By Enzo on June 4th, 2009
Quick update on Thursday’s ‘strip’: It’s going to be late, and I apologize, because I wanted it to be fully animated but last night during the time I usually get my shit done, I got caught up in a personal emergency. It will most likely be up tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest. Sorry 
. In the meantime I hope to distract you with some eye candy as well as something I’d like to discuss.
I have a question about the phrase “CHEER UP, EMO KID”. Why is this so offensive? So far I have had the privilege of meeting three distinct people who have taken offense to the phrase. Two of them were on WoW back in the day when my named my guild “Cheer Up, Emo Kid”. I was bitched at for being “insensitive”, “a bully”, and “a jerk”, among other things. The third instance is a girl commenting on the Facebook Artwork Album (you may have to trackback a bit if you want to read through it).
Apparently, “Emo kids” don’t need cheering up. Or something like that.
How can anyone take offense to this phrase? Yes, it is implying and reinforcing the stereotype that “Emos” are unhappy or depressed — but the word “Emo” itself stems from “emotional”. So by in fact defining yourself as an “Emo kid” you are admitting to that you are emotional, am I correct?
Stereotypes are stereotypes because they’re true. I’m not going to lie about that. I’m Asian and in all cases I am a terrible driver. I’m a Filipino and I switch my F’s & P’s and my B’s & V’s sometimes. The big (and only) white guys in my high school were jocks. I have a close Jewish friend and he’s pretty fucking stingy with his money. I have a Japanese friend and he is, by all accounts, insane. The same goes with “Emos” — they’re naturally associated with depression, cutting, suicide, whiny music, distinct hairdos, and black clothing (among other things) because IT’S FUCKING TRUE, RIGHT?
Please, stop me if I’m wrong.
I always thought that this webcomic would be a guide of sorts, in order to either prevent people from making the same mistakes I have, or humor those with similar experiences. As far as I see it, “Emo” isn’t a fashion trend or a type of music. Emo is a MINDSET. Anyone who defines themselves as “Emo” solely by the clothes they wear, the music they listen to, and the cuts on their arms, are attention whores. I say this because I used to be EXACTLY like this. I used to be “Emo”. I dressed up the hair, wore the clothes, cut the arms, blasted the music, cried the tears. Sure, MAYBE you’re genuinely depressed, MAYBE you genuinely have a problem, but when I look back at my own personal experience I realize it was all a bid for attention.
If you’re depressed, or sad, don’t dress it up. Get help. Talk to a friend, talk to your parents, talk to SOMEBODY. And don’t tell me “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND” because I’ve been there, believe me. Please don’t be an attention whore.
So, again, my question: Why are “Emo kids” so offended when they’re told to “cheer up”?
Okay, so this is another animation that is going to be the “finale” to the TRAPdoor story arc. I AM COMPLETELY AWARE I SPELLED TATTOOS WRONG.
Jade explodes Frank’s biplane. This has nothing to do with the story whatsoever!
Who cares what emo kids think lol
AND THAT! IS INSENSITIVE!
To you Enzo, you shouldn’t care about what people think about it when you use that sentence… If people get offended then they are probably stressed and have to react on something… Emo kids, btw, don’t to be emotinal as in depressed but can be very happy too… So yes the Sterotype about them (as I have learned yesterday thanks to my girlfriend!) is just so misplaced! In fact most of them are happy…
To be short… GTA u’re a selfish picking prick… Emo kids are mostly happy… People who get offended need to take a piss at something… You don’t have to worry Enzo, you did nothing wrong…
P.S. You aren’t even being insensitive, you are suggesting a thing to other persons to make their life better, just like your comics (usualy do)
P.P.S. And don’t worry about the comic, it’s gonna be nice and everything needs it time
or else it’s gonna be a bit rubish… And that would be a waste 
it’s ignorance like that, that was racism and prejudice back in the day where people said, who cares what black people think? who cares what gay people think? who gives a damn about poverty? well get some fucking perspective jerk, because its not the fact ur picking on emo’s, more that you’d hold prejudice on a culture. Watch American History X and get a life.
LOL, the funny thing about this is that Enzo isn’t even picking on Emo Kids. It’s the Emo Kids who decided that he’s doing something he’s not.
Cheer up!
EXACTLY!
THANK YOU I LOVE YOU
If you don’t want to be stereotyped as a depressed cutter, then don’t call yourself emo. End of story. If you consider yourself emo, you’re the one doing to stereotyping, not someone who happens to make a simple comment about the stereotype. If your depressed and like to wear black clothes, that only makes you emo if you say it does.
Personally, I take offense not at the comic’s title (which is pretty clever), but rather the modern “emo” term. “Emo” originally referred to a derivative of hardcore music – think the late-80′s D.C. music scene – and applied exclusively to music. Bands like My Chemical Romance have virtually no connection to bands like Rites of Spring. They can more accurately be described as “licorice pop” than “emo.” Anyway, enough of my music snobbery rant…
In all seriousness, depression can be a serious and dangerous disorder, so why not tell anyone who’s acting depressed to cheer up? Either they’ll have a small moment of clarity and be able to snap out of it, or they may need real help. Especially in the current high school generation, which probably suffers from depression in unprecedented numbers.
lol
if they have the time to comment and bug you about this “emo” stereo type or whatever they arn’t emo.
They are wusses as the previous comment send wiht too much eyeliner who don’t really understand what emo means and come and visit you form ioxa “I understand where you are coming from bleh”
ANYWAYS
POWER TO THE CHEER UP EMO KID
Hey Frank and i like the same bands lol
I agree with Rainbowlicious. I read an article not too long ago about how many high school kids think it’s cool to be emo. So yeah, it really is just all about attention. If I was depressed all the time (no offense to anyone who actually is), I wouldn’t want to walk around showcasing it by wearing heavy eyeliner and black clothes. Emo is more a style than a personality trait.
“Emo is more of a style than a personality trait.” Completely true.
I really did struggle in high school with depression, bi-polar, and add and went through all the madness, all the suicide attempts, and the hospitalizations and thankfully that part of my life is over. Now at college, my nickname is ‘emo kid’ because of the way I choose to dress, the music I listen to, and the way I act (which in my opinion is just being honest and not wearing a mask all the time). So for me, being an ‘emo kid’ is a reminder to myself that I got past a shitty part of my life and now I’m free to be who I am and smile about it.
I think that the people who say that ‘Cheer Up, Emo Kid’ is an offensive phrase aren’t so much offended by the suggestion that they should be happy, it’s that they don’t want to be marginalized or misunderstood. When you’re truly sad and depressed, when people say ‘Cheer Up’ it just pisses you off because if it were that easy, you would’ve done it already. And then being called ‘Emo Kid’ sucks because it means that people don’t believe you. If you dress the style and play the part, it’s you’re own damn fault – but I think its a dick thing to say to people who are really suffering from depression or grief.
Nice one. I think to be honest we’ve all been through the “Attention seeking, cool emo” phase.
If you think you’re emo, sure, great, just don’t go all bitchy when people mock you for it. You do it to yourself. I’ve been there.
Anyone of ANY stereotype gets mocked, fact of life. Deal with it and stop whining.
Good rant, pretty funny too. XD
It’s so f**king true that it’s orgasmic.
Emo kids need to grow up.. that Kristina Ston girl.. she’s boasting about her emo-ness and her emo friends.. D=
She makes it even more obvious that Emo is just a trend that kiddies find it cool.
If you’re truly sad, moan all you want, but after that.. stand up. We don’t need more crybabies in this sad world.
We need orgasmic comics like CUEK. ^o^b
Oh my god.. YOU DID NOT JUST>
woohoo Jades Fireball Action *_* i love it ^.^ i don´t know why emokids are so offense
but they need to lern sarcasm and humour ;D
emo kids like to bitch. end of story. they would bitch if you said, i love emo kids, because they hate love. or love hate. whichever.
emo kids take offense cause they are emo
I was a happy kid untill I hit 14 and the world came crashing down. I read these because of the humer and the painfully true stories. It helps. It’s not that it’s insulting it’s just kinda depressing. When you say cheer up emo kid we think “How?”. What we hate is people taking it as a joke. Just cause we have black hair and slit wrists doesent mean were waiting for death. Were waiting for light. It just kinda hasn’t came yet I guess. I hope this answered your question.
Somebody needed to rant a little methinks. Does it have anything to do with your personal emergency?
STOP.
I disagree with the statement “Stereotypes are true.” In fact, it annoys me a great deal. A more factual statement is “Stereotypes are statistically likely to be true for an individual” but most stereotypes are based solely on biased anecdotal evidence, where repudiating examples are ignored due to mental bias, so really, that statement is completely wrong.
However, suppose that a stereotype is true 85% of the time, a random number in the majority, that is easily enough to define a stereotype. Suppose the stereotype is a negative one, as they often are, in this case “all self-identified emos are attention whores.” Do you deem it fair and justified to judge and marginalize that 15%?
My personal irritating experience with stereotypes: “all men are jerks who think with their penis”
Pretty annoying to be judged as a sex-crazed jackass just for your gender. I’m sure girls who are good at math find gender stereotypes irritating too.
All that aside, your title sounds like somewhat like a sarcastic dig at emos, but given the sarcastic tone and the subject of this comic, is completely appropriate. *3* people being offended by that is really no surprise. Besides, wouldn’t you just say the reason they were offended is because they’re whiny emo kids? There, now your stereotype is justified, and everyone can go home happy. Except emo kids.
“A more factual statement is ‘Stereotypes are statistically likely to be true for an individual’.”
You’re correct, and I must admit now what I wrote initially is very biased.
Though in my defense, I don’t really mind being typecast myself into the stereotypical “guys are jerks who always think with their dicks”, because I tend to without realizing it. I don’t really mind admitting when I see myself at fault, but again, it’s a stereotype
Very good points, though, thanks for commenting.
i think the problem here is WHAT the issue’s about.
your side: emo kids (those that stereotype themselves as such) take offense because they’re sort of posers… people with real problems don’t show how hard they have it explicitly
their side: it’s not always true that emo kids are posers. some really do have problems
my side: this site is a freaking parody! fine…emo kids (the real ones not the fake ones because the hell do we care about them, right?) HAVE problems but if you’re looking at this site…that means you want to be entertained. take it as it is, don’t take the phrase literally.
…regarding stereotypes: yes some are true, some are false. generally (and currently) though, emo is a label for that clique with the bangs and eyeliner. if you don’t wanna be called as such because you ARE actually experiencing problems… then don’t dress and act like those people. if you can’t help it… then you can’t do anything about it. and anyway…if you have deep problems, why worry over such trivial things? it’s a complete waste of time.
Gotta whole heartedly agree with you there. The stereotype is true for real emo people. A sterotype is a stereotype.
YOU GUYS JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND D:!!!
*bites wrist off*
RAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!
just joking lol :3 I’m not into serious stuff much. But I’m a psychologist-to-be student and well I was emo back then. And well I guess until now. Some say it’s about music, about style, about emotion. I say they are all correct. I read somewhere up there that it’s all in the matter of opinion. Yeah true you can’t please everybody right? I know someone might just get offended with that little joke of mine o_o But I don’t mind. I can’t please everybody. But I still do try. I help my oh so emotional friends and patients from rising up from their depression. I don’t call them emo though. I just call them my friend and do my best to help them. But yeah I’ve had a lot of people go like “You don’t understand! you’re just a psychologist to be student! You”re a fraud! You can’t help me! No one can!” and with that I just tell the truth “You’re the one who doesn’t understand it. Because you aren’t listening… Turn down the music and learn to listen. You might just get the answer.”
Well that’s what I think. And as I just said in my little oh speech up there. I can’t please everybody. Someone will criticize me. Someone will get hurt. Someone will~
*gets shot*
Well… first of all, I like what you’re doing, ‘grats. So… well… to answer the question… emo are offended ’cause they think that everyone hates them or think they bitch them… I know ’cause I was one… I know that, some, they are in their guards ’cause of personal problems like… parents still shitting on their heads, using words that make them offensive, I don’t know how to explain ’cause I don’t want to make any shit on what I’m writing… Anw… I just know that they’re trouble inside and thinks that everybody are sacarstic…. well… it was my opinion… so… yup! Bonsoir
-Is way late commenting-
Where I live Cheer Up, Emo Kid is said all the time. Hell you can’t go anywhere without seing people with t-shirts that say that, it’s just a very popular thing to say over here. My friends and me say it to eachother when one of us is sad, it’s just an over used joke.
You’re right. emos are in fact associated with death, cutting themselves, black clothing etc. its the way things go. even if its not true, people like to stereotype. i guess you could call me emo, not really though, i listen to emo music and dress kind of emo… but im happy… all the time… im alwaays laughing smiling, having fun, i just chose to look like an emo. stereo typing is something thats been in or history for a very, very long time. i doesn’t just go away. the fact of the matter is, emos are generally seen as quiet, depressed people. your just going with everybody else, and frankly… i find your comics hilarious! keep them up!
Your points are valid, but I think you missed your best defense: it does not matter whether they find it offensive. You are a writer (the author of one of my favorite strips ever), and your strip deals with the emotional throes of people that define themselves as emo. Not only that, it shows how your emo characters are able to define themselves as humans rather than a childhood label, and therefore cheer up. The point is, “Cheer Up Emo Kid” refers to your emo characters, and you can damned well tell them to cheer up if you want to. It is the whole point of the strip. And, if you can offer some inspiration to people who live like you and I used to, then so much the better.
As a writer, I go through this kind of thing a lot. The defence you have to stand behind is obvious self-deprecation, in your case through the medium of comedy. My point is I empathize. You are not alone, and you are not being offensive. There will be people who don’t understand your art, but it is their fault for not trying to. Let them know that you are happy that your strip brought an emotional response from them, and invite them to explore your ideas further. If they don’t, then you literally have no time for them.
o.o i want to go to that party!
cuz every pretty or not so pretty thinger deserves to go to a ball usually anywho stereotypes aren’t nesseccary true in most cases the majority or wotever act a certain way then it gets passed on by rumors or summfin to result in cliches and stuff. Scene is completely different but get thrown into the *emo* stereotype. i guess by posting this im just another emo whiny kid whos taking it out on the world yadda yadda yadda. -.- and now…im hungri…again.
dunno, why anyone would take offense..i think its a witty oxymoron..your critics are too emo for their own good