Youth Anxiety
b. Youth Anxiety
Adolescence is a phase when young people try to look for their identity in facing the next adulthood phase. In particular, adolescents experience the adolescence phase at a deep and painful level (Nouwen in Anastasi, 2005: 303). This phase of finding the identity is often followed by the anxiety feelings where most adolescents feel insecure, lost, and desperate. Besides, they have to struggle to get a right place for expressing their anxiety feeling. Emo as a youth subculture
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youth anxiety sensitively, not violently, through its behavior as the symbolic system of communication. Youth anxiety generally is a major theme of Emo music which includes the feeling of desperate, lonely, hurt, rejected, lost, and insecure. Although the theme is mainly used within this subculture, the previous Emo in 1980s did not take these values too deeply. It could be proven by the application of DIY ethic showing that the previous Emo had a position as the susceptible yet independent youth subculture. However, by the exploitation of the media, now the theme is the only thing that is highly exploited within this youth subculture regardless to the independent ethic which makes Emo is the most vulnerable youth subculture since it focuses only on the anxiety feeling of adolescence phase.
In analyzing the videos, here, the view of youth anxiety is based on the common performance of the performers within the video related to the Emo theme not on the psychological aspect of the anxious feeling. Therefore, the psychological approach is not appropriate to use in the analysis since subjects that are being analyzed are correlated only with Emo ‟s behavior as the commodity within the video. The following The Used music videos show how anxiety is commodified under the label of Emo subculture.
i. Buried Myself Alive
In Buried Myself Alive music video aired on 2003, the anxiety sense is acquired from the narrative mixed with singing performance video concept telling about the four band members with each individual problem which
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Figure 95
Figure 96
The scene above lasts from 00:00:37 until 00:01:05 which tells about Bert who is being trapped inside a coffin. While the scene is lasting, Bert sings the lyric “well this time I‟m not going to watch myself die… I think I made it a game to play your game and let myself cry... I buried myself alive on the inside so I could shut you out and let you go away for a long time...” The highlighting of Bert‟s slow voice over the assembling band instruments gives a possibility for the viewers to hear what he sings while watching his performance on the music video. From the beginning of the scene it can be seen that Bert holds a lighter while being trapped in a coffin (Figure 95). This scene is intended to show the effort of Bert who tries to escape from the coffin. The medium close up shot let the viewers observe what Bert does inside the coffin. The low key lighting from the lighter is used to emphasize the gloomy sense inside the coffin (Figure 96). Added with the phrase from the lyric “well this time I‟m not going to watch myself die … I buried myself alive on the inside...” the scene tries to visualize the desperate feeling experienced by Bert because logically if somebody is buried alive in a coffin, he or she is going to die soon due to the lack of oxygen..
The visualization of lyric in this scene is purposively made to illustrate
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does not literally mean „really buried in the soil‟ but a sense of very deep depression. Of course, in visual Bert‟s acting commonly reveal the sense of being depressed which feels like facing the death. The phrase „I‟m not going to watch myself die ‟ represents the suicidal idea which in general suicide is known as the deadly effect of being depressed. As it is known in America today that the number of depression and suicidal action among young people is rising due to the problems surround youth life (http://ezinearticles.com/?Facts-About- Teen-Depression-You-Need-To-Know&id=789323). Emo is considered to respond this problem seriously through music and lyric that provides a space for adolescents for exploring their anxiety. Desperate feeling related to suicidal idea has been commodified within the videos to fit the image of performers as Emo band, like what can be seen in Bert‟s scenes. The idea of being buried alive inside the coffin till the vocalist is dying shown by these scenes show
how the depression has been a commodity to strengthen The Used‟s image as an Emo band.
Figure 97
Figure 98
The picture above illustrates about the hanging Quinn which lasts from 00:01:55 until 00:02:03 using a messy room with nobody in it as the setting of place of the scene. Quinn, the guitarist, tries to release himself from the ropes
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only on Quinn‟s effort of letting his body loose from the tight rope (Figure 98). The lyric “I guess its okay I puked the day away, I guess it‟s better you trapped
yourself in your own way and if you want me back, you‟re gonna have to ask nicer than that ” sung by Bert strengthen the desperation described by Quinn‟s performance. By using the visualization of the video, the word „I‟ does not merely refer to Bert, the vocalist, but also to every viewer who sing it and explore the music vide deeply while the word ‟you‟ may refer to other person which could be a girlfriend, friend, family or another figure who has hurt the „I‟‟s feeling or made mistake on the „I‟‟s life. This lyric, together with the visualization of the video starred by Quinn, emphasizes sort senses of
adolescence‟s anxiety feeling similar like what have been illustrated by Bert‟s scenes.
The two other members of The Used also perform the symbolic way of desperation in several scenes. Branden, the early drummer of The Used, is described of being a lost boy trapped in a room full of mirrors so that he can not find the way out instead of being confused of seeing his various reflections everywhere. He can not find the right reflection until finally he decides to break out the mirrors (Figure 99).
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Figure 99
The slow tempo of music instruments let Bert‟s voice come up when the Branden‟s scene appears. The lyric “I took advantage of myself and felt fine but it was worth the night ...” plainly brings the impression of being regret on something. „I took advantage, felt fine‟ and „it was worth the night‟ are such kind of irony since the word „advantage‟ and „felt fine‟ contains optimistic sense while „worth the night‟ tends to raise negative sense because it raises an impression to „something that has been late‟ or failure. The viewers are invited
to feel this regression feeling through the visualization of Branden who is desperately trying to find a way out from a room full of mirrors. The illustration of Branden delivers the meaning of confusedness in adolescence phase to look for the right identity. It has become a common problem that in this phase, many American adolescents are trying to find their identity through the deep and painful experience.
Jeph, the bassist in other scenes is narrated of being a drowning boy who tries to get out from the flooding water in a scene from 00:02:15 until 00:02:30.
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effort to escape from the flooding water alone without any help (Figure 100 - Figure 102). This scene symbolically describes the painful feeling of an adolescent who tries to get out from problems surrounding his youth life since
he or she feels like to face the anxiety problems alone. This scene describes the desperate theme raised by Emo. The long medium long shot of Jeph lets the viewers watch and understand his hard effort to get out from the water for several times. Similarly, it will raise the impression like what can also be found
from other members‟ scenes: the hard efforts in overcoming the problems happen in youth life alone, a theme that is acceptable in nowadays Emo.
And why is desperate theme in Emo accepted by most American adolescents? Emo here does not merely reveal the common anxiety feeling in adolescence phase but also the gloomy feeling of most American post 9/11 event. Like what has been stated in the previous chapter, 9/11 aftermath brings
a massive effect to Americans in every sector of life. In youth life, the previous glamour lifestyle to respond the pre and post millennium hysteria has shifted reversely into the gloomier one as form of commiseration toward the national suffering. This process is certainly stirred by the role of media in making the gloomy stuffs as the new trend in youth life. The early Emo in 1980s and 1990s were not really famous in America because the media have not exaggeratedly explored the gloominess of this subculture. The theme carried out by 1980s and
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America was recognized as the most powerful country, the police of the world which was strengthened after the victory of Cold War with Uni Soviet in the early of 1990s. Desperation was not commonly found in youth life. This theme was still exclusively owned by the underground American hardcore youth subculture in 1980s rooted in Washington D.C such as Rites of Spring. However, the media have found that Emo is a right stuff to replace the glamour theme with something sensitive which encompasses the national grief post 9/11 and the anxiety feeling of adolescence phase. Emo which is exclusive at first become popular because of the exaggerated exploitation. Therefore, desperation brought Emo is now a major theme which simply accepted by Americans especially youth.
ii. Taste of Ink
Another The Used‟s video describing about youth anxiety is Taste of Ink. Here, Bert dramatically shows his anxiety feeling through the scene where he
is sitting alone in a base room of his house.
Figure 103
Figure 104
Captured using long shot frame, it can be seen that Bert sits alone on the sofa while anxiously thinks about something (Figure 103). The room where Bert sits alone is such a messy one. The wall is full of scratches while the goods are not
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he used for scratching the wall behind it strengthens the alien and lonely theme (Figure 104 ). This scene painfully illustrates Bert‟s desperate feeling which make him chews the pen as a result of his anxiousness. Generally, this scene
describes the common anxiety of adolescents‟ life where most of them are doubt about the people‟s existence on their life.
Most of adolescents feel that adolescence phase is irritating because they are demanded to grow up with the standard of normal society. In America, before 9/11 tragedy, young people did not have the right place for expressing their anxiety feeling. Adolescence phase was considered as joyful phase where they can find the new experience which has not been found yet in childhood time. Culturally, the media supported the joy side of adolescence phase by exposing normal stuff such as pop music, blinking stuffs and the like. There was almost no space for adolescents to express their anxiety feeling because media at that time focused on the powerful era of America so that everything was considered normal and tough. However, 9/11 tragedy proves that America
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express the anxiety feeling experienced by young people in general. Bert‟s scene above shows how Emo today has covered the individual problem of adolescents such as terrible loneliness. Adolescence phase means anxiety. Anxiety is really close with loneliness while loneliness is the aspect of misery of which Americans in general experienced after 9/11 tragedy. Loneliness is something accepted in Emo youth subculture which other youth subculture based on rock music can not admit. It makes Emo something that is exploitable by the American media. In fact, the early Emo youth subculture members originally applied DIY ethic which means that they were more powerful and independent than what is appeared on the media now. The loneliness was not important on the early Emo subculture, but now loneliness is really acquired within Emo subculture.
iii. Take It Away
The next video showing about the exploitation of anxiety feeling is Take It Away . Applying singing performance semi narrative concept, the video mostly describes about young people‟s anxiety including the hopeless,
confused and alienated feeling.
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Those four pictures above are captured differently from Take It Away music video. Here, Bert acts as young boy who is nervously facing his surrounding environment. Using the night as setting of time, those scenes impress alienated and confused feeling through Bert‟s performances. The first scene appear in the beginning of the song, where the guitar riffs and bass lines are entering the song together with the fast beat of the drum. There, Bert is anxiously awake on his bed because he can not sleep due to the insomnia he suffers (Figure 105). Insomnia or sleep disorder often happens if people excessively think about the problems they have. The low key light on a medium close up shot enable the viewers to watch Bert‟s unhappy expression caused by his personal problems. Bert represents most of American adolescents in having the similar problem that they have to overcome it alone.
Move to the next scene, Bert finally decides to go out of his room since
he cannot sleep (Figure 106). The long shot using night crowded road as the background reinforce Bert‟s character as a lonely young boy in a crowded
place. This s cene describes the adolescent‟s terrible loneliness which becomes the main theme within Emo today. Added with the lyric, “I'm a worm with no more chances” while this scene lasts, the impression of desperation and useless is highly highlighted here. „I‟m a worm‟ phrase strengthens Bert‟s visualization
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The scene then moves to a bright place inside a hospital where Bert stands in front of older people and furiously screams “I'm so apathetic in my resentment, Living, loving, knowing not” while the other band instruments are highly distorted to support the lyric‟s intention (Figure 107). The use of „apathetic in resentment‟ phrase describes the feeling of uselessness. „Living, loving, knowing not‟ phrase delivers an idea of boredom in life. This feeling is commonly experienced by most American young people as Anastasi states that many adolescents have an intense need to feel love and accepted. They desperately seek love and acceptance but often lack the means to attain it (Anastasi, 2005: 303). Bert as the young boy here represents the common feeling of adolescents in being rejected by the society since nobody really cares of his presence. The last picture is a scene when Bert is cornered alone in a bus while lip- singing “take my hand” for eight times (Figure 108). The low key lighting impresses the gloominess and vulnerability feeling of a young boy. The phrase „take my hand‟ here is deliberately made to show the adolescents‟ longing for attention, help and love.
Here, The Used‟s music video has reflected the common adolescence problem related to the feeling of confused, unnoticed and useless. The application of those general youth problems within the video is intended to
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their common problems. Produced after 9/11 event, as it has previously stated that Emo has successfully captured the grief moment common Americans with the anxiety feeling of young people in their adolescence phase. Compared to the previous rock band before the tragedy happened, the adolescence problem themes are not commonly exploited in rock music. It happens too to several youth subcultures like hip hop for instance, which applies the hedonism, the joyful youth and other optimist themes of being youth. Emo in the first wave, around 1980s, still applied the optimistic sense of being young by practicing DIY ethic. However, it has changed since 9/11 tragedy happened. Stroke by the terrible event in a sudden, America is now being alienated and hopeless. There is no reason anymore for America to be as optimist as before the tragedy. To commemorate the event, Emo which basically digs the pessimist theme of youth life appears to give a place of expressing the national sorrow which gradually combined with the anxiety feeling of adolescence phase.
iv. All That I’ve Got
Applying singing performance semi narrative concept, All That I‟ve Got music video attempts to explore the anxiety feeling through a little boy ‟s acting as the main model within the video. It is told that the little boy enters the old bookstore until finally he is trapped inside a book that he opens unintentionally. Inside the book he finds a strange place where he can meet the band members of The Used whom are narrated as the other characters within the book. The
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This music video dramatically narrates a tragic-ending story where finally the little boy is perpetually trapped inside the book. The high key lighting mixed with the medium close up shot give an innocent notion on the little boy ‟s face (Figure 109, Figure 110). The dialogues “how does the story end?” and “I‟m looking for the end” are plainly written on those two scenes to highlight the innocent idea of a little boy who tries to look for the way out the book. Ironically, in the end, the boy can not go out from the book-world instead of getting trapped as a cartoon character forever there (Figure 111, Figure 112). The repeating phrase of song lyric sung by Bert “I‟ll be just fine pretending I‟m not, I‟m far from lonely and it‟s all that I‟ve got” illustrates the tragic ending story of that little boy. „I‟ll be just fine pretending I‟m not‟ phrase means that the „I‟, referring to that little boy illustration that he will be in fine state although actually everything in his life is miserable. Here, the little boy is terribly trapped forever inside the book, a fact that he has to accept. The rest
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Repeatedly, this music video is proposed to show the viewers about the correlated problems suffered by American in general and adolescents specifically. The miserable condition shown by the little boy is similar with what America endured at that time. After the 9/11 attack, like what have been stated in the previous discussion that everything connected with miserable and desperate feeling have covered various sectors of Americans life. No more luxurious stuff can represent American condition post 9/11 suitably since the great national suffering has changed the perception of America toward everything. It seems that there is no other way out for America to come back to its previous position before the tragedy had happened as a superpower country in the world. This fact might raise the miserable feeling of general Americans. While the miserable feeling is being experienced by almost all Americans, the industries especially those who concern on youth culture have found that Emo youth subculture is the next saleable big thing. The exploration of miserable feeling in Emo is made exaggeratedly which can be watched in almost all of The Used music videos. Young people are invited to experience the anxiety feeling deeper and more sensitive than facing the reality of life optimistically. This kind of feeling exploration can be accepted well by the American youth
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strike besides general miserable feeling experienced by adolescents in puberty phase. The little boy within the video who is confused in looking for the way out unintentionally describes the miserable feeling experienced by those two sides: Americans in general and adolescents. Historically, the previous members of Emo, around 1980s did not really focus on the miserable feeling in this youth subculture. DIY (Do It Yourself) ethic applied by the members of early Emo in 1980s proved that miserable thingy was not the main focus in the subculture. It was true if the gloomy or miserable topic was also used in the 1980s Emo youth subculture, but not as the main theme which had been deeply exploited. From this process, it is clear that the miserable thing, a feeling of hopelessness and confused, is a form of commodification found in nowadays Emo youth subculture.