Heavy Metal - Controversies and Countercultures - Titus Hjelm
Suicide solutions? Or, how the emo class of 2008 were able to contest their media demonization, whereas the headbangers, burnouts or ‘children of ZoSo’ generation were not
Heavy Metal - Controversies and Countercultures - Titus Hjelm
Andy R. Brown
Bath Spa University
Description
Drawing on historical and contemporary material, this chapter seeks to contrast the ‘suicide epidemic’ reporting that characterized the ‘moral panic’ press and media coverage of the popularity of heavy metal with white, sub- urban lower-class 80s youth in the United States (a group poignantly evoked by Donna Gaines’ (1990) phrase, ‘the children of ZoSo’)1 with a more recent episode, that surrounding the sensationalist press coverage of the ‘emo sub-culture’ in the UK, and its alleged promotion of teen self-harm and suicide, claimed to be found in the lyrics of The Black Parade (2006) album by ‘emo’ band, My Chemical Romance.