So here's a tasty international news nugget for you, which I first heard about on - where else? npr - and which was later corroborated for me by my friend and fave keen cultural commentator, Raúl Argyr Tapia:
Apparently, in Querétaro, Mexico (where I lived for a short time on a couple of occasions), a group of emo kids was plaguing la Plaza de los Perritos (so named for the totally lovable fountain with puppies squirting water out of their mouths which graces the shady Plaza). First there were twenty or so of them congregating there on a regular basis. Their ranks slowly grew to fifty or so before some other counter-culture adolescents started the Movimiento Anti-Emo Querétaro. I believe I don't have to translate this for you, yes?
Via MSN Messenger, Facebook and Hi-5, Querétaro's punks, goths and stoners organized a bit of a rumble for this hipper-than-thou crowd. Never did they suspect that some 800 people between the ages of 14 and 17 would turn up to shove around los emos, but that's what reportedly happened. Now, it may seem like a low blow to beat up someone who would, by way of retaliation, most likely write a vengeful song about it, but here's the best part: they didn't bring guns, or knives or chains, or even use their fists. They just pulled hair and bitch-slapped los emos until they scattered like so many startled antelope in skinny jeans, their long, androgenous bangs obscuring their tears. Later, the unease spread from Querétaro to Mexico City, where events turned more violent.
Naturally, at this point, this tempest in a teacup attracted a good deal of media attention, which raised a question for many blissfully ignorant, mainstream Mexicans: what the hell is "emo"? Several emo kids were interviewed in the national media in an attempt to arrive at a conclusion about what, specifically, motivated these disenchanted youths. The latter insinuated that they were participating in a cultural movement of some kind, but not only were they unable to agree amongst themselves about what defined un emo, not one of them was able to offer a satisfactory explanation of what that cultural movement might consist of. So intriguing was this topic that the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) conducted a study in an attempt to determine what, if anything, it meant to be "emo". This study has tentatively concluded that "emo," in Mexico anyway, amounts to little more than a fashion trend and possesses no mores to speak of. Meanwhile, los emos protested and marched in diversity parades up and down La República.
Where to even begin with this? First off, I love that, in Querétaro anyway, teenagers had the good sense not to beat the crap out of those fifty (dis)affected kids. And I think it's fascinating that in this case the trend started in a provincial city and radiated to the Distrito Federal, which is kind of like something becoming all the rage in Wisconsin and having it take off with kids in Los Angeles.
The emo kids I met in Querétaro were, beyond a doubt, modder than mod. They had definitely perfected the look and assembled a credible dossier of obscure North American bands. But anyone from my country whom I might, in certain moments, have been tempted to designate as "emo" would eschew that classification absolutely and would certainly never, ever go on national television or march in a parade in order to justify his/her choice to dress like an extra from Revenge of the Nerds. Not that I have ever really checked, mind you, but last I checked, "emo" arose from the independent music scene, based on people just kind of going about their own business and expressing themselves, albeit at times a particularly whiny, mopy aspect of themselves. Not exactly a cohesive group, nor something you can particularly mobilize around except by putting out another 7-inch. Unless you're 14 years old and Mexican, in which case you wouldn't think of doing anything without 42 or so of your closest friends.
My sources have confirmed for me that there are no - count them, zero - Mexican emo bands. And I think that, deep down, what bothers Mexicans so much about los emos (while punkies, hard-cores, ravers and "darks" form a relatively peaceable kingdom) is that this is a hothouse flower of a trend that never could have sprung from Mexican soil. Mexicans aren't fundamentally outraged by being all alone in the universe. In fact, the nation's most famous cultural commentator, Octavio Paz, wrote that Mexicans inhabit a "Labyrinth of Solitude". Of course we're all alone in the universe, they seem to say. So what? That doesn't mean we have to act all alienated about it. In fact, it's precisely our shared solitude that makes us all the same. So the emo's angsty assertion of North American-style individuality, plus the North American music and androgenous, anti-macho looks -- all this backed by a lack of discernible ethos -- make them the consummate manifestation of all that is un-Mexican.
This whole thing is just the flipside of the whole U.S.-cultural-imperialism pizza token. This time it's gringo sub-culture being emulated. At first glance it may look anti-hegemonic, but there it is: it's gringophilia all over again.
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