As I've reported at my personal blog Intersections, emos are under attack in Mexico. Here are a few good primary sources to better understand what's happening.
In Mexico, emo culture is a butt of many jokes. It is either despised intensely or generally ignored. But it's only the despising sentiment that lately has been getting wide airply. In the above clip, a Televisa on-air personality named Kristoff expresses a serious dose of anti-emo rhetoric and switches to English to say, on network television, "Fucking bullshit" to the emo movement. Some emos I've interviewed point to the Kristoff clip as a defining provocation of the current wave of anti-emo violence. Now check out this clip from another Televisa program where three emos are interviewed about the attacks. At the end, the kid on the left asks if he can say more thing: he directly accuses Kristoff of spreading anti-emo hate.
At Last.fm, a user named Harry24 posts a lengthy analysis of the anti-emo phenomenon, suggesting that it's part of a government conspiracy to divide the populace. Stay with me here. According to the respected left-leaning daily La Jornada, this is in fact not a far-fetched delusion by a small fringe of online crazies. As linked at Intersections, La Jornada flat-out goes and says it, quoting a professor at the UNAM who says the violence is a "reflection" of the social tensions dredged up by the 2006 electoral crisis. (If you don't read Spanish, Google's translation function is a useful tool to generate a nominally comprehensible version in English.)
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Comments
There are 17 comments posted for this article.
I hate that music myself but i dont go out there and beat them up eveyone has their taste but emo is not real music. sOMEONE SHOULD GIVE THIS people a lesson about Rock n Roll.these kids are being brainwashed into thinking its okay to dress and listen to that ''music''.Have they heard about JUDAS PRIEST ROLLING STONESOR THE SEX PISTOLS NO!! SOMEONE SHOULD TEACH THEM FAST OR ELSE THEY WILL KEEP GETTING BEAT UP THEY NEED TO WAKE UP. VIVA EL Rock n ROLL viva MEXICO!
Posted on March 24, 2008 9:52 AM by jessica B
What the hell is his problem. Just because someone does not have the same taste in music as you do does not give you the right to say they are confused with their tastes. He should be taken off the air in Mexico, such type of hate speech should not be supported by Televisa.
Posted on March 26, 2008 4:29 PM by Issac
Hey puto, sabes que vete para el diablo el que iso este estupido video to no soy emo yo soy yo, y no me importa si otra gwnte diga eso pero eso si duelo y si you veo que esto estupido asscrap bitch ass ho from the mutha fucking hell esta en U.S y me van arriba de mi mato a cualquiera que me trate de darme asta una cachetada y si soy emocional pero tengo mas balls que mucha gente! :[ kiss my ASS!
Posted on March 26, 2008 6:54 PM by Velssy Vampire
hey, i dont think sex pistol justifies anything.
no need to name drop bands, but they do a bit too obvious into the style.
Posted on March 26, 2008 8:16 PM by diana
Kristoff regularly uses his show (which, btw is on basic cable, not network tv) to try to pass off intolerant macho behaviour as "cute" and slide in as many gratuitous bad words as possible.
The last time I saw his show, he used the Spanish equivalent of "f_g" to make fun of a fan-sent pic that showed -get this- a guy with his arms around his friends.
Posted on March 27, 2008 1:40 PM by Felipe
Boy, talk about "fucking bullshit" -- the commenter above should get a life.
Posted on March 27, 2008 1:55 PM by Sharan
That guy is bashing emos with a haircut like that? this guy is so in the closet, his closet has a closet.
Posted on March 28, 2008 9:04 AM by Ed Fladung
I think this is rediculous.Just leave the emos alone! They are people just like you.
Posted on March 29, 2008 10:13 AM by Meli
Emos, hipsters and trust fund babies should all die. The next genocide should be based on cultural classes not race.
Posted on March 29, 2008 3:18 PM by song kwai li
Well that Kristoff looks like he's wanting to start a career with some Boy Group. He shouldn't lose any word about bad taste... This Emo-Hating is childish pathetic bullshit. And the Commenter above should get castrated.
Posted on March 30, 2008 10:23 AM by Chrigy
This guy is so far in the closet he's finding christmas presents...
Posted on March 31, 2008 11:34 AM by Lex
i like emos. like from emocorner.com the members are great
Posted on April 4, 2008 11:06 AM by hil
i totally agree, as a mexican, i've seen conservative parties trying to divide the country, attacking those who don't think the same (emos, punks, everybody). Of course Kristoff is an asshole, and Televisa is a network which manipulates the country. Tolerance is a must, let's just respect each other! I don't see what's wrong with emos, we should just let them be!
Posted on April 7, 2008 8:48 AM by Charlie
hey wat the fuck is ur problem im emo and i have been in amental hospital 5 times for it emo doesent mean wat u just sayed it means u have a problem that makes u go crazy so fuck u who gives a shit wat u think
Posted on April 27, 2008 8:10 PM by maria
i think they r stupid they need to leave us alonei seen a vid the other day they killed a emo gurl for only being emo this needs to stop
Posted on April 28, 2008 11:20 AM by emilo
so you're telling me that guy has the authority to tell people what is and isn't music? since when does anyone have the right to tell someone what they should or shouldn't listen to; what is good versus bad music; what is or isn't music. critics, or whoever for that matter, can say whatever they want about any piece of music out there, but NO ONE voice is the end all to any of these questions. the important thing is that the individual is able to express him/herself with whatever music they like. listen to what you want to listen to. not to what some d-bag is telling you to listen to. think for yourself. that's one of the only true currencies you have left in this world.
Posted on May 2, 2008 2:50 PM by Mangot
I'm emo and ever since people found out my life has been a living hell. People would call my house and leave horrible messages saying that I should die. I had a life and I used to have friends. Now thanks to chavs people stay away from me thinking that emo is an illness and that its contagious. Its horrible but I'm still proud of not being a sheep like others. I stand out and people thinks that an excuse to shout things and point and say " shes an emo i hate her". Because you don't know whats going on in my life and you have NO right to judge me on what music i listen to and what i wear. I speak on behalf of all tormented emos in the world when i say that we are human beings and are just like you so dont judge us on what we look just judge our personality and if you don't like it then fuck off cuz we hate YOU.
Posted on May 8, 2008 10:49 AM by Shingalana