I heard Eminem’s latest single in the car this evening, a song devoted to his young daughter. Issues involving him referring to himself as her “rightful owner” at one point aside, I have to wonder about what Hayley Mathers will think when she hears this, as she eventually must. I mean, from what little I know of celebrities’ lives, Mr. Mathers and his wife have been on the outs for a while, and I understand that one of the things folks constantly tell divorcing parents is NOT to demean their partner in front of their kids. And Eminem does nothing if not demean his wife, both here and in some other past song.
Now, of course, I’m sure Eminem keeps his daughter away from his music, if only for her age, and her peers aren’t very likely to have heard it either. But I have to wonder what her father’s frankness will result in, if anything, years from now, when she’s mature enough to listen to his music. It’s hard enough for some kids to find out that their parents were human beings, and not the idealized image kids often have, but to hear it in a way that was broadcast across the country…
Sure, some kids, like Chelsea Clinton, come out of that kind of spotlight all right. And I’m definitely not saying that Eminem is a bad parent, or had no right to say what he thinks in his music. Just an idle thought for a Sunday night…