Dublin - Another pro Emo March

Congratulations are due to the organizers of another march this time in Ireland:


Teenage fans march to defend US band

Thursday, 12 June 2008
A GROUP of Northside teenagers are organising a
protest march to rebel against media coverage of their favourite band.The
Hartstown teens are staunchly defending My Chemical Romance (MCR), who were was
recently dubbed a ‘suicide cult’ by an English tabloid newspaper.The young
teenagers are furious over media coverage of the suicide of an English
13-year-old MCR fan.But according to Eiblin Malone, the media’s association
between MCR and suicide are “ridiculous”.“Something of the magnitude of suicide
cannot simply be triggered by music,” she told Northside People.“There has to be
other pretty significant reasons and factors which would cause someone to feel
so isolated.”She added: “I find the band and their songs really uplifting. MCR
have some very positive messages for their fans about life and how to get
through the hard times.” The bubbly 17-year-old called on the public to think
“outside the box”.“A lot of people tend to put kids and the types of music they
listen to into certain categories,” the fifth year student explained.“Teenagers
are branded because of the way they dress and act when really people are far
more complex than that.“I wear black but that doesn’t mean I’m depressed. In
fact, I’m often told that I’m a really happy, chirpy person to be around.”...

The Hartstown local added: “They are the perfect role models if anything. And they shouldn’t be associated with just teenagers as their fan base varies in age from 10 to 30-year-olds.”The march will kick off from St Stephen’s Green at 1pm on Saturday, June 14.“This march, which another friend Sarah Devine helped to organise, is about much more than MCR,” Jessica said.“It’s about suicide awareness and highlighting the unfair labels attached to teenagers.“We have even invited the Samaritans who we hope will be there on the day collecting money for their charity.”

Teenage fans march to defend US band Dublin Northside People, Ireland

Meanwhile another musician attacked the idea that music causes suicideL

Buzznet caught up with Angels & Airwaves front man and former Blink182 frontman Tom DeLonge today who spoke candidly to the recent MCR controversy (they are being blamed for influencing a teen to commit suicide) that made headlines and whether he believe in the whole "music saves lives" idea and if there's too much responsibility on the musician?

DeLonge: "The same sort of thing happened to me with Blink, so I can understand what it's like to be a part of something like that. We had a victim of the Columbine shootings take his life with our song on repeat. You kinda go through these situations where you blame yourself —but you can't. You have no idea who these people are.
"And My Chemical Romance, they spend a lot of time singing about coming together and there's ingredients of rebellion and angst, but what band doesn't have that when you're young?" - Full interview

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 lesbian
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.'

So 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

What is emo? - Fox News and others weigh in while Russia panics

Russian Region Discovers “Emo” Subculture

February 13th, 2008

Related Post

• Russian University Closed Over Electoral Monitoring Course
  
• A Civic and Patriotic Youth
  
• More Arrests in Nizhny Novgorod
  

Filed Under: All News • Culture

Tags: education • emo • Nizhny Novgorod • popular culture

Nizhny-Novgorod, February 11th:

A subculture known for black fingernails, angled bangs and rock music, popular among some Russian teenagers, is under attack. On Monday, the Department of Education of the Nizhny-Novgorod oblast called for a campaign to combat a movement known as “emo”. The classification, which originated from an independent music movement in the United States, is short for “emotional,” and now relates as much to a fashion style as a genre of music.

The Department’s move comes after the local branch of the Federal Security Bureau Directorate (UFSB) brought forth a report describing repeated instances of “unconventional religious trends, and civic organizations disseminating ideas of a negative youth subculture.” The information first became public from a circular published by the Education Department.

The document, in part, reads: “According to information from the Nizhny-Novgorod oblast UFSB, the oblast is seeing the growth of ideas of the emo negative youth subculture, which are connected with suicidal tendencies of teenagers 12-16 years of age.”

The text then vividly described the emo stereotype: clothing with pink and black colors and two-toned designs. Blue-black hair. Long bangs. Fingernails painted black. Piercings.

The FSB informed the educators that “the emo ideology negatively influences the unformed teenage psyche. According to the ideology, its members are immortal, and each one’s dream is to die of blood-loss in a warm bath, by cutting the veins on the wrist region. Many of the teenagers are depressed, withdrawn in their thoughts, and the girls are very inclined toward suicide on account of unrequited love. The young people drawn to the emo movement imagine that they have an ‘allergy to happiness.’”

Based on the information taken from the FSB, the department called on its teachers to maintain vigilance and to take measures directed “at explaining the negative consequences of entering into alternative civic organizations.”

Meanwhile, the emo subculture could not be reached for comment.

The Fox News report is interesting because it shows a bit about the tedency for emos to be attacked:

Farmington Daily Times - What is emo?

2 Feb 2008

ARMINGTON — The generation gap is only widening.

In 1930s Germany, swing kids defied convention by embracing jazz music and mocking Nazis.

Hippies did the same thing in 1960s America with tie-dyed T-shirts and psychedelic rock.

Then there were the goths, the punks, the skaters and the rappers — all groups of teenagers and young adults intent on expressing themselves through dress and music.

The latest fad, emo, includes dark makeup, tight clothing and a permanent frown. The style has changed, but the phenomenon known as teenagers remains the same. And it's still music that makes the world go 'round.

"I think music really influences people," said 17-year-old Shawn Yazzie. The Piedra Vista High School senior has been part of the emo culture for four years.

"Music is individuality," he said. "It depicts emotions."

The term emo is derived from "emotional" or "emotive." The culture stems from a subgenre of punk music originating in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s and revolves around displays of deep emotion
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in music, dress and attitude.

Emo music often includes screaming, crying or other outpourings of emotion, Yazzie said.

"There is a deeper message in it," he said. "It's different than other music. It becomes more about a personal focus."

Teens dressing in emo fashion often dye their hair black and wear it long over one eye. Other patterns of dress include tight jeans, T-shirts that bear the names of rock or punk bands, studded belts, canvas sneakers and thick, black-rimmed glasses. Heavy eye makeup on males and females also is popular.

Like most fads, emo comes with stereotypes, Yazzie said. The dark clothing and emotional music can lead to beliefs that emo teens are depressed or suicidal.

"It's not true," Yazzie said of the stereotype. "Emo is just another way to dress. It's just like people who like to wear football T-shirts or pink all the time. We like to wear black."

Misunderstood

Despite explanations, emo teens often are misunderstood — by their parents, teachers and peers, said Virginia Nickels, a choir teacher at Piedra Vista High School.

Nickels began teaching in 1990. She has seen teenage fads come and go as quickly as taste in music changes, but she's never seen a style so dark, she said.

"Emos are very withdrawn," she said. "They don't have a lot of friends that I see. They're quiet, and even their posture is influenced. They walk with their heads down and their shoulders slumped."

As a music instructor, Nickels witnesses firsthand how beat and lyrics can influence dress and lifestyle. But fashion and music have taken a darker turn since the leg warmers and moonwalks of the 1980s, she said.

"I see emo as being pretty dark," she said. "I don't know if it's unhappy, but I wonder what's behind the clothes and the makeup."

Being misunderstood is part of a normal teenage life, said David Johnson, clinical social worker and president of New Horizons in Farmington. Johnson treats several emo teens, but said the clothing and music alone are not a cause for concern.

Only about 2 percent of the local teen population is emo, Johnson said. Most belong to upper middle class families and most are between the ages of 13 and 17.

"They're trying to say they're different from the rest," he said. "That's their job from the teen years until they're 20 or 25."

Some teens embrace rodeo; others like heavy metal, Johnson said. Most will dabble in many different things before settling on likes and dislikes. Emo teens are no different than the rest, except they've chosen to focus on their emotions.

The dress — which for some can be disturbing — is both a reflection of those emotions and a way to identify peers, Johnson said.

"The teenage years are a search for identity," he said. "They want to know how they're different, but they also want support from peers who are similar."

As teens mature and leave home, most will grow out of the emo culture and leave their dark phases behind, Johnson said.

"Most kids run within the normal bell curve," he said. "The emo phase is transitional. As they get more input, they grow out of it. You don't see a lot of people in their 30s or 40s dressed like this."

Taking emo too far

The overwhelming emotions that often lead teens to seek out the expressive music and dark emo lifestyle can also be a sign of more serious issues, Johnson said. While most emo teens explore their emotions through poetry, art or music, others are attracted to the culture because of its focus on pain.

"Some kids need to be seen as different because they feel different," he said. "The emo culture brings out the negative, and it creates enough pain that it becomes addicting. When there's a lack of pain, they go looking for ways to experience more."

The danger, Johnson said, surfaces when teens surround themselves so completely with negativity and emotional pain that they turn to self-injury to heighten their feelings. Others turn to drug use or other illegal activities for the adrenaline rush and emotional highs.

"Sometimes kids today have to find a more extreme statement to get noticed," he said. "More extreme behaviors are accepted, so to be noticed, they have to find something really unusual to stand out from the crowd."

Self-injury usually comes into play when a teen experiences deep internal pain. The pain can stem from a traumatic event or from everyday stresses, Johnson said.

One major stress is rejection. When teens are rejected because of the way they dress or act, it becomes a rejection of who they are, Johnson said, and that creates awful pain.

"They cut themselves to change the focus from internal pain to external pain," he said. "It's part of finding an identity that's so outside the normal culture. They collect sources of pain that they can control."

Self-injury often is associated with the emo culture, but the two are not synonymous, Yazzie said. The teen knows many people who follow the emo trends, but not all are gloomy, he said.

"Most of the emo people I've met are more happy than other people," he said. "They have an identity, and if they're sad, it's because personal stuff happens and they start to identify with the music."

All teenagers are filled with angst, Nickels said, but focusing on it to the exclusion of everything else can be detrimental.

"They get so angry or so passionate that screaming is permitted and even encouraged," she said. "It's not simply expressive — it's overly expressive."

An open mind

Yazzie's mother, Cassius Yazzie, graduated from high school in 1980. Back then, she said, she wore parachute pants and styled her hair in a Mohawk.

It didn't bother her at all when her son started wearing black and growing out his hair.

"To me, it's clothes," she said. "It's his image. You have to look beyond the clothes and get to know him."

Cassius took Yazzie shopping for stylish black jeans and T-shirts and helped him with his eyeliner. When his taste of music changed, hers did, too.

"You have to be a parent," she said, "but that doesn't mean you can't understand your kids."

Instead of judging her son, Cassius asked about his changing tastes. He had this to say: "I'm being different toward what is true for me."

That was enough for Cassius, she said.

Yazzie plans to graduate this spring and pursue a career as an architect.

"It's possible I'll outgrow this," he said, "but there's still a part of me that will listen to that type of music, part of me that will wear black T-shirts."

The teenage years are the springboard into adulthood, and it's normal for people to hold on to certain things, Nickels said. The more extreme fads generally disappear with age, and she expects most emo teens will shed their dark sides.

"I think they're going to look back and wonder what they were doing," Nickels said. "But don't we all?"

"I have em all off" - RiUvEn, Goth battering and Liverpool City of Culture?

The recent start to Liverpool's year of being City of Culture featured a massive concert on Jan 11th which had some controversy. One person involved was the rapper Riuven, seemingly a violent scally who smokes weed all day. The Independent recently named him as one of the next big things for 2008. The Times said of the event "But it was a brilliant young Scouse rapper called RiUvEn who epitomised the spirit of the night — cheeky, quick-witted, brimming with energy." He sang his popular song "This is how we do it in tha L.I.V." Riuven’s first song The L.I.V became a hit via his Myspace page and was quickly downloaded to thousands of mobile phones across the city. The lyrics celebrate skunk deals, the wonders of lacoste, stealing cars and "head butts and kicks, split ribs , jaws rattling". One might understand why this might generate complaints from those worried about Liverpool's image, but look at its final few lines:

dont go the krazy house yo its full of smelly goths
sometimes i wait outside and have em all off
..I have em all off....

You can see him performing in this video to some baffled teens:

The Krazy House a longstanding club catering to metal/goth and Indie is well known in Liverpool. As this quote from this website shows the lyrics reflect reality:

We usually go to our fave non chav club the Krazy House, rock club etc. However it is on a very heavily chav populated area and the chavs cant seem to accept that there are people who don't like going to a bar getting pissed on stella and vk ice and dancing like a twat to some thumping techno beat and also they can't grasp that anyone could possibly go out not wearing fake designer shit. Oh no! They wait outside the KH just to shout abuse at anyone who is dressed differently to them.

There was also a violent incident there recently which is interesting:

Clubber stabbed in toilet - Liverpool Echo.co.uk Dec 31 2007

The 19-year-old from Kirkdale was knifed during the early hours after a scuffle broke out in the Krazy House rock club on Wood Street. Another man was treated in hospital for less serious knife wounds after the fight involving clubbers on Friday, December 21. The teenage victim has been discharged from the Royal Liverpool hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

Clubbers told of their shock after the incident during the popular student night at the club, which has three floors and attracts fans of rock music.

One said: “The lad who got stabbed was looking at being in hospital over Christmas but it could have been much worse. He seemed to be in a very bad way at first. He was trying to split up a fight between some scallies and got stabbed for it.

“It’s frightening to think people actually go out for a night on the town with a knife.

“Everyone usually just has a good time and enjoys the music in the Krazy House, so for this to happen there is unusual.”

According to RiUvEn's website:

RiUvEn... exploded out of Toxteth Liverpool, in a blaze of goth battering and ganja smoke in early 2006. For Liverpool, a city not known for producing exciting rap acts, Riuven’s Unrelentingly harsh and unmistakably scouse approach was a revelation.

Now Riuven is in fact a caricature like Ali G, Riuven in real life is Robert Morris, who attended the notoriously posh King David's High and was a nice, quiet, studious boy there and was formerly a drummer in Indie bands. An interview with the Liverpool Post revealed more:

The track rapidly achieved cult status and led to growing curiosity about the musician behind the song, which boasts of stealing cars ‘round Seffie Park’ and fighting with ‘goths’ outside well-known city centre club The Krazy House. Now the budding hip hop star, who hit national headlines last year with a scathing rap about Lily Allen, is on the brink of releasing his debut album in March.

Riuven, real name Robert Morris, developed his chav-alter ego observing the bravado, attitude and antics of scallies from around Lodge Lane where he was raised. But he honed the larger-than-life persona when he was sent to Childwall’s prestigious King David School by his parents.

“I was probably the scally of our school in the sense that not many lads from Toxteth went there,” he says. “But I got into King David because I’m Jewish. I was lucky enough to get a great musical background and learn to play the drums to a high level. The scally persona is just something me and my mates have always found funny and joked about. We used to have parties, where we’d have a drink and listen to hip hop and there would always be a mic being passed around...

“I think most people realise that Riuven is a joke. He is a caricature of an unemployed scally who smokes weed all day and goes to town fighting the goths and causing trouble. The idea was to have a laugh and not glorify things like that. It has an element of social commentary on a city where many teenagers pass the time joyriding, taking drugs and generally misbehaving.”

Radio Merseyside DJ Billy Butler received complaints for playing a Riuven track and listeners called phone-in shows to argue Riuven showed Liverpool in a bad light. Sounding genuinely baffled, Morris says, “I was shocked that people didn’t see it was a joke, especially Scousers. People were reading far too much into it.

“If Riuven was serious, it’d be an outrage. But we’ve got to be able to laugh at people like that. [Jan 22nd]

Capital of Culture launch storm: Rapper Riuven hits back at his critics

"Riuven was based on loads of different lads I've met and seen sitting at the back of busses. I've got mates who have been beaten up by lads like Riuven.

http://www.liverpool.com/2008-capital-of-culture/-it-s-a-joke.html

His other songs include "Goths are not Boss", which you can hear on his website a rap about the gangs of teenagers who hang around outside the law courts in Liverpool. It features the line "The only good Goth is a Dead Goth" several times. It seems that Riuven's record deal and hopes to make it big in 2008 has had to led him to tone down his image. Another interview is interesting:

[On Riuven] What’s this got to do with comedy? Well, on a good day I’m 99% sure the Toxteth-based hip-hopper is supposed to be funny, in a Goldie Lookin' Chain sort of way. But sometimes I do like to imagine he knows not what he does...

“My record label have been telling me to try and tone my lyrics down a bit,” you can find him pondering on a Myspace forum. Needless to say, he can be appallingly rude. “Apparently the public arent as into stories about beating up goths and getting jiggy with milf as i thought theyd be.”[sic]
The resulting album, apparently titled I’m Only Messin or Am I, will be out in April, he says. Capital of Culture - so get told (Comedy Blog)

Considering Sophie Lancaster was killed last year a song which glorifies violence against goths seems to say the least in rather bad taste. Particularly one suspects that many listeners to The LIV do not understand it is a joke. Ali G managed to be funny without advocating anyone being beaten up. On the other hand one could argue I suppose he is reflecting the reality of the situation that people going to the Krazy House have to face a barrage of abuse and potential violence at times. But then if he was making those songs about Africans or homosexuals I think the response would be rather different.

Finland school shooting - blamed on KMFDM

And remember that this is my war, my ideas and my plans. Don’t blame anyone else for my actions than myself. Don’t blame my parents or my friends. I told nobody about my plans and I always kept them inside my mind only. Don’t blame the movies I see, the music I hear, the games I play or the books I read. No, they had nothing to do with this. This is my war: one man war against humanity, governments and weak-minded masses of the world! No mercy for the scum of the earth! HUMANITY IS OVERRATED! It’s time to put NATURAL SELECTION & SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST back on tracks!

The Pekka-Eric Auvinen Manifesto..

The killing of eight people iby Pekka-Eric Auvinen is a tragic and sad development performed by a psychologicaly maladjusted individual. Yet the media seem bent on justifying his claim in his manifesto that modern society is stupid and manipulative.

There are now 1,337 news articles linking the killer to KMDFM. Check this out for an example:

German band KMFDM linked to Finnish school massacre
TV3 News, New Zealand - 4 hours ago Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:21p.m.

The song the killer used in his video was Stray Bullet from the German industrial band KMFDM. The lyrics in the track include: "I'm your nightmare coming true / I am your worst enemy." And if that sounds familiar there is a reason. It is the same music and same lyrics the Columbine killers quoted.

One of those shooters, Eric Harris, posted the lyrics on his website before his shooting rampage. This raises the question: has the music of this band spurred another shooting, or has the Finnish gunman modelled himself on the Columbine killers?

The German band's name is an acronym that translates in full into English as "no pity for the masses". After the Columbine Massacre they issued a statement saying: "KMFDM are an art form - not a political party. From the beginning, our music has been a statement against war, oppression, fascism and violence against others."

Of course if he was not a real KMDFM fan had he absorbed KMDFM’s message he would never have shot anyone. They have spent the last few albums discussing the futility of war check out WWIII (2003). I notice that the article doesn't point out the wider context and full details.

In wake of the Columbine High School massacre it was revealed that lyrics to KMFDM songs ("Anarchy", "Power", "Son of a Gun", "Stray Bullet", "Waste") were posted on the website of shooter Eric Harris, and that the massacre coincided with the release date of the album Adios and the birthday of Adolf Hitler. In response to Columbine, Sascha Konietzko founding member of the band issued a statement the following day:

First and foremost, KMFDM would like to express their deep and heartfelt sympathy for the parents, families and friends of the murdered and injured children in Littleton. We are sick and appalled, as is the rest of the nation, by what took place in Colorado yesterday.

KMFDM are an art form — not a political party. From the beginning, our music has been a statement against war, oppression, fascism and violence against others. While some of the former band members are German as reported in the media, none of us condone any Nazi beliefs whatsoever.

The fact is Eric Harris also was a "social darwinist" killer who just like Pekka-Eric Auvinen felt he was above the people he murdered. Harris has a similar manifesto to Auvinen available online which mentions natural selection and weeding out the unfit. Most people don't know that because as we know Columbine was about the music the two supposedly listened too and the trenchcoats they supposedly wore (in fact neither of them even liked Marilyn Manson or goth and nor did they wear trenchcoats generally see Columbine - The Legacy of Hatred). Of course Auvinen was inspired by Harris he mentions he admires and studies serial killers in his manifesto and online. The use of the same KMFDM track was an obvious tribute to Harris and Auvinen's YouTube site included video footage of the Columbine school shootings alongside the 1993 Waco siege in the United States, the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo, and bombs falling on Baghdad during the 2003 invasion plus WWII Nazi footage. It is classic case of a copycat killing one motivated not by music, but what appears to be a stupid philosophy created from extreme right wing and left wing rantings and previous sick crimes. Harris even wrote somewhere his choice of music should not be blamed for the killing just like Auvinen did. Interesting to note Auvinen carried out his massacre on Wednesday's 90th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia.

Well at least this semi-philosophical basis is what Auvinen wanted us to think was behind the crimes. Instead the truth is both in this case and Columbine those involved were too weak to handle everyday life and like bullies they supposedly despised they turned to violence. Auvinen's actions were probably as much to do with the fact his girl friend had left him as anything deeper.

Auvinen’s former girlfriend insisted that he was not crazy. “I have received many e-mails and phone calls claiming it is my fault and that I am a murderer because I rejected him,” said the 20-year old woman, who recently broke up with Auvinen.

The YouTube killer: eight die in schoolroom shooting massacre Times Online November 8, 2007

At least the Finnish are sensible enough to look at altering laws in the wake of the disaster.

Finland's gun laws to be examined after killings Euronews.net

After targeting his victims, Pekka Eric Auvinen turned the weapon on himself and later died in hospital. The shootings have sent a shock wave through Finland, which has the lowest crime rate in Europe.

But the popularity of hunting as a pastime means that 56 out of every hundred Finns have a gun - putting it third behind the US and Yemen in terms of ownership, according to research. The government has said it will now look at the issue of firearms legislation. Anyone aged 15 and over can apply for a licence in Finland if they can give a valid reason. The easiest way to do this is by joining a shooting or hunting club, as Auvinen did in October.

Violent incidents are rare at Finnish schools and metal detectors, common in the United States, are unheard of. An emergency centre has been set up in Tuusula where staff and students from the school are being offered counselling. Auvinen also posted a rambling manifesto online, describing himself as a "social darwinist" and "storm spirit".

The media are just looking for simplistic nonsense come up with this in The Times:

Tuusula shooting was a very Finnish affair

Rather ridiculous article if school shootings are so Finnish why is this only the second one ever despite 50% of households have a have a gun? If all Finnish school children are depressed friendless, internet geeks why are incidents of school and youth violence lower than the UK?

Crime in Finland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finland also has the highest homicide rate per capita in Western Europe, but these are mostly domestic incidents not using guns.

Finland like other Scandinavian countries has a large fan base for alternative music of all kinds.

Thus Finland sent Lordi a rock / heavy metal band noted for their elaborate monster-like costumes depicted during live shows and in music videos to Eurovision. They won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with a record 292 points, giving Finland its first ever victory. The video had zombies in a high school... I am surprised the media haven't pointed this out as a reason for the killing. Perhaps Lordi inspired the two recent crimes they faced in their US tour?

LORDI Manager, Bodyguard Shot At Following Louisville Concert - Oct. 30, 2007

Certainly Pekka-Eric Auvinen liked industrial and metal music, he also liked violent movies, video games and read Plato, Nietzsche, and existentialist philosophers. None of these things made him a sick killer, millions of other people have the same interests without killing anyone. Why do the media want to seemingly justify his ridiculous manifesto by acting as if they are in fact as stupid as he liked to claim they were?

Marilyn Manson not to blame for violence

Interesting article covering Asa Coon and Manson.

Marilyn Manson not to blame for violence
The Orion, CA -16 Oct 2007

After Columbine, Sen. Joe Lieberman said the problem was music.

Lieberman said violent lyrics from artists such as Marilyn Manson are "helping to create a culture of violence that is increasingly enveloping our children, desensitizing them to consequences and ultimately cheapening the value of human life."

According to one study, music doesn't just affect children. It affects college students, too.

In a series of five experiments involving more than 500 college students, researchers from Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human Services examined the effects of seven violent songs by seven artists and eight nonviolent songs by seven artists.

The result: students who listened to violent songs were left feeling more aggressive and hostile without provocation or threat. The study's lead researcher said these aggressive thoughts and feelings have implications for real violence.

But, again, it's all up for interpretation.

Paul Friedlander, director of the music industry program at Chico State, said there is no substantial evidence that suggests music has anything to do with violent acts.

If anything, more research says otherwise, he said.

"Research has clearly indicated that there is no correlation to listening to a song and being impelled to do something," Friedlander said. "Otherwise, every time you'd listen to NWA you'd shoot a person; or (with) Doris Day, you'd go out on a field and dance in a field of daisies."

Friedlander has a point, but many suggest that a few people will act violently after listening to violent music. And some will argue that one case is enough.

The Cleveland student was described as a "goth." He had black painted nails and wore all black clothes, including a Manson T-shirt. Manson was the boy's idol, according to several reports. So naturally, just like after Columbine, Manson was targeted. Maybe not directly, but his name was mentioned.

People still blame Manson and other artists for many pointless acts of violence.

Is that fair?

Friedlander, who is also a musician, said the answer is no.

Because if that were the case, "Why not blame Elvis for the sexual revolution of the '60s?" he said. People use music simply to help create their identities, Friedlander said. And that may include how one looks.

"If I'm a certain way, I'm going to listen to a certain kind of music," he said. "If I were to listen to Britney Spears, I'd probably be a teenage girl."

The Manson fan was just a teenage boy. A teenage boy who listened to Manson because he made him feel OK for being an outcast, for being different, for being exactly who he was.

In no way did Manson's lyrics tell the boy to go on a shooting rampage. Other factors influenced the boy. What were they? Sadly, that question will never be answered. [This is not true see other articles on this case the boy had mental problems and was frequently bullied.]

Here are some possibilities, though, something that nobody - except for Manson himself in an interview with Michael Moore - seems to talk about.

The problem isn't music. It's the influence of our country and government, Manson said.

According to the National Education Association's Health Information Network at www.neahin.org, American children are 16 times more likely to be murdered with a gun, 11 times more likely to commit suicide with a gun and nine times more likely to die from a firearm accident than children in 25 other industrialized countries combined.

That's appalling.

This stat's no better: In 2005, firearms killed zero children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada and 5,285 in the United States, according to the site.