Despite his depression, Pete was a magnetic person: he pouted on the covers of Cosmo Girl, J-14, and People and he entertained MTV VJs, aggressive paparazzi, and mischievous reporters, all while touring and promoting his record, and seeking treatment for his mental illness (Maloy). Fans, especially female fans, flocked to the band, only exacerbating the anxiety they all felt in regards to their celebrity status, but there was something undeniably compelling about group; something just clicked. Fans lauded the quartet while critics scoffed at their name, professionals like JR of IGN dismissed the record claiming their “emo lyrics complement power chords with consummate predictability [… so] why bother? There are ten thousand better songs on
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As the youngest of the millennials neared legal age, their influence on the social climate became more and more visible; a more accepting, liberal way of thought infiltrated the same forums that fumed over the release and success of the band’s second, third, and fourth albums. Their old fans welcomed them back with open arms, a new generation of younger fans of all genders openly admired their record, and even considered their older records with admiration. Maybe it’s just that people weren’t ready to hear men pour their hearts out back in the early 2000s, but things have certainly changed. While there are critics who can’t think past what’s been ingrained in them, who use the term “emo” to degrade other men for being emotional, many Fall Out Boy fans not only reject the old connotation of the term, but have reclaimed it. Fans of the band, specifically younger fans, proudly declare themselves “emo trash,” and while it isn’t entirely dismissible that “trash” has been tacked on to the end of the term, it is clearly a term of endearment in context and merely reflects the self-deprecating, facetious sense of humor that is not only common with, but valued by American youth today. A term that once meant “any guy who wears girl's jeans, eyeliner, other forms of makeup, crys [sic], admits his …show more content…
On their latest album, American Beauty, American Psycho, while the lyrical content is a bit different than it was ten years ago–– it’s much more about reflecting on the band itself––it’s still as emotional as ever, and consciously so. In “The Kids Aren’t Alright” Pete wallows “Sometimes I just want to sit around and gaze at my shoes […] and let your dirty sadness fill me up just like a balloon.” It’s clear they’ve matured considerably, but deep down, they’re still the same: though they’ve mostly departed from the pop-punk Pete sought out, their craft still centers around genuine catharsis. With the steps they’ve made toward pop and hip hop and away from the rock they started out with, they’ve left behind the machismo they were trying to shake from the very beginning. Maybe the hatred chased the band out of rock and the critics got what they wanted, maybe the critics outgrew the oppressive gender roles they were taught to diligently enforce, maybe there are just bigger problems than that in the world now. This is not to say that those who hated Fall Out Boy ten years ago have magically changed their minds or that there is no longer room for toxic masculinity in the scene, because there are plenty of people, old and young, who have the same opinions. Because critics, more than anything, hate Fall Out Boy’s music because of its genre–– not pop or
As the youngest of the millennials neared legal age, their influence on the social climate became more and more visible; a more accepting, liberal way of thought infiltrated the same forums that fumed over the release and success of the band’s second, third, and fourth albums. Their old fans welcomed them back with open arms, a new generation of younger fans of all genders openly admired their record, and even considered their older records with admiration. Maybe it’s just that people weren’t ready to hear men pour their hearts out back in the early 2000s, but things have certainly changed. While there are critics who can’t think past what’s been ingrained in them, who use the term “emo” to degrade other men for being emotional, many Fall Out Boy fans not only reject the old connotation of the term, but have reclaimed it. Fans of the band, specifically younger fans, proudly declare themselves “emo trash,” and while it isn’t entirely dismissible that “trash” has been tacked on to the end of the term, it is clearly a term of endearment in context and merely reflects the self-deprecating, facetious sense of humor that is not only common with, but valued by American youth today. A term that once meant “any guy who wears girl's jeans, eyeliner, other forms of makeup, crys [sic], admits his …show more content…
On their latest album, American Beauty, American Psycho, while the lyrical content is a bit different than it was ten years ago–– it’s much more about reflecting on the band itself––it’s still as emotional as ever, and consciously so. In “The Kids Aren’t Alright” Pete wallows “Sometimes I just want to sit around and gaze at my shoes […] and let your dirty sadness fill me up just like a balloon.” It’s clear they’ve matured considerably, but deep down, they’re still the same: though they’ve mostly departed from the pop-punk Pete sought out, their craft still centers around genuine catharsis. With the steps they’ve made toward pop and hip hop and away from the rock they started out with, they’ve left behind the machismo they were trying to shake from the very beginning. Maybe the hatred chased the band out of rock and the critics got what they wanted, maybe the critics outgrew the oppressive gender roles they were taught to diligently enforce, maybe there are just bigger problems than that in the world now. This is not to say that those who hated Fall Out Boy ten years ago have magically changed their minds or that there is no longer room for toxic masculinity in the scene, because there are plenty of people, old and young, who have the same opinions. Because critics, more than anything, hate Fall Out Boy’s music because of its genre–– not pop or