Love him or hate him, I admire Eminem's take on addiction. He's not glorifying it, he's not bragging about it, he's not blaming anyone for it. He's owning it.
I love how when Britney & Madonna & Christina kissed it was considered hot and sensational. Yet when Adam Lambert kisses a man it's disgusting and oh my god, think of the children!
In total seriousness, did anyone ever used to watch Ashlee Simpson's reality show? That was before the nose job and the extreme weight loss for Victoria's Secret or whatever... and she was dating that kind of B-list singer. She seemed so sweet and down to earth! Now all we hear about is her throwing fits at Pete Wentz in clubs. What happened to you, Ashlee?!
@RiloKilo: I also watched that show and I hated her back then. I remember when she had her first concert to promote her CD and it was her first time singing alone in front of other people. And she had a CD. Ugh.
But yeah, she was more down-to-earth back then. I blame her dad for everything wrong with those girls.
@napalmnacey is an angry feminist: Ricky Gervais is a misogynist? I mean, I know he's made some off-color jokes, but really? Do you know something I don't?
@eatsshootsleaves: Ricky Gervais targets EVERYONE especially the PC showbiz types, who sometimes give the impression they are only pc because they think it will help their career.
@eatsshootsleaves: He is in that craptastic movie where everyone tells the truth, and he says to the woman, "You have to have sex with me or the world will end!" Yeah, cause forced sex is so funny. He just consistently tells jokes that are offensive to me.
Hop on over to the blog Shakesville and do a search for Ricky Gervais. Here, I'll save you the effort: [www.google.com]
Enjoy.
(And I used to love his work, I thought he was hilarious, until I got raped).
Is it bad that I can't drum up an ounce of sympathy for Eminem? I mean the man has made a complete career of viciously trashing people beyond satirical proportions, publicly making a mockery of two women in his life, and glorifying violence against women. The very man he hauls off and massacres in song, he tries to make a link to his own life. I mean serious addiction is a major struggle for anyone, but the back of my mind calls bad karma.
@neka78: Not going to put words in the OP's mouth, but I see a difference. If you could compare Eminem to a fiction writer whose creations attack real people (his ex, his mom, celebrities, etc) I could see the parallel, but I can't think of a writer that does that.
If both the victim and the perpetrator are works of fiction, fair enough, but if an artist uses a persona to attack someone, I think they're still accountable on a personal level.
@KLondike5: I guess when I think back on the 90's and how rap got incredibly hard core and was all about violence, rape, and murdering cops... I know there was controversy because of the content.. but I never thought that the people who made those raps were horrible people because of it.
@neka78: I agree with KLondike5 and ytuhermanotambien when I say that there's a distinct difference between a threat to a concrete individual with a history of violence and an artist who creates a character know for notorious attacks without imitating it in their personal life. Your question is somewhat vague. Are you asking whether I would feel the same if the author glorified such villainous characters and treated them as a protagonist or just merely included them as characters? To the former, I'd have strong feelings against, but to the latter, it'd seem rather strange to feel that way for a person that is just drawing up realism to create intense emotion towards their work.
@weirdgasm: I guess my issue is that Chris Brown caused actual violence to a person. Eminem sang about doing incredibly horrible things to women but hasn't done them. So I can't really find it in me to view Eminem with contempt because of the content. There's a REASON he's chosen the content he has, as an artist, he's obviously working out the darkest side of himself and putting it out there like an exorcism. His latest album is a bit reflection of that. I think that's a value of art and performance.
@neka78: Although it's not at all relevant and it's completely out of character for my background, I have never liked Chris Brown (his voice is the equivalent to nails on a chalkboard and still seems too prepubescent in voice and appearance to me) and do not defend him or his actions in any way.
The bottom line for me is that he's a real person that has made real threats to another real person. Words do hurt and there is an element of psychological abuse. It really boils down to the fact that his style does not appeal to me because he is not a satirist in his mockery of others, but one that seeks to destroy people's character and spews hatred to the masses rather than addressing his issues with people directly. I hold the same standards to other musicians and comedians.
You know, it's nice to hear such rational, real things come out of Eminem's mouth. He always acted like such a jackass, posturing and putting on a show, so it's really nice to hear him being so honest and, I dunno, respectful.
@BlondeGoddess: I dunno, in my experience vicodin has a pretty limited vocabulary, starting with "so what?" and ending with "la la la, who cares, where's my cigarettes?"
as much as simon le bon broke my teenage heart by getting married, at least he married a gorgeous and tough lady who would probably do the exact same thing i would do if i was married to him. i mean, 20 years of seeing the band perform...it's not like she can sit there with a straight face and say "baby, it was sooo awesome" every. single. time.
@Ailatan: I was just coming here to say that angrily! Mr. Darcy is not fat! He's healthy and robust and he goes swimming at Pemberley and fencing in town and and...YOU SUCK!
There are so many talented musicians out there who never get the recognition they deserve that it is difficult for me to get thrilled about someone getting 8 or 10 Grammy nominations.
@GreyCat: Seconded. The Grammys are straight commercial awards, so I'm rarely excited about anyone being nominated for or winning one. It's always the same 5 artists who are played every 5 minutes on the radio, so where's the suspense?
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Just saying girl is pop.
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But yeah, she was more down-to-earth back then. I blame her dad for everything wrong with those girls.
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Step off.
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I fucking hate the world.
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Hop on over to the blog Shakesville and do a search for Ricky Gervais. Here, I'll save you the effort:
[www.google.com]
Enjoy.
(And I used to love his work, I thought he was hilarious, until I got raped).
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I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just curious.
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If both the victim and the perpetrator are works of fiction, fair enough, but if an artist uses a persona to attack someone, I think they're still accountable on a personal level.
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The bottom line for me is that he's a real person that has made real threats to another real person. Words do hurt and there is an element of psychological abuse. It really boils down to the fact that his style does not appeal to me because he is not a satirist in his mockery of others, but one that seeks to destroy people's character and spews hatred to the masses rather than addressing his issues with people directly. I hold the same standards to other musicians and comedians.
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Thanks for the nifty discussion!
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You and me, Ford, outside! You don't say that of Mr Darcy and get away with it.
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/grump
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