Looks like emo has it's own defender now, in the face of the myriad of unintentionally funny news coverage the subculture has received over the past year. Rafer Guzman of Newsday has put together a story defending the much maligned movement:

The whole "story" is an outdated throwback to the early days of punk, when the mass media vilified that subculture as a kind of alien germ infecting America's youth. Then, as now, the media missed the self-mocking humor in the music and among the fans.

In this new report, several kids explain the dark philosophy of emo in somber tones - they're clearly struggling to keep a straight face.

But it's hard not to feel sorry for the two Utah moms who, on camera, anxiously call their children for information about this horrifying culture. One mother says fearfully, "But that's not you, is it?"

So cheer up, emo kids. Things could be worse: You could live in Utah.

The column can be found here.