Hi. Three-part-message. 1: I really appreciate all the detailed thoughts you posted regarding MCR's reunion and the heightened expectations some people have. I often found myself confused and alienated in IRL fandom situations too where people show their appreciation by throwing themselves on the ground so that their "heroes" can stand somewhere above and receive their worship.
First off…yeah, I can see why you were confused and alienated, because wow. I was a teen during MCR’s original run, and my parents intentionally isolated me from their fanbase and the emo subculture in general. So this is the first I’m hearing about that sort of behavior and I find it….unsettling, to say the least. I get that part of it was probably crowd psychology—a couple fans get intoxicated by the atmosphere and start throwing themselves on the ground, others who are equally swept away by the whole experience join in, and so on—but still. I don’t think that kind of attitude is healthy, and I don’t think that’s the sort of adoration most people want. Maybe some people do want that, I don’t know. All I know is that if I were onstage presenting my art to the world, and a bunch of people started throwing themselves on the ground in adoration, I’d be more than a little freaked out.
However, it’s my thinking that this sort of behavior doesn’t just spring out of nowhere. It isn’t born at the concert. I’ve been to concerts where the bands were loved and admired but not hailed as heroes like MCR is—and make no mistake, the energy was off the charts. There were mosh pits, dancers, people jumping up and down and singing along at the top of their lungs as the band got more and more into it. These weren’t calm and sedate affairs. But there weren’t people throwing themselves on the ground so as not to rise above their idols, either.
I understand that people are excited over MCR’s return. I’ve been listening to pretty much nothing but MCR since they announced the reunion and I’m obsessively watching the news to see if they announce more shows. And I get that people want to express that excitement. It’s MCR, after all. It’s difficult to overstate just how much their music means to people. This is a band that has saved lives and enriched countless more. Of course people are going to see them as heroes, because that’s what they are to the people they’ve saved. But treating them as if they’re deserving of not just admiration, but worship encourages people to see them as the sort of band you throw yourselves on the ground for. The more we talk about this band as if they’re ancient heroes arisen from their slumber to show this world a path to the light, the more people are going to treat them that way.
I’m not against excitement over MCR’s return. Not in the slightest. I’m not against people talking about it or speculating or posting about how this band saved their lives. By all means, be excited. Show you’re excited. Buy merch and wear it everywhere you can. Bust out that eyeliner. Buy a new wardrobe from Hot Topic. Speak exclusively in MCR lyrics. Go out and get one of those haircuts everyone on MySpace had in 2007. Blare the music, gush about it with your mutuals, talk about what it means to you, analyze the fuck out of it. But know where to draw the line between healthy excitement and unhealthy worship.
