Moneydick

From Wired:

A series of attacks on dyed-hair, eye-makeup-wearing emo kids began in early March when several hundred people went on an emo-beating rampage in Querétaro, a town of 1.5 million about 160 miles north of Mexico City.
The next week, shaggy-haired emo teenagers were harassed again by punks and rockabillys in the capital, prompting police protection and a segment on the TV news. Most recently, a Mexican newspaper reported that metal heads and gangsters have warned Tijuana’s emo kids to stay away from the town’s fair next month.

Latimes:

After the air-clearing sessions this week, officials downplayed any broad tensions among the youth groups, pinning the blame instead on unspecified malefactors inspired to violence by the Internet.

But emos such as 18-year-old Andrea Velazquez aren’t so sure. (For a video clip of Velazquez discussing emos, see The Times’ La Plaza blog.) She said the hostility appeared to stem from a feeling among members of other groups that emos had ripped off their styles.

Ripped off their styles?!?!? The frequent Moneydick reader may recall that the Emo subculture is a huge interest of mine. The wired article is pretty sensationalist, so don’t take it too seriously. These really are ’style wars’–something that hasn’t occurred in awhile. I guess people just get fed up.

But at least the emos can shoot tears.

Here’s a great video with a semi-articulate emo. She cites Gaudi (spanish architect) in defense of originality and style: