Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Internet's Fourth Most Dangerous Word - Emo

Emo. 

It's a word that's starting to generate quite a buzz. It seems that no one wants to be associated with it anymore. 

Over the past few years "emo" has evolved from a term describing emotionally charged music into an insult.
No one associates it with good music anymore. 

Perhaps that's because of an endless stream of bad fashion choices (see Gabe Saporta at right), horrid rap/rock acts taking over Warped Tour (see 3oh!3, Brokencyde) and every teenage kid thinking they can identify with a scene they know nothing about. Let's be real, what 15 year old has ever had his/her heart shattered? Quit bitching, and just take the trash out like your dad asked you to. 

Well, it looks like those damn kids have once again ruined what we love. This week Sentry, an internet parental control organization, released a list of the top 10 words parents are monitoring and blocking from their children. "Emo" was ranked the fourth most dangerous word.

Seriously? What about the word "emo" poses a threat to teens? Is it the stereotype that if your child is "emo" he/she will cut themselves and be depressed all the time? I'm pretty sure "emo" actually refers back to those bands who used their emotional side to make great music (see Jimmy Eat World).

Either way, "emo" came in fourth on this list of most parentally monitored internet searches:
  1. Suicide
  2. Alone
  3. Dope
  4. Emo
  5. Bully
  6. Depressed 
  7. Skinny
  8. Breasts
  9. Willy
  10. Hate
Maybe it's just me, but I think this is ridiculous. It's been blown out of the water. How horrible was it when My 
Chemical Romance was accused of being a "suicide-cult" by the British media because of the death of a fan? A coroner stated that the fan's suicide was to be blamed on "emo" music's obsession with death. Right, because we're all just so dark. It's absurd and opinionated.

If your kid is looking up suicide and depression on the internet, how about you try talking to them and figuring out what the problem is instead of giving them restrictions. I blame this on bad parenting and the disconnected youth of America that never learned the true meaning of music. What a shame.

What do you think?

2 comments:

  1. Joshua-
    I've been saying this exact thing for years. To me, "emo" is not a genre of music, it is an excuse for kids to act different than everyone else, kind of what "gothic" used to be. It has pretty much lost all meaning from what it once was and shouldn't be used to described music anymore. All music is "emo"tional, and to label some types as just "emo" doesn't make sense. I agree that it is know used as a negative word, but it should not at all be considered a dangerous words to teens.

    -Gerard

    ReplyDelete
  2. Josh, I think you're emo

    ReplyDelete

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