Eminem Essay, Research Paper

It s challenging, if not impossible, to peg Eminem. It s tough to tell if he s a good guy at heart or a dark-sider to the core. It s impossible to deny his skill and enjoyablility of his work, yet it s difficult to overlook the viciousness of his messages. And finally, even though he might treat comrades like lifelong friends, it s hard to forget the aggressive actions he s taken against those who ve opposed him.

Yet some who know him continue to dismiss any ideas of an evil Slim Shady. He s a really smart guy, and my opinion is that he s just totally playing a part people want to see, says a source who used to tour with Eminem. People want to have a mean little guy that isn t friends with anyone that is always in trouble. It sells records and magazines. It gets ratings up, and he knows that.

In his published, Angry Blond, which includes al of his lyrics along with personal essays about his work and his music, Eminem confirms the idea of Slim as agent provocateur and defends his inflammatory writing style sort of: At the end of the day, it s all a joke, he writes. The only thing that is not a joke is the passion I have for emceeing… But most of my lyrics got analyzes too much. Right away, people started saying I don t like gay people. I don t gate gay people. I just don t stray that way. That s not me. I don t care about gay people. Just don t bring that shit around me.

Of course, most jokes are rooted in at least some truth. Also, the angry tone of his comments about homosexuality leads one to question whether his gay-bashing lyrics come from the heart, which causes speculation about whether he s also contemptuous of women. Perhaps Eminem s lyrics are really the same type of stream of consciousness ideas that swim through many people s minds in times of anger. And instead of censoring the sentiments, the rapper lets them fly into disturbing diatribes, resulting in a skewed snapshot. Through his verse, we only get to see him at his worst. But as he explains in the Angry Blond intro to 97 Bonnie and Clyde, that s just the way he likes it. I put a lot of my personal shit out there, but I don t car. See it s like every time somebody disses me, I m talk about them. It s kind of like, If you piss me off, I m respond in my song .

Or, as he told Select, If a critic calls me a bigot, misogynist pig or homophobe, I m gonna be that. If your perception of me is fucked up, I m gone be fucked up. If your perception of me is that I m a decent guy, I m gonna show you a decent guy.

In his childhood, he saw violence, and violence acted upon him by bullies, so it s not outside of the realm of comprehension that might then act in kind.