I Am Not Afraid To Keep On Living
I am a huge fan of music, specifically of the live variety. I go to concerts every chance I get. The Bay Area, which until recently was my home, is a Mecca for live shows. I’ve seen all my favorite bands multiple times. My all time favorite band is My Chemical Romance, who unfortunately have earned themselves an “emo” label by those who don’t really know any better. Their last album was about living, and beating death when it came calling. I’m not really sure how that fits into the emo mold, but there we go. So for this week’s assignment, I jumped at the chance to write about a mass medium that could send undesirable message. I take this topic personally, because my favorite band is quite frequently blamed for the suicide of young people, who just happen to listen to their music.
Based on my research, I am confirmed in my belief that music does NOT have a negative effect on people who listen to it. There are plenty of articles everywhere I look that loudly proclaim how negative emo music. However, the arguments are weak. One website I visited claimed that violent music could be a sign of a violent teen. This was their opening argument. I’m sorry, but this just isn’t very convincing. Could be. That is not something I say when I want people to take me seriously. This argument came from the Media Awareness Network.
A survey by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry said people are labeled as emo due in part to the music they listen to, which can then lead to further problems, such as bullying. Again, not true. The music I listen to is definitely under the category of what many people consider emo. However, I am one of the happiest people I know.
JSTOR had a study of music on anxiety. One of the researchers’ finds was that music can minimize frustration. This is true. For me, when I listen to “emo” music, it helps to know that there are people who experience pain and sadness just like I do, and this in turn helps me feel less frustrated with everything going on around me.
All this information fits most closely wit the “Spiral of Silence” model. The four steps describe perfectly the difficulties faced by “emo” people every day. They then turn to the music of people such as My Chemical Romance and Panic At The Disco to escape that fear of isolation described in the model.
These grounds are relevant because emo music is just that: music. Ultimately, if a child is going to suffer from depression and perhaps become suicidal, chances are they would be so with or without the music they listen to.
Readers might argue that the anger in and despair in emo music encourages people to go and slit their wrists and other such harmful things. The My Chemical Romance fan-created tagline is “MCR saved my life.” Countless fans can give testimonies of almost losing it, but listening to their favorite band put them back on track and made them realize that perhaps life wasn’t so bad after all.
As I sit here writing this, the lyrics to one of My Chemical Romance’s songs fill the room. “I am not afraid to keep on living,” proclaims the lead singer. If this isn’t positive and anti-emo, then I don’t know what is.
References
alterophobia@gmail.com. (2008, May 28). Expert study shows how accusations of being “emo”
are tied to being bullied. Message posted to
http://alterophobia.blogspot.com/2008/05/expert-study-shows-how-accusations-of.html.
Media Awareness Network. (2008). Negative Effects of Music. Retrieved
Fromhttp://www.mediaawareness.ca/english/parents/music/inappropriate/negative_effect
s_music.cfm
Peretti, Peter O. and Swenson, Kathy. (1974). Effects of Music on Anxiety as Determined by
Physiological Skin Responses. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/pss/3344765
