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My Chemical Romance blamed for Hannah Bond's Death
London native, Hannah Bond, 13, killed herself recently, a situation that is all too chillingly familiar for many. Although this is a tragic event, and our thoughts and prayers go out to Hannah Bond and her family, I'd like to focus on a sub-issue.
Blaming music for this is outright sick.
Hannah's death is being blamed on "emo" bands, the band being cited? My Chemical Romance
"Two weeks before her death, she started following U.S. band My Chemical Romance. Once of their songs contains the lyrics: "Althought you're dead and gone, believe me your memory will go on."
The Emo phenomenon began in the U.S. in the 1980's. It is a largely teenage trend and is characterized by depression, self-injury and suicide. Followers wear tight jeans with studded belts and wristbands. Their hair is dyed black and word in long fringes to obscure their faces.
Emo--from the word emotional - is a reference to the angst-filled lyrics and melancholy themes of the rock music central to the culture. One of the foremost of these "suicide cult" bands is My Chemical Romance, from New Jersey...
Their first single, Welcome to the Black Parade, from the album "The Black Parade" was released in 2006 and became a huge hit, going to number one in Britain. Their concept album follows the story of a character called "The Patient" who dies of cancer"
-thisislondon.co.uk
The Emo phenomenon began in the U.S. in the 1980's. It is a largely teenage trend and is characterized by depression, self-injury and suicide. Followers wear tight jeans with studded belts and wristbands. Their hair is dyed black and word in long fringes to obscure their faces.
Emo--from the word emotional - is a reference to the angst-filled lyrics and melancholy themes of the rock music central to the culture. One of the foremost of these "suicide cult" bands is My Chemical Romance, from New Jersey...
Their first single, Welcome to the Black Parade, from the album "The Black Parade" was released in 2006 and became a huge hit, going to number one in Britain. Their concept album follows the story of a character called "The Patient" who dies of cancer"
-thisislondon.co.uk
Is anyone else out there as sick as I am of hearing of bands being blamed for the deaths of young teenagers? Hannah Bond's death is tragic and ultimately sad, and it's horrible to think of a thirteen year old girl giving up on life so soon, without actually having lived most of it. But putting the blame on bands that sing of death is as asinine as blaming video games for and uprise in crime, or for blaming Cher for an uprise in the Gay community. Can you not see how stupid that sounds? Certainly My Chemical Romance isn't the ONLY band that sings of death, nor were they the first!
This sub-culture generalization of Emo fans is causing quite a stir, and Hannah Bond's death is being splashed on the front page of every fear-mongering paper and website, warning parents about the harm and dangers of letting your child be the person they want to be. Nothing is going to cause more harm to these children than Mommy and Daddy tightening their grip on them and pulling them away from their own self-expression. And who will be to blame then? The parents? The children themselves? Certainly not... In this day and age the blame is put on everything else except the parents and children themselves. People are so afraid to seem like parents that didn't pick up on the situation before it was too late that they cast a wide net and pull in anything they possibly can to put the blame on to ease their conscience. Isn't it just more convenient to blame the music? To make sweeping generalizations of entire cultures and shun the Emo community? Whatever happened to claiming responsibility for your own actions? Is that not one of the first lessons we learn as children?
The reality of these bands are they want to save lives, not destroy them. Those of us who understand the lyrics and the pain and hurt behind them, understand and connect with the music rather than taking lyrics at face value. Stop, do yourself a favor, take a moment to listen to your children's records and actually hear what the music is about before you slap on an offensive label and start throwing around blame.
This fear-mongering is getting out of control. Let Hannah Bond rest in peace, let her memory live on, but stop using her for your own sick and twisted agenda. This is a tragedy, not a PSA.
