"I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" is a song by My Chemical Romance, released as the lead single to their 2004 album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.
One of the first major hits of the emo era, this song became the band's first Hot 100 entry the following year and helped get them a spot as an opening act for Green Day on their American Idiot tour, which started around the time "Helena" brought MCR into the mainstream. The single was certified gold in August 2005 and platinum in February 2017.
Two music videos were made for the song. The first consists of concert and some offstage footage of the band in New Jersey, including images of the Way brothers in their youth. The second, which is the focus of the page, was made two months after the album's release and just after Bob Bryar replaced Matt Pelissier as the band's drummer, so Bob only appears in the performance scenes. The second video was directed by Marc Webb, who would then direct multiple more videos with the band (including "Helena") and later find success as a filmmaker with (500) Days of Summer and The Amazing Spider-Man Series.
Webb's video is framed as a fake movie trailer for a High School comedy starring the band members as social outcasts with No Social Skills and very un-mainstream interests, intertwined with the band playing in a garage. Throughout the video, text is displayed to try to make the movie appeal to teens who feel like similar outcasts. The video was filmed at two different high schools in Los Angeles, the public school Alexander Hamilton High School and the private Catholic school Loyola High School. Former MuchMusic offshoot Fuse ranked this first in its "25 Greatest Videos" countdown.
Watch the first music video here
and the second one here.
I'm not okay, you trope me out:
- Alternate Music Video: The High School/Real Trailer, Fake Movie music video is the second version. The first is a montage of concert footage.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear if the Garage Band scenes are part of the main story, as Bob Bryar only appears in those scenes.
- Anaphora: How the trailer aims to appeal:If you ever felt alone
If you ever felt rejected
If you ever felt confused
If you ever felt lost
If you ever felt anxious
If you ever felt wrong
If you ever felt wronged
If you ever felt unclean
If you ever felt angry
If you ever felt ashamed
If you ever felt curious
If you ever felt used
Prepare to feel revenge - Bait-and-Switch: Frank looks like he's about to kiss the cheerleader but instead pulls some junk out of her eye and smears it on her uniform. Also overlaps with Almost Kiss on her part.
- Bowdlerise: The album version's "I'm not o-fucking-kay" is changed to "I'm really not okay."
- Bully Magnet: The band members are not on good terms with the jocks, first seen with one of the jocks throwing food on Frank's face and the climax sets them up for a big fight.
- Call-Back: Blink and you'll miss it, but the next to last "My [x] Romance" text is "My Watercooler Romance", referencing I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love song "Cubicles".
- Cloudcuckoolander: Frank is easily the weirdest of the four. He tries to drink a formula he made at chemistry class, hides in a locker to scare whoever opens it, and pulls out junk from a cheerleader's eye and smears it on her uniform.
- Concept Video: The band members (minus Bob) as a group of social outcasts making their way through High School, famed as a movie trailer.
- Content Warnings: The video begins with a parody of the Motion Picture Association's Restricted Rating, claiming it to be rated R for revenge.
- Eating Lunch Alone: The gang eats lunch a good distance from everyone else, and also a good few feet apart from each other.
- Garage Band: The band members (including Bob, who's not in the main story) play the song in a garage.
- High School: Some of the stereotypes about high school are present: big lockers, chemistry classes, an apparent social hierarchy, Gothic architecture (courtesy of a real-life Catholic school), and cheerleaders in uniform even outside of games/practice for no explained reason.
- High-School Dance: Takes place in the library for reasons unknown.
- In a World…: A visual variant shown as text on screen, aiming to appeal to angsty youths and speeding up to Freeze-Frame Bonus levels near the end.
- Jerk Jock: The bullies that the main characters fight in the climax.
- Loser Protagonist: The group as a whole. Gerard is even all but referred to as a loser by Ray at the beginning.
- Mid-Vid Skit: The song stops before the guitar solo for Frank's skit with the cheerleader.
- Non-Appearing Title: Downplayed only the subtitle (I Promise) is omitted.
- Queer Establishing Moment: Mikey is shown to be at least curious about the same sex as he takes a quick peek at another guy's junk in the changing room.
- Real Trailer, Fake Movie: The video is framed as a trailer for a movie called My Chemical Romance, which features the band attending High School and not fitting in very well with the crowds.
- Singer Namedrop: The name of the fake movie is revealed to be My Chemical Romance.
- Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Bob Bryar, though performing with the band in the garage, does not appear in the story parts that advertise the fake movie. This was due to the original drummer quitting mere days before the video was scheduled to shoot, so Bryar was was tapped as a last minute substitute, leading the way to him eventually becoming a full member.
- Snooty Sports: Gerard and the gang play croquet, though this is portrayed as them being not so much snobbish but socially inept.
- Socially Awkward Hero: All of them struggle with social skills to an extent, but Frank stands out as an outright Cloudcuckoolander.
- Stereotypical Nerd: In the video, the guys are portrayed as social outcasts, with nerdy hobbies, No Social Skills (Frank interrupts his own kiss with a blonde cheerleader to remove an eyelash from her face) and little to no athletic capability. They are first shown in a chemistry lab doing experiments and before facing bullying from the jocks and popular kids in school. Mikey especially fits the bill, as he's shown wearing thick Nerd Glasses and taking a hit from a Nerdy Inhaler.Ray: You like D&D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini, and croquet. You can't swim, you can't dance, and you don't know karate. Face it, you're never gonna make it.
Gerard: I don't wanna make it. I just wanna- - Straight Man: Ray points out at the beginning that Gerard is a misfit who's "never gonna make it." This sets up Gerard revealing that, for reasons hidden from the audience, he doesn't want to "make it."
- Stuffed into a Locker: Frank gets shut in the locker, and uses his position to jump out and scare the locker's owner.
- Symploce: The climax of the trailer, quickly speeding up to the Title Drop:Feel the romance
My brutal romance
My beautiful romance
My miserable romance
My X-rated romance
My harlequin romance
My innocent romance
My scandalous romance
My selfish romance
My pathetic romance
My childish romance
My watercooler romance
My Chemical Romance - Trailers Always Spoil: Justified in that the movie doesn't exist, so there's nothing to lose by showing the climax.
- The Un-Reveal: Gerard doesn't want to "make it." The scene cuts before revealing what he does want. This is invoked in behind-the-scenes content revealing that the line was deliberately left unfinished.