Opinion: Celebrate the Alternative People in Life, As you do with Characters in Media

It’s no question that alternative characters are becoming popular due to shows like Wednesday and Stranger Things, but how does this make real alternative (those who fall under the subcultures such as goth, emo, punk, etc) students feel?

Jackson Kilburn, 23'

“I don’t mind people liking the characters themselves, I’m just not a fan of what comes of it,” said Jack Furman, in reference to how he feels about non-alternative people liking alternative characters.

Jack feels that it runs the risk of being problematic.

“A problem I’ve noticed is that alternative people, who like the characters, are actually getting bullied more often now by non-alternative people who like the characters,” said Jack.

For those who may not know, alternative is a wide umbrella term for a variety of a bunch of different subcultures, some of the most popular ones we see being grunge, goth, emo, punk, and even hipster. While some of these subcultures are mainly fashion based, a lot of these are also music and ideals based (such as goth or punk). They’re people who stray away from the norm, but sometimes this isn’t met with the best response.

Image credit: Los Angeles Times

There is no denying what Jack mentioned. The bullying of real-life alternative teenagers seems to never end, but when it comes to a fictional character such as Wednesday or Eddie Munson, you would believe that it’s cool to be an alternative again. These characters have such widespread love, but where is this behavior and love for alternative teenagers who identify with these characters closely?

But the potential problems don’t stop at bullying for these students. Sophomore, Apollo Hayes, believes that it’s more of a cultural side of the alternative community issue itself.

“I think what bothers me is that some people are starting to get into the fashion without understanding that a lot of the subcultures, such as goth or punk, under the alternative umbrella term aren’t fashion-based, but music and ideals-based,” Apollo said.

“There are people joining the community and not really understanding what it’s about, while others are continuously harassing and bullying alternative students while idolizing characters like that,” said Apollo.

When asked about personal experiences he’s had with being a student at MHS who at one point dressed more on the alternative side, Apollo responded with this:

“I don’t really dress that way anymore but that’s mainly because I dealt with a lot of harassment from my peers, which in a school environment it’s either I conform to the way people want me to look or I disregard my learning as bullying would be an obvious distraction.”

With this, it’s obvious that there needs to be a change in behavior toward students that identify with these characters because well… these characters were made for people like them. Creators have been pushing to make more weird and unusual characters to be someone that watchers/readers like them could look up to, and this is very common with the character Wednesday.

“Wednesday has always been seen as kind of weird and off-putting, which is something that I can say I relate to immensely, as all my life that’s how people have viewed me,” said Jack.

Image Credit: Eastside Online

And a lot of alternative teenagers identify with her character because of this, because she’s been bullied and seen as different for the same things that they experience on a daily basis. So with this, why does the bullying continue to ensue? What could we be doing to help the alternative students at MHS feel more comfortable in their school environment, without them having to make a complete change in who they are?

“I think my hope would be that the more popular these characters get, the less bullying there is as people should realize that we aren’t all that different from the characters they love so much, and we should be treated with kindness rather than the way we are currently still treated,” said Jack.

As these characters like Eddie and Wednesday become more popular and admired by a wide audience, there is hope that the attitudes in real life toward alternative people will change for the better.

“I would hope that people actually take the time to understand not only the culture surrounding being alternative, but also us as people. I find that when you give someone a chance and actually talk to them, you could be pleasantly surprised and even meet a new friend,” said Apollo.

Both are very valid hopes, and realistic ones at that. With the popularization of alternative characters and all of the subcultures that come with them, there will be more people actually interested in the ideals and music itself. This will likely lead to more non-alternative people getting to know the people who find themselves identifying with these subcultures and characters. Why like the character, but discount those who are like them, subsequently potentially missing out on amazing friendships and learning new things?