Their music sounds familiar, and it should. EMOs (as they call themselves) have stolen everything they have from other cultures. Everything from their looks to their music to their mentalities is "borrowed" from other sub-cultures. It's almost like someone said "Hey, I like punk but I enjoy the emotions involved with gothic music and I need an excuse to make my earlobes REALLY BIG......I'm gonna start my own sub-culture." So said evangelist sets off on a course to do so. About 5 minutes in, he/she realizes that starting a new sub-culture is tougher than it seems, so just like a rap artist or Kelly Clarkson they stole everything they needed. "Hey wow, I think I'll call this culture 'EMO' since it' s Emotional Punk music with a hollow shell of a culture based completely around the music." Oh wait, EMO isn't drawing enough new followers, ah well, time to steal more stuff.....how about we write Metalcore music with nothing but incoherent screaming and no rythm skills for half the talent working for us? That'll bring in the lost souls (poseurs) of the metal culture.

Now, personally I've heard and read quotes of EMO people stating that they're more metal than (and these are THEIR EXACT WORDS) Nickelback and KoRn. I mean, sure, take a shot at Nickelback, they suck anyways.....however, the KoRn shot is inexcusable. What has KoRn done that no EMO band could ever do? They started their OWN genre of music AND revolutionized mainstream and underground music as we know it. They started a chain reaction of KoRn wannabes (not necessarily bad) like Limp Bizkit and Finger Eleven and changed the way people looked at music. No longer were the days of chords and pentatonic scales for metal guitarists, nor were the days of 6-string guitars and 4-string basses. These tools were replaced by the Ibanez 7-string guitars and 5-string basses that are so commonly copied in today's guitar market. I'm not saying they invented them, I'm just saying that they found a use for them finally.

So KoRn completely revolutionized music as we knew it and all EMO did was steal everything that everyone worked so hard for. People such as myself have fought for the equalities of Goths and Punks all over the world, for tolerance of religion and culture. Then some kids come along and take these things for granted and develop a "Holier-Than-Thou" attitude about themselves. It's like they think that THEY fought all those battles. Like as if they were the ones who were assaulted, spat on, almost killed for what they believed in and still stood firmly in place. I know that by writing this, I come off as being "Holier-Than-Thou", yet I deserve a little bragging rights for the work I've done. Well at least more than these little children. You can't just slip into a sub-culture like you've been there the whole time and expect people to respect you, you've got to earn that respect. I have personally gained respect within the gothic community as being a bridge between cultures. I've been able to aid in the fight for cultural tolerance in my own ways, intertwining people of different cultures into a single group and then watching as they mingle. I've had success with every culture so far except for EMOs. They seem to seclude themselves completely from the outside world.

EMO seems to be in the same phase that the Gothic sub-culture was in during the Columbine days, keeping to themselves and not accepting any outsiders. They move almost in packs and seem to forget about their pasts. Members who used to be part of one culture or used to befriend people from other cultures seem to shun their old comrades and ways and start over as an EMO. I've seen this process occur over and over with many people and it's quite sad since it's not really a culture in itself; It's simply a mixed pile of cultures with some serious issues left to deal with and inferiority complexes.

Then again, that's just my point of view........please direct all hate mail to me at kittiegoth@hotmail.com and all pointless banter at that brick wall over there.