Emo: The wrist-slitting culture

I was scrolling through some High School Friends when I noticed a caption under a pic that read:
”Wala akong Kwenta, Magpapakamatay na ako.. Ganun ba talaga ang emo?”
My answer to that is… YES. Why??
Okey, so we’ve heard of emo. It’s had its share of attention for the past few years. It’s also had its share of acceptances, criticsms, and contradictions. But for us to digest how emo works as a generally accepted ideology (if it is an ideology, in the first place), and how I think its doctrines would bring damnation to the Youth segment of the Philippine Society, we have to ask ourselves: What is emo?
Firstly, emo is a fashion statement. We see emos sporting black shirts with pitiful statements on them (by pitiful, i mean the remarks on the tshirt, not a crime against fashion), tight fitting jeans that may cause for genital cancer (^_^), and that oh so popular one sided look. Also, they have eyeliners, spiked wristbands and a glazed look in the eyes. To put it simply, emos are easily spotted in the Philippines, and their outfit is loathing to conservatists (duh?) and to the Philippine youth’s image to the international community (I’ll explain later).
Secondly, emo is a genre. No, not only a genre of songs, rather, of everything. Books, literature, fashion sense, movies. “Emoism” has become some sort of channel/ avenue through which frustrations, sadness and other emotions experienced by hormonally struck teens is manifested. Just let it all out through sadness and sorrow.. It’s all about the glamour. There’s no sense in living anyway… yadyadyadyadyadyayayaya….
Thirdly, emo has becoming a socially accepted norm. We see them everyday, we even feel the impact of their existence over in the radio, in TV, in the internet. In friendster, several of my friends have those emo-related stuff as their wallpapers. Well, quite frankly, it’s disturbing. No offense.
Now that we’ve analyzed what “Emoism” really is, which is: a way of life, let’s have a comparative analysis of what was emo then and what is emo now. Emo means emotional. In the early 1960s, 1970s, or what have you, people were emotional. Emotional in a way that celebrates life. We see colorful clothes that stand for the importance of life and the sincerity of peace in our hearts, minds and spirits. By that time, the youth rallied against the vietnam war, the korean war and others that have to be mentioned. The Philippine youth rallied against Marcos in 1988, that’s something that’s commendable, and what we saw was the celebration of life. Not only internally, but in fashion, in music and in ideology.
Compare it to today;s emo. Selfish, stupid and downright pitiful. Why? Because it loathes life! We see the blood splatter, the pale makeup, the overwhelmingly sorrowful lyrics that wrenches hearts and persuades these mindless zombies to slit their wrists. So, yes, it may be freedom of expression, but it has its own limits. I mean the MIB are in black, but they do that for secrecy and stealth, not for the blackness of the void that is their miserable lives(which is not)! Pornography is a form of freedom of expression, but it’s illegeal (in most states). Why? Because it’s bad, bad in a sense that it brings distaste to conservatives, who are prevalent in Philippine society. It brings about a metacognitive of sex which could very well be bad for a 3rd world country trying to pass off overpopulation as a problem, and whose Catholic Church won’t accept contraceptives as a means of containg the overpopulation problem.
Emo brings about a sorrowful and hopeless mindset. Whether it be subjective or not, emo brings about a culture of hapless beings trying to pass off their lives as a miserable excuse of self pity and laziness. Think about it. They’re just being emotional, yeah, that’s what they would say. But if our national heroes would see them now, the wrist-slitting youth, apathetic to the socio political situation the Philippines is facing today. They would probably wish that they shouldn’y have had done what they have done for us. “Kung alam ko lang na ganito din naman pala yung mangyayari…” Word for the emos? Think of the hungry people in Africa, and in every part of the world. They’re not emo, but they have the right to be.