Jerry, my good and dear friend,
I certainly accept that there are a wide variety of opinions and I
respect the disagreement on Eminem , I used to be there too.
So I say this in the very best of possible ways:
I am getting tired of selective quoting of Eminem's lyrics, out of the
context of all of the words and all of the mixes.
(I am also tired of people who say 'I don't like rap and I sure don't
like Eminem' which you didn't say Jerry but we have heard it here.
People who learned nothing from Dylan's 'don't criticise what you don't
understand.' I know in your case Jerry you are not making a blanket
condemnation of rap, since we have talked about this off list.)
My usual comparison for Eminem is to Oliver Stone's "Natural Born
Killers" which one could argue glorifies violence or one could argue,
does hold up a mirror to the total cultural violence in our society.
When I hear Eminem saying "touch that again, I'll kill you" I'm never
sure if that is his original work or he is merely quoting the way
thousands of parents will be talking to their children while in the
check out line of the supermarkets today... and is he expressing his
anger at being raised that way.
I know that selective quoting of Eminem's lyrics is going to make the
dude look bad.
But could someone please print out the lyrics of:
the Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley" ("stabbed her with my knife")
Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff"
Steely Dan's "Go Back, Jack and Do it Again"
Could someone give the story of Wagner's The Ring Cycle and leave out
the racism, the misogny, the repeated incest, the implied beastiality,
the endless violence?
Eminem is very engaged with the gay community. You hear very few
negative comments about Eminem hear in Michigan where was born and
raised and lives. When he says "fag" as offensive as that word is he is
not using it in the way that we (as gay men) hear it.
I find Dr. Dre's comments as quoted in Rolling Stone, "I don't care
about people like that" referring to gays as disturbing.
I found John Stewart's tired and predicatable gay jokes offensive.
I find Will and Grace tiresome and stereotyped beyond belief, and if
anything is fag, it is not Will, but the Stepin Fetchit character of
Jack - while I admire the actor, the role is a 1,000 times more
offensive to me as a portrayal of gay men than anything that is on any
Eminem album.
The point of Eminem's work is in the song Stan, often quoted out of
context but take the whole thing: the loser very clearly is Stan, who
cannot differeniate fantasy from reality and thinks the "gangsta life"
is real and that the act is real... Marshall Mathers is actually
throwing it back in the face of everyone who thinks there is truth or
answers in violence and fantasies of 'living the life.'
That said, I think I am about done saying what I have to say about
Eminem because it is what it is and we shall see whether he stands the
test of time. I did like his acceptance of his rap garmmy when he
thanked those who heard what his album was, and what it was not...
I am glad not everyone is a fan of his because then I wouldn't be able
to buy his albums without a longer wait in line...
and The Em boy has got a lot of people talking. About important
things. And I think that is what he is really aiming at.
(the Rev) Vince, who wishes Michael Yarbrough was here to help me out...
