MCR is not an excuse for suicide
This entry was posted on May 8, 2008
Earlier today I received an email from my best friend linking me to an article from the Daily Mail, a popular British tabloid newspaper. The title of the article was a typical tabloid article - exaggerated to make a point and attract attention.
“Girl, 13, hangs herself after becoming obsessed with Emo ’suicide cult’ rock band.”
A 13-year-old girl hung herself? That’s horrible! I’m definitely going to read about that. Like most of the general public, I love reading about death and destruction in the newspapers. But, wait, she was obsessed an emo rock band? That’s even better! Wait, there’s more? This band has a suicide cult? That seems kind of dangerous. 13-year-olds shouldn’t be involved in suicide cults.
A girl of 13 killed herself after becoming obsessed with a fashion which links death with glamour, an inquest heard.
Hannah Bond hanged herself from her bunk bed with a tie after becoming an ‘Emo’.
Emo fans wear dark clothes, practise self-harm and listen to “suicide cult” rock bands.
It starts off like any normal article, though there are a few signs that the journalist has no idea what he’s on about. Why does he say “Emo fans”? Surely Emo fans are fans of Emos, rather than actual Emos themselves? Dear Journalist - if you’re going to write about something, make sure you know what you’re on about. Thanks.
Two weeks before her death, she started following U.S. band My Chemical Romance.
Hold on a second right there! My Chemical Romance? That’s a band that I listen to! I think if MCR had a suicide cult, I would know about it. Hannah supposedly killed herself after only 2 weeks; I’ve been listening to MCR for over 2 years! I’m still here.
One of their songs contains the lyrics: “Although you’re dead and gone, believe me your memory will go on.”
Yes, but as I metioned the other day, one of their other songs contains the lyrics: “I am not afraid to keep on living.” If you look at any band’s lyrics hard enough, I’m sure you can find a way to twist them into something dark and negative.
Are MCR a dark band? Yes. Do they encourage their fans to self-harm and even commit suicide? No. There’s so many reasons that’s absurd (not to mention the fact that dead fans would be bad for business!)
Hannah, described as a model pupil, had started cutting her wrists but told her father it was part of an initiation into the Emo fashion.
The use of “model pupil” is supposed to try and get us to feel sympathy towards Hannah and the horrible “cult” which took her life. That’s not what worries me most though. What worries me is the fact that Hannah started self-harming and told her dad it was part of an initiation.
I’m sorry, but if your 13-year-old is cutting yourself, then that’s something you need to be majorly worried about. You should definitely not believe her when she tells you it’s part of an initiation! What sort of initiation would it be if you have to harm yourself? That’s ridiculous.
Coroner Roger Sykes said yesterday that Hannah’s death was “not glamorous, just simply a tragic loss of a young life”.
Absolutely. Death is never glamorous, and it’s always tragic when someone feels that they need to take their own life, especially someone so young as 13.
Hannah’s mother Heather told the inquest she had researched the trend since her daughter’s death.
“There are websites that show pink teddies hanging themselves,” she said.
“She called Emo a fashion and I thought it was normal.”
Typing “Emo” into google is going to get you some pretty scary websites, completely full of stereotypes. There are almost as many Emo-haters as there are Emos themselves. There are so many different forms of Emo, that looking at the “hardxcore” stuff is going to make you pretty scared for your “softxcore” Emo child.
In many ways, Emo is a fashion. But it’s not the only fashion, so why does Emo always get bad press? I personally find Metalheads quite scary. They’re far more dangerous to me. A chain-wielding Metalhead could quite easily murder me. What’s an Emo going to do - depress me to death? (NB - that was sarcasm)
Hannah gave her name as Living Disaster on her page on social networking website Bebo.
Yes, and Kelly Clarkson fans quite regularly call themselves a “Beautiful Disaster”, but you don’t see the Daily Mail complaining about her having a suicide cult either.
The article goes on, and finishes with the following:
One of the foremost of these “suicide cult” bands is My Chemical Romance, from New Jersey.
Their first single, Welcome to the Black Parade, from the album The Black Parade, was released in 2006 and became a huge hit, going to number one in Britain.
The concept album follows the story of a character called The Patient, who dies of cancer.
The Black Parade is a nickname for the place where Emo fans believe they will go when they die.
I know plenty of MCR fans, and I could get every single one of them to tell you how MCR has saved their life (without having to bribe them). MCR is not a band that encourages death amongst its fans.
I couldn’t help but “LOL” at the last sentence of the article. Sure, if you twist the words around you can say that it glamourises death - what better way to glamourise death than to have the afterlife be a “parade” ?
Is it not possible, though, that The Black Parade could simply be the name of MCR’s “alter ego” ? The Black Parade was the 3rd studio album by MCR, and it’s a “concept” album. It’s not real!
Overall I found this article pretty shocking, not in a “oh em gee that’s horrible way” (although my sympathies do go out to the girl’s family), but more in an incredulous “I can’t believe the media are writing this” way.
After a bit of googling (and perhaps naivete that the Daily Mail would be the only paper to link the death to MCR - given their track record with not having a clue about Emos), I found that The Sun were even more scandelous with their accusations.
It’s shocking to me that parents and newspapers would rather blame a band for a death than look at the possible actual causes for said death.
Call my cynical, but I think it takes a lot more than five guys from New Jersey to convice a girl in another country that life is not worth living anymore.
35 lovely people have commented
I feel terrible for the girls family, it’s definitely a sad loss of a young life.
It almost makes my blood boil reading the reporter’s conclusions about the girl’s “reasons” for hanging herself. It all sounds like the reporter doesn’t know what emo is, and didn’t bother to find out either. It’s all “let’s blame it all on emo-ness and make it look horrible so parents make sure their kids don’t listen to bands like MCR or dress in black, etc…” People kill themselves for a lot of different reasons, and it’s so stupid to think that listening to a “dark band” for two weeks will instantly make a person want to commit suicide.
I remember when it was Ozzy the one blamed for every teenager’s suicide, then Marylin Manson, now it’s MCR and similar bands. Who will be next? Whoever appears different? Who ever dresses in black and doesn’t sign about the traditional subjects?
Meh. People disgust me, really.
I completely agree with everything you said, it’s atrocious that the Daily Mail can print this crap – for some reason it doesn’t surprise me though… unfortunately 
So going by what the journalist is saying, if I listen to “Maxwells’ Silver Hammer” by The Beatles, with lyrics such as “Bang bang Maxwell’s silver hammer came down upon her head… bang bang Maxwell’s silver hammer made sure that she was dead”, I’ll start killing people/myself? Whatever…
The media never seem to get sub-culture correct.
First time commenter~
The media always finds a way to place blame on others rather than looking at it logically. If the girl was cutting herself, that should have raised red flags and wailed sirens. Impressionable children will always want to emulate what they see and emo fashion is the latest trend. Being the latest trend, it’s been twisted and molded into all sorts of stereotypes and lifestyles. That being said, there’s always the punk rocker that will say no to drugs so it really just depends on the person and their decisions. The parents should have been more involved and paid more attention to what their daughter was doing rather than searching what other people were doing. Maybe then they could have formed some understanding and founds ways to prevent this, though, ultimately it was up to the girl.
My Chemical Romance definitely added to the emo hype but people need to remember that emo is just emotional music that then grew with a certain fashion. In spite of popular belief, it can’t slash your wrists for you or in this case tie the noose around your neck.
The thing that stood out to me most was that the dad seemed to believe her that it’s just an initiation. Hell, even if he believed it, he should have done something! What kind of parent lets their child harm themselves?
Also, I strongly believe that if music causes you to kill yourself, there was something else wrong with you to begin with. We have no idea what else was going on in this girl’s head and life.
That said, I do feel extremely sorry for her (that at such a young age she felt that there was no more potential in her life) and her family, who must be shocked and heartbroken.
You know, Celine Dion’s song My Heart Will Go On has similar lyrics to the ones quoted.
But Celine Dion isn’t a “suicide cult” artist, is she?
Well…aren’t the two newspapers you’ve mentioned more like supermarket tabloid trash that runs such stories as “Aliens stole my baby!”? I’m sure that if it were covered by a more reputable rag, there’d be muchos differences in content reported.
With that said, I do feel sorry for the girl’s family - they should have seen the ‘warning signs’ and taken appropriate measures to ensure their daughter was okay.
Well after watching Helena I wanted to be a dead ballerina. Really. *rolls eyes* But really if MCR can cause suicide then why am I here after listening to them & the likes of my love Marilyn Manson? Cutting yourself is an illness. Usually the pain that is caused from it is the only thing the individual thinks they can control. I know. I used to cut & occasionally cause myself great physical harm.
I thought the US tabloids where bad!
I really like the song “Closer,” by NIN.
I think my next move is clear. 
The entire situation is filled with idiocy. The girl, was an idiot. I’m sorry. I feel badly for her family, and of course I feel badly for her. But she was an idiot for taking it so far. Her parents were even bigger idiots for not getting her the help she so obviously needed. And the media are obvious idiots for scapegoating a genre of music. But, then, this same thing has happened over and over for years and years. It’s not shocking any more. The outrage shouldn’t be over a band, or a genre, but over the lack of a caring community around the girl. However, if you have a headline reading “SHITTY PARENTS LET GIRL CUT HERSELF,” there would be a much bigger outcry.
And now people are stupidly going to hate MCR for the wrong reasons…
The Press is getting bored.
This makes me remember when the press said Pokemon was dangerous, because a kid tried to fly like a flying-pokemon. That’s not Pokemon’s fault, it’s his parents :/
And, look at this! His own father didn’t care that she was cutting herself. Come on! Even if it is an initiation or whatever, no one should cut themselves.
I feel sorry for the girl, I can’t think of what was going through her mind when she did that.
I hate it when people blame music for kids doing stuff like crime and suicide. There’s got to be something more wrong with you before music will effect you like that.
NORMAL people who listen to music like that don’t get all weird. Only people with pre-exisisting issues.
Blah.
No, sadly I am not Asian. Though I really wish I was. It’d be pretty cool. My husband thought I was Asian when he first saw me. Sorry to say I disappointed him lol!
As for the girl who killed herself, I don’t think it had to do with MCR at all. Granted I don’t listen to MCR frequently, but I do know some of their songs. They don’t strike me as that kind of band that encourages people to go off themselves. It’s just the parents and media trying to blame the death of the girl on something evil. I think they need to do a little deeper investigating to find out the real reason why she chose to end her life. It’s just a little too suspicious. I mean if my own daughter were to come up to me and tell me that she’s cutting herself as part of some initiation, I would be more than a little concerned. It sounded as though the dad didn’t really care. Quite sad, really. I feel awful for what happened to the girl, but I really wish they’d stop blaming movies, games, television shows, and musical artists for stuff like this.
This is sort of like people claiming that violent movies make people violent. While an normal, sane person would not be affected by these sort of things, people with who are already suffering from some sort of a emotional issue could quite possibly be inspired by these movies. It has become a bit of a scapegoat, to be honest. People want to escape or responsibility of their actions, so the blame movies or music.
I feel very bad for the family, and it is very, very sad when anyone, especially someone this young, chooses to end their life, but honestly, if I was a parent of a teenager and she’d come up to me and said she’s cutting herself for whatever reason, I’d probably lock her in the house, follow her every move and force her to go see a professional therapist. Like Lucy said above me, it sound like the father didn’t really care much…
I question the father. What the heck is that about? Slit wrist due to initiation? Surely that must have worried him.
Unless “Living Disaster” is part of a lyric, it must mean something more. Suicide caused by music influence is nothing new, emo music seems to cause controversy in this area.
I think the phrase “model student” is used to emphasise that she would have no reason to take her own life, hence the blame on emo-er-ness. The problem is…someone can be the happiest person on the planet but, ironically, mentally feeling low.
Next we’ll hear about a school riot due to “Teenagers” being blasted out of someone’s PSP…?
What the hell?
I’m going to have to bet here that the reporter did no real research on MCR. Their music is a bit too ‘dark’ for my tastes, but I’ve heard nothing in their lyrics which suggests suicide.
Yet another example of stereotyping.
-_-
I really feel for her parents, but not everything should be blamed on MCR’s music. Some of it I find to be quite.. fun, uptempo. It’s saved me a few times from diving back into misery.
Nowhere in MCR’s lyrics do they promote self-harm, and Gerard has told kids to stay away from suicide many, many times. It’s just parents and the like wanting something to blame depression on, when half the time it’s caused by what happens at home with family members not giving a damn, etc etc.
Something far, far worse than a band’s music must’ve been going through the poor girl’s head before she died, like the fact that her parents didn’t seem to care that she was self-harming?
The fact that her mother said: “She could be a bit moody but I thought it was just because she was a teenager.” is just horrible. If your child’s moody, surely you’d talk to her and try to get inside her feelings? Just assuming that it’s ‘because she’s a teenager’ isn’t enough.
Stupid media newspapers. =/
Obviously they had to blame someone… they always do. Most likely, the girl was already heavily depressed before starting to listen to MCR.
Very sad, her parents should have noticed it before things went out of hand…
That article had me so mad! I admire MCR for helping so many fans get away from the whole suicide thing - I actually remember them saying in an interview that was their aim. What do the tabloids know about ‘emo’? I think they should have researched a little more, don’t you? You can’t just kill yourself if you’re a ‘model student’ and have a seemingly perfect family life over a song. Ridiculous. I’m actually disgusted!
People call me “emo” every day, it hurts.They sing the “emo” song and ask me why I wear bracelets and wristbands all the time. It’s none of their buisness. MCR is not emo. If MCR killed somebody, how did it save MY life and the lives of many others? I did cut myself but I actually had a problem. Not to fit in with emos. Alot of people do hate emo kids, there are more emo haters than emos.
Reply: Hello there! Thank you very much for your comment - I’ve removed your email though because I don’t want you being spammed. 
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so this girl committed suicide because of MCR? That really doesn’t make sense.
Gerard himself has said “emo is shit.” Direct quote there.
I can’t believe the father didn’t do anything when she was INJURING herself! Good God.
And what pisses me off the most is that MCR is not emo music in the LEAST! I mean GOOD FREAKING LORD PEOPLE! EDUCATE YOURSELVES!
Sorry, Rachael. I’m a bit touchy about that. xD
I don’t listen to MCR, but I watched plenty of very explicit horror movies. Yet it never occurred to me, to imitate something I’ve seen there.
Hannah was clearly very easy to influence one way or another, or maybe she was depressed prior to having encountered this emo lifestyle.
If her parents considered it normal that their daughter is harming herself to be accepted somewhere, then they’re the ones who are sick.
It really pisses me off that most people who write about such popular concepts (emo, anime, harry potter, bungee jumping etc etc) have no bloody idea what they actually entail. Would it really kill them to do little research before sitting down and writing a load of idiosyncrasies?
My issues with emo aside, your biggest mistake was taking a tabloid and considering it a serious piece of journalism. You can’t expect anything good from publications like that.
Firstly, I cut. But I am not obessesed with MCR. Cutting is a sign of emotional pain, not rock culture.
Secondly, I must say to her father, well done (sarcasm) for taking notice of your childs pain. But I do feel for the family of that girl.
MCR are not the most emo band ever. Infact some people would say its not even close to some emo music you can get. Think proper screamo. Who said she wasnt listening to that too?
This reminds me when the Columbine school shooting in America happened, but most parents and americans actually blamed Marilyn Manson. Like thats gonna help.
No offence to her parents or anything, but if she has parents who believe her moods and her self harming is because she is a teenager trying to fit in, maybe she felt they didnt really care or understand her. Maybe they did have something to do with it, however much they feel they didnt. And how do we know whether this Hannah was bullied? Had family problems? And even if nothing was up, they obviously didnt listen to her cries of depression and a need for someone to tell her she can be whoever she wants to be and doesnt have to pretend.
If the self harm was an attempt to fit in her parents really didnt help by not talking to her seriously and not offering to get her help if she wanted it. They encouraged it more than MCR did. Sorry, but thats my opinion.
Sorry for the long comment,
Loves,X
The media sucks lately. They share with us only tragedies. I think that the people who kill themselves because of music are just idiots. Music is entertainment !
Sad that she died but you can’t blame music. Parents have to actually parent their children. Pay attention to your kid and actually take an interest in them and what they are doing rather than wanting to be liked and letting them do whatever they want.
Music/movies/video games etc all get blamed for people doing things. I think the numbers would be a hell of a lot higher if they were to blame, we all would of eradicated ourselves by now.
I’m sorry for the girl’s family, but no amount of any kind of music makes you commit suicide. Just like angry music doesn’t make you shoot up your school, and happy music doesn’t make you a teenybopper.
Also, look at your source. A tabloid. I wouldn’t trust it to be real as far as I could throw it.
What a horrible thing to happen, but I agree, it’s not the band’s fault!
To Whoever Wrote this Article:
Thanks for saying the complete truth and not twisting everything around like lots of news articles have been doing.
MCR is against suicide; at almost every concert they have, Gerard Way tells people not to commit suicide and to talk to someone because he was really close to commiting suicide himself until his manager talked to him and got him to stop.
Damn right. I get labelled emo; I follow mcr; I get f*cking picked on for looking emo, and I dont kill myself. I’m 13, this girl seriously had it all wrong and her dad could have at least f*cking helped. And blaming it on mcr? They hate suicide, they helped me NOT commit f*cking suicide, so the daily mirror and sun can go shove their newspapers up their own arses. W*nkers.
I totally agree with all of that! MCR haved saved my life to and the daily mail just hate… well everything that isnt white middle class (or higher) english, they’re the Nazis of the media! Whoever listens to what they say is an idiot; I know people who have now been banned from listening to MCR, which is such a dissapointment beacause I know from experience how MCR help people.
And also MCR HATE emo, they want nothing to do with it and say its stupid, so why would they encourage something they hate?
That’s stupid!
MCR have saved my life before, funnily enough there music stopped me committing suicide! Wonder what the daily mail would think of that.
(I do feel for the girl’s family and friends though)
Look, okay? I am a 12 year old girl and I am not leting mcr take the blame, ok? That girl got it all wrong and it’s got nothing to do with being an emo coz I am an emo, and look hey I am not dead and without mcr I would be, okay? Leave mcr alone. They sing about how to live in this cruel world, not tell you to take the easy way iot and kill yourself. THE DAILY MAIL LIESSS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hev said:
I am sorry, but I have to think that there was something else wrong there. I just can not see how the music from MCR can cause suicide.