# Love the Way You Lie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-way-you-lie/550245 "2010-08-14T14:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-way-you-lie/550245/1 "2010-08-14T14:57:06Z")
The song _Love the Way You Lie_ by Eminem (featuring Rhianna) is increasingly popular, and is getting a lot of press. Video on YouTube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7\_U](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U) It does seem like a bad choice for a woman whose abuse was recently widely publicized to sing a song (and appear in a video) about physical and emotional abuse. I’m not _offended_ by the song (I actually think it’s a great song, and in my house it was a springboard to a constructive conversation with my 10-year-old daughter), but celebrities are role models for children, whether they want to be or not. Now that I think about it, Eminem’s relationship with his wife (ex-wife?) Kim has a history of abuse, too. I do think that donating some or all proceeds to victims of abuse might calm the critics. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-way-you-lie/550245/2 "2010-08-15T19:51:01Z")
Why do you think it’s a bad idea for a victim of abuse to participate in a song about abuse? I really, really like the song . . . maybe for the wrong reasons . . . I just really like the intensity about it. And I’m not sure that the song is actually about physical abuse; I got the impression that it was more about a very dysfunctional relationship where the partners drive each other crazy. Also, the chorus does seem like it reflects the attitude of many victims of repeated abuse (not necessarily that they “love” the way a person lies or hurts them, but that are so attached to the person or so incapable of seeing a way out of their situation or imagining life without their partner that they stay). I could see it being very useful for someone who has been a victim of abuse to express the experience artistically as a means to moving past the experience. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-way-you-lie/550245/3 "2010-08-15T19:56:19Z")
Having just watched the video, I’m not a huge fan of it, although it does have the most all-star cast I’ve ever seen in a music video. Although Rhianna’s was the only performance I liked in it. ---
**Author:** ![CyclopticXander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@CyclopticXander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyclopticXander)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-way-you-lie/550245/4 "2010-08-15T20:09:03Z")
Well that was a damn good video. I imagine this is one of those powerful pieces of art that is so raw in its generality that it is easy for so many to apply to specifically. Count me as another person who doesn’t see a problem with a victim of abuse singing about abuse any more than a victim of drug dependency singing about that social problem (see Eminem’s other recent work). If anything at all it lends credibility to the performance. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-way-you-lie/550245/5 "2010-08-15T20:25:44Z")
Meghan Fox plays hot, fucked up relationship well. ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-way-you-lie/550245/6 "2010-08-15T21:18:47Z")
I don’t know if I think Rihanna’s participation is a _bad_ idea. I can see that her participation might be theraputic, even, but she doesn’t say that when she’s asked why she decided to do the song. Her reponse was along the lines of, “I knew it would be a hit, and who doesn’t want to be part of a hit?” The lyrics allude to physical abuse over and over. Before the final chorus, Eminem he says that if “she” leaves again, he’s going to tie her to the bed and set the house on fire.