has been narrowing.
Students listen to the gently rousing sound of Snow Patrol and so do their parents. Girls and their mothers read the same celebrity rags and sing along to Scissor Sisters. But now a band from New Jersey threaten to reopen the great divide.
My Chemical Romance are loud, dark, heavily made-up and suddenly popular.
They have even been accused of leading a cult of self-harm, although the evidence is slight. The subject of self-harm does crop up in chatrooms populated by the band's fans but they can hardly be blamed for that and their response has been clear enough: 'We do not encourage self-harm.' They frighten some parents, but others are here with their children, and some older people are even here of their own accord. Behind me, two men are reminiscing about a gig by The Damned in 1976.
My Chemical Romance are not so much objectionable as puzzlingly hard to place not quite punk, not quite emo, not quite metal. At last summer's Reading Festival they were pelted with bottles by fans of the veteran death-metal band Slayer. This delighted My Chemical Romance, who pride themselves on being outsiders.
This is bizzare. Note De Lisle who clearly has some idea of what is talking about points out that:
1 - De Lisle notes MCR do not advocate self-harm in anyway and says: "the evidence is slight". NOTE in 2007 the evidence "cult of self-harm" is slight but in 2008 it is suddnly definate.
2 - It points out the band may or may not be Emo.... as a lot of MCR fans claim. So if there is doubt about their status as a emo band in 2007 why in 2008 are they suddenly definitely Emo leaders of a suicide cult?
Not so long ago of course it was not Emos who were the problem:
Young 'Goths' are a suicide risk: Report reveals darker side of teenage culture
BYLINE: JENNY HOPE
Daily Mail (London)April 14, 2006 Friday
TEENAGE 'Goths' who like to dress in black and listen to morbid rock music are more likely to attempt suicide, it was revealed yesterday. A study of Scots youngsters found those attracted to the dramatic black makeup and pasty, white faces of the Goths often showed a deep melancholic streak. They had alarmingly high levels of mental health problems and were more likely to harm themselves or attempt to take their own lives than members of any other youth subculture... Lead researcher Robert Young said: 'Although only fairly small numbers of young people identify themselves as Goths, their rates of self-harm and attempted suicide are very high.
'One common suggestion is that they may be copying their icons or peers but our study found that more reported self-harm before becoming a Goth, rather than after which suggests that youngsters with a tendency to selfharm are attracted to the subculture.'... Goths acquired a violent reputation after songs and art by the group's rock hero Marilyn Manson were linked to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, in which 13 were shot dead, and also to the murder of 14-year-old Jodi Jones in Dalkeith, Midlothian, in 2003.
Covering the infamous study on suicidal tendencies we have mentioned before the article does at strive to give a balanced view and I think it is fair reporting whatever we think of the study. But it include references to earlier cases which will come to shortly.
The Suicide of Carina Stephenson
This suicide attracted much media attention because the girl was in a reality TV programme. But was her love of Marilyn Manson involved perhaps according to these Mail stories?
I was devastated that our lovely, funny girl decided to die in such a lonely way. You may feel close to your children, but there are always things you'll never know
BYLINE: ANGELLA JOHNSON
Mail on Sunday (London)
September 11, 2005
SECTION: FB_04; Pg. 28
Carina had a taste for Goth music which typically glorifies death and mutilation. One favourite was Marilyn Manson, whose songs have been implicated in other teenage suicides.
Liz said: 'I had no idea of the kind of grim messages she was brainwashing herself with through her headphones. I think she just got locked into a web of misery. Instead of sharing her pain with people around her, she sought out likeminded and vulnerable teenagers.
There is other coverage:
DAILY MAIL (London)
May 30, 2005
Last month Mail writer David Jones interviewed a close-knit family just back from the latest reality TV experiment. Then came shocking news: their bright 17-year-old daughter had taken her own life. Was reality TV implicated?...
Or perhaps her depression was connected to her fascination with 'goths', a dark subculture which attracts melancholic, introspective youths. A friend revealed yesterday that even before Carina announced that she thought she was gay, she had been bullied and teased for being a 'tomboy' and her love of gothic clothing.
And more:
Carina from The Colony killed herself after bullies taunted her for being a lesbianSo this seems to be another case bullicide interconnected to homophobia and anti-goth prejudice. Even raising the Manson connection seems irrelevant. Interesting to note that Manson and MCR had a falling out a few years ago. They have one thing in common the Daily Mail hates both of them
Mail on Sunday (London) May 29, 2005
BYLINE: ANGELLA JOHNSON SECTION: FB_04; Pg. 36; Pg. 37
A policeman found her body hanging from a tree two days later, in a wood a few hundred yards away from the family's Pounds 400,000 self-built home in Branton, near Doncaster. She left two suicide notes. One clue to her state of mind may come from Laura Howden, 15, who had befriended Carina at Armthorpe Comprehensive School near Doncaster.
She told The Mail on Sunday that even before Carina revealed she thought she was gay, she had been bullied and teased for being a tomboy and her love of 'Goth'-style clothing. 'I used to go into dinner at school with her and because she was often on her own I kept her company during breaks,' said Laura. 'She was not really interested in boys. She concentrated on her schoolwork and kept everything to herself. She was taunted at school that she was a lesbian. Other girls would call her "lesbo" or "gay girl" and she got really upset about it.
'At one point she spent a lot of time off because of the bullying while it was being sorted out. But despite what had happened at school the news of her death still came as a shock. She was someone you could really get along with. I never thought she would do that.'
Sunday, June 1, 2008
EMO/MCR March - "Annoymous" vs MCR
It seems to have been successful with lots of coverage and portrayed a positive view of MCR fans successfully.
Ok much of the general media coverage of was not in depth but youtube has provided some real gems. The most amazing thing is that some peopl who may have been from Anonymous the internet group that was behind the hoax videos actually turned up to the protest. (They are in the Guy Fawkes/ V masks) They turned out surprise to be a bunch of geeks... and were heavily outnumbered and they lost the argument as you see here. Wow this looks lots of fun!! Teenage girls versus geeks what did you think would happen?
At the end of day various b-tards (frequenters of an online forum 4chan) have long found it amusing to spam commemoration message boards for suicides usually celebrating the death. This is not only in poor taste but may influence others to kill themselves. While many anon symphasiers don't care simply looking for lulz others think it is wrong. Of course Anonymous is an anarchistic mess so it is not surprising they cannot agree about things. [Since writing this I discovered that the faction attacking the march are mainly in fact from PartyVan this "is a sub of Ebaums, the enemy of the chans." You can found out more about anon internal poltics here and about the mass trolling on MCR websites. No wonder tempers flared.]
There are signs the so called pro-suicide comments picked up by the media on such boards are not by real emos or MCR fans but are by various b-tards trolling. And as we know academic studies have demonstrated that media sensationalism is definitely linked to suicide clusters so anonymous have played their part in building up problems like the Bridgend suicide cluster which if you remember was blammed on the Internet. Which is doubly ironic of course as some of Anonymous accusations against Scientology focus on their links with strange deaths and suicides.
Anyway be any conventional standards if you compare all this confusion with the stance by MCR fans and the band who all agree suicide is wrong and have put out consistently anti-suicide message then "Anonymous" come out looking bad. But that is not an issue really :)
Besides all the fun of the march there is a dark question. This is a serious issue. Has this march trivialised it or not? There has been some good coverage but at the end of the day the Daily Mail stands firm.
Sarah Sands, the emo's old enemy from 2006 appeared in The Independent trotting out the usual nonsense a few days ago:
Sarah Sands: It's a great plot: two novelists under one roofHow to turn an emo into a fitness fanatic
A couple of years ago, I wrote about the dreariness of emos. I thought song titles such as "Dead!" or "Cancer!" were not very life-enhancing. US band Adam and Andrew have a witty take: "When I get depressed I cut my wrists in every direction/ Hearing songs about getting dumped gives me an erection." The emos, forceful, even if they look as if they live in coffins, have railed against anti-emoism, and yesterday they went on a march.
Emo culture is self-dramatising and self-pitying. If we tell them they are wonderful, they will give up white skins and dark clothes and take up hockey.
Independent
This issue is far too important to be left to die. I hope the activism of MCR and emos takes firm roots.
Another good video of the day here from AudiojunkiesTV discusses the groups present:
A Sing along to MCR not really a dangerous cult I think.
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