I just got a new CD for my birthday. It's by one of my favorite guilty pleasure emo bands and as I was inspecting the case I came to a startling realization: the 'boys' who I listen to every day singing about their torturous teenage angst are not boys at all; they are 25 year old men. It's kind of scary to think about the fact that yesterday's emo kids are still very much part of the scene despite the fact that they are quickly aging. It's a little bit disconcerting to look at the lyrics talking about being "burned out" and whining about problems in relationships and not knowing how to deal with love, then open up to the band info and read that their ages span from 23-30. This CD has really got me thinking: how old is too old for teen angst? And I don't think that I can even really leave it at that. How old is too old to act and dress like a teen? Why is there even this division between the "teen" look and the "adult" look. Shouldn't everyone be able to dress and act how they want in our society?
And I don't even think that this only applies to "emo" music. It seems that many of today's teen idols are aging. A good example of this is Madonna. How is someone who is pushing 50 still dancing around singing in skimpy clothes with hits on MTV? It just seems strange to me that today's teens have so many older people to look up to these day who simply do not act their "age." But again that brings us back to why is it okay for us to act in certain ways as teens that it would not be acceptable for an adult to act. Just because I am 40-ish years younger than Madonna it would be a lot more acceptable for me to dance around half naked than it is for her to (not that I have any desire to do so).
It just seems odd to me that although most people manage to mature and behave in ways that adults are "supposed to" it is magically okay for entertainers to avoid doing that simply because of their profession. If you see a random 30 year old man walking down the street in jeans halfway down his butt and his whole body covered in tattoos, chances are you are going to be very confused and maybe a little scared. Alternatively, if an actor or band-member does the same thing you most likely won't ask any questions. Any given band that teens are listening to today is guaranteed to fit into some kind of acceptable teen stereotype by looking and acting the part... yet why is it that some of these bands are 17 and some of them are 37 and even 47. Is it bad that these artists are seemingly unable or unwilling to "grow up"?
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