Finally, someone with half a brain.
Jesus, I have been so fucking sick of listening to people give MCR shit for something they're not even doing. They've helped me through my darkest times and continue to do so every day when there are times I wish it could all end. But no matter how hopeless I get, I never even consider suicide or self-harm as an option, almost entirely just because of what MCR have taught me. Even just hearing Gerard's voice in the back of my head helps me through everything and makes me feel so much better. They've made me feel strong, given me hope, given me confidence, taught me that I'm not alone, and not to give a shit what anyone else says. It's amazing how much comfort can come just from feeling like you're loved and understood by five random guys you've never even seen in person.
And I wish people could understand that. I would love to see the reaction of all the 'haters' if they could just feel and experience firsthand the effect this band has had on countless people. Because I think they'd be quite surprised.
People fear what they don't understand. That's what makes society/the media/whoever afraid of MCR and people like us. Because that's what they really are--afraid. We pose a threat to them; we threaten their rules and standards because we refuse to just go along with everything society tells us. We think for ourselves, and we're not supposed to do that.
In all fairness, from an outsider's perspective, I guess I can somewhat understand why someone would oppose a band after hearing all sorts of horror stories about how the music engendered this kid to do this, whatever 'this' happens to be. Bond's suicide, for example. But the other side of that is, people shouldn't just automatically assume that it's true just because someone else insinuated it. Likewise, people need to stop blaming everything on the music. Because despite what everyone seems to think, music very rarely ever is what pushes a kid to do something bad, much less FORCE them. I'll be the first person to say that music is a very powerful thing and can affect a person greatly, positively or negatively, but it does not, CAN not, FORCE them to do anything. Every time a kid kills other people or commits suicide or something like that, where's the first place people look for an explanation? Not the kid's home life, not the kid's social life, not any possibly mental disorders--no--they go through the kid's iPod. "Uh oh, THIS band was on there, that explains it! SOUND THE ALARM!" Only after it's been confirmed that there's nothing more on there than Rihanna and the Jonas Brothers, such 'decent music' (which I personally find to be extremely depressing for reasons I won't go into here), can we begin to examine other possible causes.
Also coming from an outsider's point of view, there are inevitably some fans who give something a bad name. Bond being one of them. She misinterpreted everything MCR was saying (considering they even had ANYTHING to do with what happened to her), and unfortunately this misunderstanding caused her to do something extreme that not only harmed herself, her family, and the people around her, but also anyone who might be 'tied' to her, so to speak. Not to sound unsympathetic toward Bond, but...well, actually, you know what, as awful as it sounds, I kind of am. Not because I'm mad at her for starting this whole anti-MCR/anti-MCRmy commotion, but in my opinion, what she did was flat-out stupid and from what I've read, the reason she did it was because she thought it made her 'cool'. If you ask me, that's the absolute WORST reason to do anything. That's why I have a hard time sympathizing. I'm sorry it had to happen, but I can't quite say I pity her.
I'm rambling, as usual. But honestly, this needs to stop--not just the MCR thing, but this 'emo' shit in general. Really, does anyone even know what it means anymore? 'Cause I don't. It's been twisted and distorted and interpreted so many different ways that I don't know if it's a fashion style, a music style, a mindset, or whatever. Everyone will define it differently, as happens with most anything, but even any other subculture (if that's an appropriate term) like Goth (fuck yeah ;) ) or hippie--yeah, ask 10 Goths/hippies what Goth/hippie means, and you'll get 11 different answers, but still there actually is some sort of definition, a purpose. Maybe a true 'emo' (if there are any), could tell me differently, and I'm open to that, but it really doesn't seem like 'emo' really means anything. It's worthless, it's nothing--it doesn't exist. So can we all please just get over ourselves and quit slapping the label on everything that's too dark/different to be 'mainstream', but not enough to be 'Goth'? Or however the hell you people determine what's to be called 'emo' and what's not?
For the record, death is not a bad topic. Just as with everything, there is great beauty in it as well as ugliness. I personally find death, as tragic as it can be, to be an extremely beautiful thing. This is not to say that I at all condone people going out and killing themselves or others--I don't. But death is not a subject to be ignored. Whether you feel comfortable contemplating it or not, you can't escape it. So you might as well make it a little easier on yourself and not try to run away from it in fear. Additionally, things like suicide and self-harm and violence are obviously important topics as well. MCR gets shit because they address these things; it's assumed that they condone it just because they are blatantly unashamed to mention it, and even make it a main focus. But that doesn't mean they support it at all. If you're trying to make a point about something, if you're trying to convince someone not to do it, isn't it usually better that you actually address that topic clearly? It's like if you wanna talk to your kid about sex--if you want to prevent them from doing it, it's usually helpful if they actually know and understand fully what you're talking about, and that's best done by addressing it head-on and not just avoiding it, hoping that then they won't ask questions and won't get involved.
Media and people can try to put us down all they want--it just makes it that much sweeter for us when they find themselves unable to squash us. We don't need to listen to them. Let them scream and cry and go hysterical over something until it kills them. In the meantime, the rest of us can just sit back and laugh at their ignorance and stupidity. Not to say a lot of the stuff I hear about MCR being dissed doesn't piss me off sometimes, because it does. The reason, however, is not the fact in and of itself that people are ignorant and judgmental of it and afraid of it because they feel threatened and don't understand it (it's a big pet peeve of mine though, I will admit). Mainly, it's simply because you should never, EVER, diss ANY part of MCR in my presence unless you have a deathwish. I'm probably far too 'passionate', shall we say, for my own good, much less that of others. ;) But I believe I have a damn good reason.
Yeah, yeah, "just fucking shut the hell up already". I'm working on it. I could go on and on about this literally forever, but in a nutshell:
--Media and society are about the stupidest things on earth and can go fuck themselves.
--Too bad for them that they're fearful and threatened by something they don't understand; they can't do a thing about it.
--The 'emo' label really needs to stop unless we can actually figure out what the fuck it is.
--MCR SAVES LIVES; they are our guardian angels; they're wiser, kinder, and care about the world more than 99.99% of anyone else that will try to influence you. In other words, they're better than you. :)
Sorry if I've offended anybody with what I've said, but to be honest I don't really care that much. However, if someone could actually explain to me what emo really is (if it even exists), I'd love to hear it. And I mean that truly; I'm not just saying that so I can be an asshole and shit on you for it. Likewise, if anything personal I've said sounds cliche and poser, I know what I am so I don't give a shit what you think. But I believe most of you here can attest to much the same things.
My Chemical Romance is the greatest fucking thing that ever happened to this sad excuse of a world. Period.
xoxo, exactly what my username says I am.