RSS
Home
Cobain and the Punk Rock Suicides: A New Emotional Lexicon
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Cobain the the first to fall in a nameless generation.
As a member of a generation without a name, my earliest memories of being introduced to pop culture was the death of Kurt Cobain. Almost fifteen years later, the social ramifications of his death are little more than a mere footnote. Those of us in our early teens at the time, the motley collection of punk rock suicidalists who worshiped and believed in his message and his music were not the receivers of much of the media attention. Those older than us, those branded Generation X were those with whom the impact was televised and often glorified. However, what I don’t think is often realized, is the cultural resonance in a way still echoes with many in my generation who belonged to that sub-culture.
A few days after the death of Cobain, friends of mine and myself were at recess in the lunch yard of seventh grade. One particular friend of mine, a boy who had probably been the deepest admirerer of Cobain, had carved, with a knife, the word “Kurt” into his left calve. He was proud of this act of self mutilation. What struck me as most disturbing about this, was the fact that the people who saw this on the playground that day were not disturbed by this. Such utterances as “cool” and “that’s awesome” came across their lips with a surprising, cavaliered okayness with the situation.
Over the next few weeks, this brand and ones similar were found on the legs and arms of over half of the early and pre-teen students that comprised this rather large circle of grunge era compatriots. Few in the administration of the school listened, or even much cared. Some shucked it off as “a phase”, “Attention seeking histrionics” or a “grief reaction” to the death of a pop idol. One teacher went so far as to placate this cutting phenomena, stating: “Well they’re too young for tattoos; and well, tattoos are in now. They’re just trying to fit in, in their own way”.
We know now that this behavior of self mutilation is often the result of certain trauma or emotional / personality disorder. Much literature has been written on the culture of “cutting”, often explained by those who cut that by doing this, they are alleviating emotional pain, sublimated through the physical. And to this day it grows at epidemic rates among the 12 – 30 age groups.
Where few can cite the cultural origins to this reaction to the emotional pain; I remember quite clearly when it became a predominate theme within my generation. As adults, only about half of those I knew in this era are still alive. Many more have fallen to drugs or various degrees of mental illness. A slim margin made it out alive and well adjusted. This was the same generation and sub culture that was still in high school when the Columbine murders happened. Each of those boys were also described engaging in similar actions of self destructive behavior perceived to be dark and “cool” to themselves.
Many have attempted to peg this rise in the recent decade and a half of self destruction and behavioral disorders in youth, on the media fed to us; on violent music, or video games, etc. Though, as one who has lived through this and witnessed first hand with personal insight the end result of “cool” disintegration, I think the problem stems from a far deeper place in the American subconscious. While the particulars of the media mirror that thin, fragile shell which a portion of my generation covers themselves in with scars and tears disguised as hip and heartfelt, it is anything but the media’s fault. Cobain was merely the most publicized and earliest fall.
What I believe stems this problem is a greater cultural sea change that has been slowly but increasingly washing ashore. Through countless interviews with clients and patients afflicted with a variation of disorders that exhibit this behavior, the common thread I’ve noticed in each of these cases, in each overwhelming act of sadness, is lack of conversation (though some would call this “attention”).
In a consumer driven culture, we are driven to buy to celebrate holidays, give money when we cannot show love, buy more if there is a void to fill. When things cannot be purchased, there is a panic; as is being played out economically right now in the stock market and the credit crisis of people’s overextension of their wallets and their lives. These are very basic tenants of our post WWII society, that we did not see come to fruition as boldly and completely as it has been in the past twenty years. Emotion too, has become a commodity, and if there is no pill to cure it when it ills, it leaves confusion and fear. Too little conversation has ever been engaged with our youth about the importance of the intangibility that resides in empathy and intimacy; in understanding and a place without stigma.
The lack of conversation is being played out in homes all across
Kurt Cobain’s death and even his life were harbingers to those who heard his lyrics and found solace and understanding in their meaning, even if no one understood why. Perhaps, not even he could determine the origin of this new lexicon. But as a society, and for those who have an understanding of mental health in the broader context; perhaps a new dialog is in order. A dialog held before the burning point is reached and we can no longer hear the difference between the language of emotion and the language of consumerism. Perhaps, collectively we should begin to re-write the words in our emotional vocabulary so that perceived histrionics and “attention seeking” no longer drown out the cries of the thousands in emergency rooms seeking help across this country. And maybe, when we are ready to listen, when we are ready to speak and not just simply act, we can begin to heal some wounds.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
