American Social and Cultural Condition in 2000s

D. American Social and Cultural Condition in 2000s

To understand why the commodification of Emo subculture is able to run well in 2000s, it is important to highlight what happen to American society which influences youth culture around 2000s. The 2000s is considered as a millennium era when the use of technology is significantly raising in order to make everything in life easier. As a result, the industry grows fast and the role of parents or adult

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American young people do not have close relationship with their parents. Parents have less involvement in their children‟s adolescence phase so that they tend to do risky actions such as drug use, despair, suicide attempts and mental illness involvement in finding their identity (http://www.libraryindex.com). Alternatively, most American kids choose the optional space to grow up outside of family. Youth subculture is considered as the right place for them to find the identity. The development of nowadays youth subcultures in America is influenced by the role of the media rather than the self awareness of establishing the youth subculture in demolishing the dominant standard of a society.

American youth in this era are generally marked by the familiarity of adolescents with modern technology such as internet. The peer or group oriented widely increases in America not only through conventional way like having fun together in a certain place but also through an alternative way such as internet. The fast growing of online social networking sites and forums such as Livejournal, Makeoutclub, and MySpace, make young people tend to have virtual peer group oriented rather than the real one. Similarly Greenwald also states as follows:

The dominant role the internet now plays in teenager‟s lives-mostly spend at least sixteen hours per week online- is both a profound change and the next step in larger chain of events that stretches back throughout the history. Teenagers have always felt persecuted and have always been so-called early adopters, seeking ways to connect with each other that are unique to their peer group. (Greenwald, 2003: 56)

Emo subculture nowadays mainly grows up from this phenomenon. Through internet, young people have the ultimate tool or a private medium that

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music, ideas, feeling and support (ibid: 56). This community brings out cultural choices for young people as an escape for reality. It also constructs the early Emo as an underground community into a community of young people with the same taste on fashion, music preference and behavior. Various Emo bands also come out as result of this trend. Case in point, an Emo band called Thursday bloomed out by the beginning of December 2001 in Makeoutclub and Livejournal sites. Their popularity makes their video appears regularly on MTV2 and their singles peak on Billboard charts. In May 2002, most of American Emo Kids proudly wore Thursday t-shirt (ibid: 58).

Early 2000s‟ American music is mostly dominated by pop, hip hop, R&B- tinged pop, boy bands, girl bands and divas such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Backstreet Boys and Nsync. Their music conquers the American market from late 90s until early 2000s right before the 9/11 tragedy had happened. At that time, America was popular with „superpower country‟ label which can not be beaten by anything. The glamorous entertainment industries before and after the millennium era represent how powerful this country is. After the terrible event, America seems to lose its power because the superpower label has been dejected by 9/11 event. America needs a healing process for a short time which certainly makes most of American entertainment industries vacuum. To re-raise the entertainment business, the industries need to find another thing that remarkable and different from the previous stuff. Greenwald states that the media business which are very desperate post 9/11 tragedy, had found the next „big thing‟ for

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with its „emotional‟ term in media has represented what America in general feel at that time. Gloominess, sadness, depression and other related themes are well

accepted in the entertainment industry. Though, there is a fact that the hedonistic, materialistic hip-hop still dominates the music charts and media, Emo could enter the media before it is dramatically famous (ibid: 141). In the wake of this success, many Emo bands are signed to major record labels so that everything related to this subculture becomes marketable products. The depoliticized nature of Emo through various media, coupled with its catchy music and accessible themes, give it a broad appeal to young audiences.