The Commodified Emo Subculture In America Through The Used’s Music Videos

Oleh :
Rena Aprilia Tanjung - C0306045 - Fak. Sastra dan Seni Rupa

2011. English Department, Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta. This research is purposively made to analyze the commodified Emo subculture in America found in ten of The Used’s music videos. With regard to the contested position of American youth, youth subcultures arise from various genre of music to give the alternative space for young people to grow up. The early function of youth subculture is to provide a place for young people to express the ideas which is out of dominant parent culture. However, the exclusivity of youth subcultures has been commodified by the media that the meaning of early subculture is lost. The commodified youth subculture can be seen in the commodification of fashion, music and behavior as the symbolic system of communication within a certain youth subculture. In analyzing the commodified Emo subculture, ten of The Used music videos are analyzed to give the clear explanation about the kinds of subcultural commodification found in it. The research is held using the descriptive qualitative technique which means that all of collected and analyzed data are in forms of words and pictures rather than numbers. Besides, the analysis is made to test the theory and apply it to the observed phenomena rather than to find the new theory from the observation toward the subject matter. 1 Mahasiswa Jurusan Sastra Inggris dengan NIM C0306045 2 Dosen Pembimbing In the scope of American Studies, it is necessary to consider the application of interdisciplinary studies in studying a cultural object as a representation of American way of life. The interdisciplinary requires the relationship between text to be studied and the contexts from which they come. To find the context behind the American cultural object, the analysis cannot be simply observed based on a perspective of certain discipline but from the assortment of perspectives related to the subject matter being discussed. Therefore, this research is apprehended using the combination of popular culture, semiotic and sociocultural approach to reveal the context within the data which are analyzed. In the end of analysis, it is concluded that Emo subculture has been commodified in fashion and behavior clearly found in ten of The Used music videos. The commodified Emo subculture in America is under the influence of media related to the social and cultural background at the certain time when Emo is phenomenally thriving.