It's safe to say that most, if not all rock fans have fallen victim to prejudice in the big bad world before. The “normal” people look at a kid in a Slipknot t-shirt walking down the street and assume he's an angry, unstable young person. They look at a Marilyn Manson fan and wonder if the kid ever thought about shooting up his school. They look at a My Chemical Romance fan and think... Hmm, what do they think? Most likely, the “normal” people will label MCR-loving teens with the one word we can't escape at the moment: “emo.”

If you happen to have read my previous article, “In Defense of The Genre”, you'll know that “emo” is a long-dead musical movement that was based on melodic, often acoustic songs about love and heartbreak. You'll know that “emo” only lives on as a misused tag in the minds of ignorant journalists and misinformed kids.

If, however, you tend to believe journalists’ drivel in British tabloids like The Daily Mail, you're likely to think that “emo” denotes a black clad, make-up wearing, poetry-spewing cult that is solely responsible for teenage depression, self-harm, and suicide. Hey, while they’re at it, why don't journalists blame “emo” for teenage pregnancy, binge drinking and drug taking too? Go ahead, load that scapegoat up, I'm sure it can take a little more weight!

At first the British press tried valiantly to understand “emo.” But one publication decided it would be more fun – and more profitable – to go the other way, to misrepresent one of rock's biggest bands and their fans in a series of articles that went so far as to call all emo-loving teens members of a “suicide cult.”

That's right – The Daily Mail openly and continuously referred to My Chemical Romance, their fans, and bands like them as “a suicide cult.” Their first article about “emo” and My Chemical Romance was published in 2006 and was so uninformed that it made all of us who know better laugh out loud. The article was mildly insulting, but it was just an example of bad journalism.

But then, the Hannah Bond story came along. Hannah Bond was a 13-year-old self-proclaimed “emo kid,” and a fan of My Chemical Romance. She, like so many teenagers, self-harmed. Her parents noticed she was cutting herself but dismissed it after Hannah told them she was merely engaging in the act as part of a bizarre, “emo” rite of passage. She promised she wouldn't cut herself again, and her parents believed her. After a brief argument with her mother and father in September 2007, Hannah went upstairs to her bedroom and committed suicide. The coroner claimed that her death was the fault of the “emo” movement, because the genre glamorizes death.

The Daily Mail saw incredible potential for a scare-story, and within days of the coroner’s unfortunately inaccurate yet well-publicized comments, the popular tabloid was demonizing My Chemical Romance, misinterpreting their message, and printing an article so misinformed that it angered MCR fans around the globe.

One of the people most angered by The Daily Mail's portrayal of My Chemical Romance was 16-year-old Anni Smith. She decided that she had to take action. So did she send The Daily Mail an angry email? Did she post an epic rant on the MCR fan site she runs?

No. Instead, Anni made history. On the 31st of May this year, Anni and a dedicated group of friends led hundreds of their fellow MCR fans in a protest against The Daily Mail. It was the first protest of its kind to take place in the UK (although not the first MCR fan protest to occur: after My Chemical Romance fans were subjected to horrifying violence in Mexico, supporters there staged a peaceful demonstration.) The protest received the backing of respected music publications like Kerrang! and NME.

When I asked Anni why she decided to organize a protest, her answer mirrored the thoughts of MCR fans all over the country.

“We decided to organize this protest primarily so as to set the record straight on My Chemical Romance's stance on suicide,” she told me via e-mail.

Everyone knows (or should know, by now) that My Chemical Romance are very outspoken about self-harm and suicide. Frontman Gerard Way takes time out at every show to encourage fans to seek help if they are suffering from depression, and he often discusses the pointlessness of suicide and self-harm. In fact, many of his on-stage quotes were used on signs made by MCR fans at the protest, and included statements like: “If we never play another show again, keep yourself alive.” However, these quotes and others like them were conveniently left out of The Daily Mail's ridiculous articles, and this is partly what angered MCR fans the world over, including Anni. In a statement released by The Daily Mail on the day of the protest, the paper claimed that its coverage of “emo” had been “balanced” and “restrained.” Certainly. Headlines like, “Girl, 13, hangs herself after becoming obsessed with Emo 'suicide cult' rock band,” and quotations such as, “Emo fans wear dark clothes, practise self-harm and listen to ‘suicide cult’ rock bands” are balanced and restrained!

Of course, it would be wrong to claim that The Daily Mail is solely responsible for the astonishing levels of ignorance regarding “emo” and My Chemical Romance. To point the finger of blame solely at The Daily Mail would be an act so ignorant it would probably be enough to land me a job at the right-wing paper. Music journalists at other news sources (who should have known better) were among the first to misuse the “emo” tag, and journalists became misinformed about the term. This misinformation spread like wildfire, no doubt aided by internet emo-hype.

To make matters worse, after the release of The Black Parade in 2006, and the badly researched articles that followed, parents became worried about the welfare of their music-loving children. Though natural and admirable to worry about one’s child, some parents went over the top. Instead of talking to their kids, hearing them out, listening to My Chemical Romance and getting to know their supposedly suicide obsessed children, it seems that many parents relied on stuffy tabloid newspapers and self-righteous websites looking to take advantage of parents' fears and the vast amounts of misinformation flying about.

Still, some parents went about managing the situation in the right way. They talked to their children, who were happy to set the record straight on My Chemical Romance. Aside from talking to their parents, MCR fans did try to tell their side of the story back in 2006, when the British press, including The Daily Mail, first printed foolish, misinformed articles about My Chemical Romance. Fans sent emails and letters to the offending publications, and some parents even put forward their views that My Chemical Romance were responsible for the happiness of their teenagers.

In April 2007, after a reviewer for The Miami Herald called MCR's live show “disturbing,” and claimed the fans in attendance were “trenchcoat wearing misfits” who were not unlike the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech shootings, fans were so outraged that they set up an online petition. This was a show of solidarity on a worldwide level and one of the reasons My Chemical Romance affectionately refer to their fans as the MCRmy. After receiving hundreds of emails, the reviewer in question tried – and failed – to defend her offensive comments. According to some MCR fans, she left her position shortly thereafter.

Since the release of The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance fans have shown themselves to be dedicated, loyal and determined. They have tried their hardest to right the wrongs some ignorant publications appear to be dead set on making. Yet despite their best efforts, the media continued to brush aside their emails and letters. The Daily Mail almost gleefully went ahead with their inane articles about My Chemical Romance, continuing to claim they were leading a “suicide cult” and glamorizing depression.

Even though My Chemical Romance have lyrics like “I am not afraid to keep on living,” even though they tell their fans repeatedly that suicide is never the answer, and even though they have thousands of fans the world over who claim that My Chemical Romance saved their lives, the New Jersey based five-piece still found themselves being blamed for the suicide of a girl who, according to her parents, had only been listening to their music for two weeks. It wasn't just MCR fans who were shocked and appalled by The Daily Mail. British music magazine Kerrang! called the publication a “Tory rag.”

By May 2008, My Chemical Romance fans across the UK had tolerated enough. In a display of loyalty and dedication, hundreds of My Chemical Romance fans attended Anni Smith’s protest in London. They made signs and t-shirts and talked to the press, ensuring the whole day went well.

“It went great, being there was amazing and there were a lot of times during the protest when…the other leaders [and I] were almost dazed at how the whole thing played out. We couldn't believe that it was something that we had prompted and organized,” Anni told me.

Anni detailed just how difficult it was to organize and preside over the protest and it became clear to me that she is an intelligent and dedicated young woman. She met with the police, researched peaceful protesting and helped My Chemical Romance fans across the UK make their point once and for all. Does Anni Smith strike you as a miserable, death-obsessed member of a “suicide cult”? According to The Daily Mail, that's exactly what she is.

The fans' protest received favorable press coverage from Kerrang!, NME and even the BBC. Anni and the protesters proved to the world that they were fiercely loyal, positive and generally upbeat young people. But in their most offensive statement yet, The Daily Mail claimed that the protest was nothing but a publicity stunt.

When I asked her about the statement issued by The Daily Mail on the day of the protest, Anni replied It was, “pretty unbelievable, to be honest…They were grasping at straws during that statement, I think, desperately trying to discredit us and in doing so, dismiss our point.”

The Daily Mail even insinuated that Anni and the other protesters had not even read the articles they were citing as offensive, another thinly veiled attempt to discredit the protest. I have read the articles in question, more than once, and The Daily Mail did claim that My Chemical Romance are an “emo” band, despite being informed after their first 2006 MCR-related article that this was inaccurate. The Daily Mail did go on to claim that My Chemical Romance was a “suicide cult rock band” and they did link the inspirational band to self-harm and depression among their teenage fans. The article which sparked the outrage that led to the protest was not The Daily Mail's first mistake-ridden piece and it certainly won't be the last, given The Daily Mail's stance on journalism.

Only time will tell if My Chemical Romance fans have done enough to change the unfortunate, inaccurate stereotype they've been stuck with. But they've made one thing crystal clear - as long as My Chemical Romance are being unfairly demonized by ignorant journalists, there will be a group of fans willing to fight to make their voices heard, and those voices will rise up to sing a few very Famous Last Words:

“I am not afraid to keep on living.”

You can find The Daily Mail's offensive articles HERE and HERE.

Anni Smith's website can be found here: www.whatthefrank.co.uk

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