My Chemical Romance
Hit America rock band My Chemical Romance were icons of their time, and still maintain their cultural influence today. In this essay, I will explore why I fucking love this fucking band and why fangirls around the world countiune to scream and cry over now middle-aged men.
First off, have you ever listened to an MCR album? They're all bangers. All of them. I smoke that shit on the daily. The talent that a shitty band from New Jersey can find is amazing. Ray Toro is a badass on the guitar. Almost every song on every album has a killer guitar solo somewhere and his skills really shine. And then you watch of video of him actually playing and you can't even see his fingers. Toro has devoted his life to the guitar and it has created some masterpieces that are difficult for even an experienced player to replecate.
Besides Toro, the rest of the band brings an energy that is indescrible. Gerard Way has a really stellar voice, especially for someone who prior to the band didn't have formal sining trainging. Frank Iero is a fucking joy to watch on stage, just rolling around and kicking and screaming all over the place. His chaotic energy really penatrates every show. Mikey Way is a lot less haywire on stage, but his presence is undeniable. The bass drives a lot of their songs, providing a back bone for all the other band members to build off of. And his hair's pretty cool so there's that.
I think the real reason I like MCR so much though, is because I'm transgender. During the revenge era, MCR, and a lot of other bands, really embodied that queer energy at that time. If you are even a little into the MCR fandom, you will notice that there are a lot of videos of them (mostly Frank and Gerard) saying some pretty homosexual things (ie. kissing on stage). Despite being two straight presenting dudes, they spoke out a lot about their support of the LGBT community and they weren't afraid to express these opinions in their songs or on stage. Despite our more "progressive" times, I don't know of any mainstream bands who has done anything comparable to that kinda of stage presence.
These losers were so confident in 2005 that being gay wasn't a bad thing that they started having two straight dudes making out on stage. That's fucking baller.
But even beyond that, these losers have really helped me become more comfortable with my trans identity. I've been indentifing as a man for probably close to a decade, but I still get ma'am in public and I have a lot of feature that I consider feminine. But then I look at the 12 million pictures I have on my phone of these guys and I feel better. A lot of the features I consider "feminine" are the same featers that cause fangirls to start screaming over these guys.
Like, I'm 5'8" and basically all of my male friends are taller than me, but then Frank is literally 5'6"
My chest looks pretty similar to Ray's and Frank's during the revenge tour. My jawline is kinds similar to basement Gerard's. I have a similar fashion sense to all of them in the early 2000s.
Realisticly, I don't look like any of them, but seeing people on the internet going crazy about someone's features who are similar to your own, especially when you have the idea that no one will like you body, I don't know it's kinda nice.
But like, have you guys SEEN the I'm Not Okay music video? Work. Of. Art.
If there was an actual movie like that, I would watch it in a heartbeat.
Like the experience that these loser have in highschool was so similar to my experience. I mean, I didn't play croquet or piss in fish bowls or anything, but like getting made fun of, not being particularly good at anything, failing classes, were a staple.
Also in the music video, they aren't shown to be very close. Other than when they are playing as a band, they all sit apart when eating lunch and they don't interact much. The only reason they really know each other or hang out is because they are all outcasts. Which was exactly my experience, by senior year, I hated all of my friends but I didn't really have anyone else to talk to, so I just kinda stuck around. I mean what else was I going to do, at least this way I could get out of the house.
I know that everyone goes crazy over the Helena music video, which is also a banger by the way, but nothing will ever top I'm Not Okay. Before I watched the music video, the song was a banger and I was smoking it on the daily, but now it's like next level.
But also just the energy these guys have as a unit is amazing. If I ever stumble across a video from one of their shows, I have to sit there and watch the whole thing because it's so entrancing. They have such an amazing stage prences and all of their antics make the shows really fun to watch.
I would love to see one of their reuinion shows so badly, but god knows I'd nver be able to afford the tickets. Although, I see all these selfies of people who spotted Gerard in a theater, which is crazy cool. Probably my only chance of ever meeting any of them :/
