I don’t think my mum has much to fear from ‘Emos’
Henry Sands meets a group of ‘Emos’ — ‘emotional’, black-clad teenagers — who claim to hate his mother for what she wrote about them in the Daily Mail. But they’re not very scary
I was walking through Hyde Park with a friend on Saturday when I noticed some people dressed in black gathering on the other side of Round Pond. At first I thought it might be a school trip having a picnic, but the eclectic mix of young teenagers — many of them with their parents — and peculiarly dressed older people suggested otherwise. A few of these gothic-looking creatures were holding banners and signs. The first I saw read ‘free hugs’. It was being held by an attractive dark-haired girl.
‘That’s nice,’ I thought, but before I could go to receive my hug, my friend pointed out that I was perhaps too old for that kind of thing. The next sign I saw was not quite as inviting. It read, ‘I am not afraid to keep living’ and was being held by a boy of about 15. In normal circumstances this sentiment should not have justified a placard. To me, ‘I am not afraid to keep living’ is as rhetorically powerful as ‘I am not afraid to brush my teeth.’
But among this gathering of netherworldly creatures, this appeared not to be the case. It was the third sign that really took me by surprise though. It read “F**k the Daily Mail’, asterisking the letters to avoid undue offence. This one was being held by a bald-headed man in his late twenties wearing a spiked dog collar around his neck. He didn’t look like someone I particularly wanted a confrontation with. Then I saw a radio presenter and realised what the occasion was. We had walked into the middle of the ‘Emo’ community’s protest against the Daily Mail.
Emos — short for ‘emotional’ — are young rock-music fans who dress in black clothes, wear dark mascara and make a point of showing their despair. Crucifixes, piercings, leather boots, chains and studded necklaces are also fundamental Emo trappings. Their anger towards the Mail started after a piece in 2006 describing them as dreary, ugly and romanticising suicide. The reaction to the article was instant. The pages of Kerrang! magazine were overrun by Emo fans demanding revenge. The Mail writer concerned was reported to the Press Complaints Commission and her Wikipedia entry rewritten by angry Emos accusing her of gutter journalism. A few days later, a cousin at the Reading Festival reported that 150,000 fans of the Emo band My Chemical Romance (MCR) were chanting, ‘F**k the Daily Mail’. He said they were still cross with the writer, too. They were chanting, ‘F**k Sarah Sands’. This was worrying, for Sarah Sands is my mother. I decided not to tell her that bit.
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David Short
June 6th, 2008 8:27amOne over-privileged middle-class London kid writing about the antics of other over-privileged middle-class kids, whose parents can afford to lunch in Kensington restaurants.
Will the Spectator ever return to what it was?
A friend of mine has just cancelled an 11-year-long subscription because of this sort of drivel, and the subs department is wasting its time begging him to return if you keep publishing tripe.
John Havenhand
June 6th, 2008 4:26pmDear David - as a signed up member of the underprivileged working-class - I feel honoured to write in defence of those more fortunate than myself. Neither do I particularly object to the article. I suspect you may have had a bad day. Can I recommend you adopt Rod's remedy when under pressure - "fix a drink"!
CharlieRay15
June 7th, 2008 9:57amIsn't it nice of the Spectator to give so many opportunities to scions of meejah families to write inconsequential pap?