how does one become "emo?"

[kylerexpop]

i MUST know! purely out of curiosity.

or, if you can't answer that, maybe you can tell me:

what, in your opinion, does emo mean? if one is "emo" then what does that say about that person?

thanks!

[TheOogieBoogieMan]

Because I'm a fan of visual aides, I'll answer the first question with a video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHTAT_UPm18 (WARNING: Naughty language and a couple offensive images)
If any of that applies to you, you are eeeeemo!

As for the second question, emo (the image) in my eyes is one of the more embarrassing trends to be foisted upon us; I'd seriously put it up there with Jheri curls and Beanie Babies. So if anyone is emo, it tells me that in about 10 to 20 years, they're going to find their old emo clothes and makeup in a crate in the attic and start kicking themselves for giving in to the trend.

Back in my high school years (which really ended just last year), I would see kids slab gel onto their bangs to get that "over one eye" look, and even then, they would still keep adjusting it throughout the day.

EDIT: I removed the reference to emo music in that long paragraph, because although I hate emo music, it's the fashion that bugs me. There's only one emo band I like, Reggie and the Full Effect.

Also, for kicks and giggles, here are links to Hope is Emo and Signing Emo by MC Lars

[Ms. Jellybean]

Ewwwww, not to mention the fact that over-gelled bangs result in even more forehead acne.

Which results in teen angst.

Which results in emo!

I'm sure Wikipedia has an entry on the subject, and if all else fails, urbandictionary.com is your friend on this one. I'm not saying it's entirely authoritative. But it's a good starting point.

There's also a trend called "scene" that's basically emo without the faux depression.

[DarthShady]

There's a song called "I Must Be Emo" or something that my cousin made me listen to Thanksgiving of '05. It was pretty hilarious, mocking the whole trend. It started "Dear Diray, my mood is apathetic," and continues on with ironic "emo" poetry. (Lots of dark abysses and such.)

Emo is a horrible trend that took my high school by storm. Four years ago, during my freshman year of high school, this trend called "emo" suddenly caught on like wild fire. Over the course of what felt like maybe a week at the most, a good quarter of the school all went out and bought lots of maroon t-shirts, hacked of sections of their hair, and downloaded horrible music that sounded like some boy band ate a cake mix of pop, disco, punk, nu goth, techno, and alternative music and threw it all up into a toilet of chopped up Emily Dickinson lines, only worse. And everyone LOVED IT. Except the gangsta' kids at my school. Oh, how I love Camden County, NJ!

Anyway, my friend Jess once came up with a good definition of emo: It's basically self-loathing teenagers who have nothing to complain about in life, so they all decide to complain about their ex-girl/boyfriends and parents and living in upper class suburbia. She also brought a good point about emo fashion -- it's aimed an omnigender goal. All the guys wear girl pants and the chicks wear boy pants.

This is one of those things that will go down in infamy, and when VH1 does a series of "I Love the 2000s" or whatever, they're going to put this up on the Worst Trend That Seemed Cool At The Time Ever List. It'll be right on top of Day-Glo of the '80s and just below polyester of the '70s. Yuck.

Panic! At The Disco must die.

[TheOogieBoogieMan]

darthshady said:

There's a song called "I Must Be Emo" or something that my cousin made me listen to Thanksgiving of '05. It was pretty hilarious, mocking the whole trend. It started "Dear Diray, my mood is apathetic," and continues on with ironic "emo" poetry. (Lots of dark abysses and such.)

The first link on my post is to a video version of that song. Good good fun.

[DarthShady]

Ahahahahahahahahahaha! I only heard the song when my cousin played it for me, I didn't see the video.....That is too good! "To emo for my face." Though I have to admit, I play old Nintendo, but it's only because I can't actually afford anything newer than N64 (which I play as well.) Am I emo now? Maybe I should carve my ex-boyfriend's initials into my wrist and watch myself bleed but not actually cut enough to kill me. 'Cause you know, only scary goth kids do that....Where's my diary? It's time I should record the depression my parents inflicted on me today....

I feel like tacos.

[deusdragonexx]

No, seriously, I *do* feel like tacos...

[sirgallahad2]

Okay..... EMO..

So THAT is what those whiny, lame-ass white suburbanite trouser-stains are calling themselves nowadays. I will admit, I rocked corduroys and my Vandals T-shirt back in the day with a pair of Vans, But these kids just look like ponces. Their Grandmother died when they were 3 so that makes them think that they understand pain and suffering. It's comical really.

[sirgallahad2]

Additional note: Just watched the "I must be emo" video. Leatherface, Michael Meyers, Jason Voorhees, Pinhead and Rosie O'Donnell don't scare me NEARLY as much as emo kids. I'm terrified now. Thanks MRFH message board!!!!

[blinkfan]

If you want to be an emo, you have get your hair cut and made shaggy in the front with pink streaks and you have to cut and hate yourself.

That's how you become emo.

[PoolMan]

Makes my choice of "band nerd" when I was in high school seem so much more sensible.

[Razzberryfinn]

darthshady said:

Oh, how I love Camden County, NJ!

This can't possibly be the same Camden County that Earl Hickey resides in is it?

on the Emo subject, maybe its just ohio emos, but alot of emo people I know seem to be bi. Now, I'm not knocking anyones SO, or saying there's a right or wrong, but thats my observation. Anyone else notice the same? (Anyone else think 'emu' when they type 'emo'?)

[sarahbot]

OK, now I'm going to start calling them emus.

Objectively, I have to say I like the emo clothing style, especially reclamation of thrift. Thrifting = awesomeness, particularly when paired with square-framed glasses, which I may be wearing right now.

But really, I think emo is about being a teenager. Angsty, over-dramatic, conforming to an anti-conformist trend, and I'm sure someone with more knowledge on the subject than me could explain the fascinating drive for androgyny.

[DarthShady]

fishy42 said:

darthshady said:

Oh, how I love Camden County, NJ!

This can't possibly be the same Camden County that Earl Hickey resides in is it?

Haha, unfortunately, no. Though it would make life more interesting, and it makes the show that much funnier. I wish someone who looked curiously exactly like Jason Lee with a mustach lived here....

[Head Mutant]

And here I thought we'd be embarrassed about the whole "grunge" thing. Same stuff, different decade.

This is why I love how the dark metal-and-pimp wear of Hot Topic is right down the rack from a good ol' fashioned Care Bear stare.