# Eminem and MTV **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632 "2000-06-07T05:47:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/1 "2000-06-07T05:47:00Z")
I am SO pissed right now! I just read (in Newsweek, no less) a review of Eminem’s new album - they loved it! Incredible, I thought. I have read about eight similar reviews in the past week, both in print and on the web. I don’t care if everyone loves it, if every goddamn human being on Earth owns it, except for me of course. But this is the last f_ **ing straw: MTV, the Evil Empire. I just watched an Eminem special, during which both he and Dr. Dre dis “faggots” and during which he advocates violence. MTV! The station that plays anti-violence commercials during every break. The station that has been capitulating on school-shooting since the Columbine shooting. What a bunch of hypocritical assf** _s. Here is the letter I wrote them that sums up my POV: > [@](#): > > I was waiting for this moment to come - Eminem finally gets arrested. I’m dying to see how MTV handles THIS one. It’s alright for every major critic writing for a newspaper or magazine to praise Eminem until their faces turn blue, despite his blatant violence and lyrics such as: “Bitch I’ma kill you!You don’t wanna fuck with me. Girls leave – you ain’t nuttin’ but a slut to me. Bitch I’ma kill you!” Despite the fact that he attacks Christina Aguilera, an annoying but otherwise squeaky-clean teen star, because she told girls not to let men disrespect them. Despite his slams against his own mother and his advocacy of child abuse, misogyny, homophobia and rape. > > But MTV…where unadulterated hypocracy abounds! During every seven minute commercial break, an anti-violence campaign ad runs; you even promised us free CDs (I never recieved mine, by the way). You have shows exploring different types of gun control, how presidential candidates and the president feel about gun control. You question what Clinton is doing to curb violence. You appear to be the most staunch, devoted supporter of gun control, and have since the Columbine shootings. > > However, your support of Eminem (via constant airplay and four Eminem specials last weekend) counters all of this. How can you stand on your platform railing against violence when you play “The Real Slim Shady” forty-seven times a day? I understand that this is what viewers want to see, but your anti-violence campaign in laughable in light of this. You stand against violence and yet promote it through Eminem at the same time - well, I guess the almighty MTV can do anything. But for the record, this pion finds your hypocracy ridiculously childish and shameful. I don’t expect TV in general to educate anyone, but your two-faced attempts are silly. Take a stand and stand by it, or shut up. I really don’t think it is that complicated. > > I’m sure Eminem’s arrest for possession of assault-weapons is ok with you, right? As long as the kids think it is cool and watch MTV. Score! I am so pissed at them right now! Where the hell do they get off? I support more gun control, I listen to Eminem, hell I even like that new song of his. But for MTV to shove Eminem up our butts while simutaneously (and hypocritically) getting all anti-violence is f\*\*\*ing ridiculous. **Argh!!!** Now I understand why people watch VH1. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/2 "2000-06-07T14:18:13Z")
I had never heard of this guy, but there’s a horrifying article on him in today’s Salon: [http://www.salonmagazine.com/ent/music/feature/2000/06/07/eminem/index.html](http://www.salonmagazine.com/ent/music/feature/2000/06/07/eminem/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/3 "2000-06-07T14:22:39Z")
Oh, Sarah. You want horrifying? Watch Sut Jhaly’s video entitled “Dreamworlds 2: The Myth of Music Video” or something close to that. It’s about the objectification of women in music video, and the underlying effects of using sexually violent imagry. It’s disturbing as all hell. I can’t watch MTV anymore because of it. ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/4 "2000-06-07T14:27:49Z")
oooooooooooh! would i like to get my hands on him. that little bitch! y’know, he’s gonna get whats coming to him. take this as a sign of the times, and keep writing letters. i don’t think i could have written a better one Nacho. good work, though i doubt they pay attention (egotistical snotty bastards). i’m with you on this one. this may belong in the pit… ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Shadowfox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfox)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/5 "2000-06-07T14:37:26Z")
I don’t particularly like Eninem’s style of music, I just wanted to add that this arrest occurred at a bar that I used to live right by. When I first started frequenting the SDMB, back in the A-oh-Well days, I lived approximately two blocks away from the bar that he was arrested at the other day. I know this has nothing to do with the main subject, which is his violent lyrics. However, it has been the main topic on all the local news stations and newspapers and, frankly, I’m sick to death of hearing about it. You would think there was nothing else in the world going on, if you are to believe the local media. I was surprised to hear that he still lives in the area. I figured he was living the high life in California or something. ---
**Author:** ![Catrandom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/6 "2000-06-07T14:40:15Z")
Great letter, Sara – very well said, indeed. I work for a radio trade, so have had to become somewhat aware of Eminem. Every important critic agrees that this 25-year-old father of a son is the most exciting and wildly talented artist to come along since, say, the young Bruce Springsteen. Here’s an example of his art (warning: extremely graphic; strong stomach required). [http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/eminem/mathers/kill\_you.mnm.txt](http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/eminem/mathers/kill_you.mnm.txt) The usual excuses made for his excesses are 1) that he is witty and 2) that his work is valid social commentary and 3) that his observations are based on Eminem’s personal experiences and desires. (If that last is true, then he belongs in jail.) No, I wouldn’t ban him from the airwaves, but that he is so wildly popular – his new album will sell tens of millions; it sold 2 million in its first week – I find very disturbing. And I don’t even believe in the “violent art makes violent kids” premise, really. I guess, since I wouldn’t outlaw the freak, I have no larger point to make. But doesn’t anything disgust anybody these days? Catrandom, disturbed ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/7 "2000-06-07T15:17:31Z")
I was hoping, when he was voted ‘Best New Artist’ (IIRC, MTV Awards), that it would be the usual kiss of death. Apparently not. Too bad. ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/8 "2000-06-07T15:27:56Z")
Wait . . . you mean **MTV** did something thoughtless and anti-p.c. ?? No. That is sooooo unlike them. Why **MTV** is the cornerstone of integrity and family values. ::sniff sniff:: Why do I smell sarcasm ? ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/9 "2000-06-07T15:37:26Z")
He’s just a wannabe puke. His mom **AND** grandmother have both sued him for defamation. I saw an interview with him the other day where he said he was giving back what he got growing up. Yeah right. He grew up in middle-class family and his mommy made him take out the trash. Oh, and make his bed. Probably made him brush his teeth and wipe his ass too. Looks like he forgot that last one. ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/10 "2000-06-07T16:59:49Z")
Hey, I’m not here to defend him, but I think he has a certain right to say what he wants. Jesuslynch, are you aware of his upbringing? No father, mother who loved drugs more than she loved him, and no idea of where he was going to be the next week. I hardly call that middle class. I think his lyrics are very violent, but witty. I’m glad that he is in a recording studio making music instead of selling drugs or running with a gang. And he also supports his child. Much better than disappearing, like his own father did. ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/11 "2000-06-07T18:26:45Z")
I may be mistaken about his upbringing, but I do know that both his mother and grandmother have file lawsuits aginst him for defamation. I think it all has to do with whether his mom was a strung-out junkie or not. And I agree he can whatever the frig he wants. And I applaud him for supporting his daughter. But is he going to support her later in life or is he going to say, “Bleed Bitch! Bleed!” like in the song he wrote to his wife? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/12 "2000-06-07T18:34:53Z")
Eminem has freedom of expression but how is his hate and violence filled music different than nazi skinhead music that talks of killing jews? I read the salon article and the lyrics. That kid is seriously fucked up. Even worse our society as a whole is more fucked up for making him rich. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/13 "2000-06-07T18:57:04Z")
red\_dragon, you think his lyrics are “witty?” Did you read some of the excerpts in that Salon article? “New Kids on the Block, sucked a lot of dick Boy-girl groups make me sick And I can’t wait 'til I catch all you faggots in public I’ma love it” “Don’t you get it bitch, no one can hear you? Now shut the fuck up and get what’s comin’ to you You were supposed to love me NOW BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED!” “My little sister’s birthday, she’ll remember me For a gift I had ten of my boys take her virginity And bitches know me as a horny-ass freak Their mother wasn’t raped, I ate her pussy while she was ‘sleep Pissy-drunk, throwin’ up in the urinal (“You fuckin’ homo!”) That’s what I said at my dad’s funeral” Oh, yeah, he’s a regular Cole Porter . . . ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/14 "2000-06-07T19:15:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > And he also supports his child. \*\* > [@](#): > > And I applaud him for supporting his daughter I don’t get this. Why do men get extra credit for supporting their kids? They’re **supposed** to support their kids!!! Carrying a concealed handgun, assaulting someone and singing songs about killing his wife do NOT make a good father. Simply contributing money to a child’s upbringing does not make a good father. I grew up near Detroit and AFAIC, Eminem is just another white-trash, wanna-be-black, trash-talking kid from the East side of Detroit (which, incidentally, isn’t that bad of a place, given Detroit). I don’t care if his mom _was_ a junkie, it’s still not a good reason to be a dick. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/15 "2000-06-07T19:24:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > And he also supports his child. > \*\* [Chris Rock]“Whadda you want, a cookie? You’re SUPPOSED to do that!”[/Chris Rock] ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/16 "2000-06-07T19:26:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\* > > And he also supports his child. \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > And I applaud him for supporting his daughter > > I don’t get this. Why do men get extra credit for supporting their kids? They’re **supposed** to support their kids!!! > > \*\* You are correct. Just like I don’t need, expect or want any applause for being there for Baby Jesus, this little puke shouldn’t garner any recoginition for being there for his daugter. I just had to say that to make my point more clear, or so I thought. (That’s what I get for thinking.) ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/17 "2000-06-07T19:52:37Z")
My goodness, I was so pissed off last night. Eve, thanks for the article. It says exactly what I was griping about - MTV’s hypocracy. I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed. As for: > [@](#): > > I grew up near Detroit and AFAIC, Eminem is just another white-trash, wanna-be-black, trash-talking kid from the East side of Detroit (which, incidentally, isn’t that bad of a place, given Detroit). I thought it as hilarious that the news reports specified “suburban” Detroit. Having grown up in inner-city Baltimore, I am not impressed. For the record, I lived with my abusive, alcoholic, drug-abusing father until I was 11. My mom did her fair share of drugs as well, though only because he forced her. I lived in the “ghetto,” where all of my neighbors and my family were on welfare. I got the big wheel of government cheese once a month, but you don’t see me attacking everyone for that. It’s called **CLASS** for God’s sakes! I really hate that little booger. ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/18 "2000-06-07T19:56:55Z")
[http://www.freep.com/news/metro/eminem7\_20000607.htm](http://www.freep.com/news/metro/eminem7_20000607.htm) ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/19 "2000-06-07T21:07:14Z")
I agree with everything you guys are saying. I just wanted to clarify. I applaud that he did not choose the way of his father and some other stars by abandoning his child. I have to say that his lyrics, which are by no means politically correct, seem to have more time put in them than your average boy band. He has talent, but he is just using it in a non-mainstream way. Eve, you have a point. Although he made the statement himself that the music was his way of laughing off his problems, if you just read the words off of a sheet of paper, you don’t really get the sense that he is laughing at himself. His songs are at times funny to listen to. But it gets old after the third or fourth time. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632/20 "2000-06-07T21:51:25Z")
After reading that article and the letter from his wife, all I can say is, ISH - white trash. Did she graduate high school? I haven’t seen such poor sentence structure and improper parallelism since I was in third grade. I’m glad she found it necessary to defend her “honor.” Frankly, I wasn’t sure how she was doing after hearing the song in which Eminem stabs her to death and hides the body in a trunk while his daughter watches. Yup, what a dad!! Reminds me of some good times… As for his lyrics, yes I listen to Eminem. My best friend Kenny had the CD and I’ve heard the whole thing. I don’t hate his music, but I would rather listen to something else. I find him entertaining just as I find watching lions attack gazelles on the Discovery Channel or slowing down as I drive past an accident enjoyable. I don’t like it, but it’s hard to pass by. As for musical taste, if a person likes \*NSYNC or the “I want it the back way Boys” than it’s their perogative. I am so fed up with people preaching about what everyone should or shouldn’t be listening to. If I like it, I listen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-and-mtv/21632.md?page=2)