Whatever You Say I Am_ The Life and Times of Eminem - Anthony Bozza [16]
Despite critiques to the contrary, Eminem did not soften up to win mainstream acceptance. The Eminem Show is every bit as demented as his other albums. There is less homophobia, but there is just as much misogyny on this album, if not more. “Drips” is a cautionary tale about easy women who are out to steal your money and leave you with venereal diseases while “Superman” revels in a harsh groupie fantasy. Songs like “My Dad’s Gone Crazy” and the aforementioned “Square Dance” turn Eminem’s eye to terrorism by comparing Slim Shady to Saddam Hussein and claiming that Eminem has more pain in his heart than a little girl in a plane heading for the World Trade Center.
In a post-9/11 world, Eminem is less shocking, and understandably so. Zealots who don’t like America have beaten up on our country. The violence and hate in Eminem’s music that was once such a bone of contention for Lynne Cheney is the soundtrack of the times: America is angry, poor, out of work, misunderstood, and gunning for revenge, a country who has had it up to here and is ready to flush reason and act rashly. America had to understand Eminem in 2002—America had become Slim Shady.
The Eminem Show debuted at number one in the United States the week of May 23, 2002, and sold 1.3 million copies in its first week, going on to sell 7.6 million copies by the end of the year. The narrator here hasn’t created a monster, as he says on the album’s first single, “Without Me”; he’s written a play and he’s playing every part, including the audience and the theater critic; it is the stance of a savvy media manipulator. The release of 8 Mile in November 2002, however, brought a new demographic, or several, to Eminem’s table.
Where he’d live if he could: Eminem in the studio with rap legend Rakim in Los Angeles, 2002.
The film took in $54 million in its first weekend, and it ranked twenty-one in the year’s top grossers, landing $115 million in just two months. The film reflected the American dream just as Eminem reflected the American mood: Like a Horatio Alger story from the turn of the last century, the film’s protagonist, Jimmy “Rabbit” Smith, struggles against poverty and adversity and strikes out alone in pursuit of his dreams. The film is as full of hope as Eminem’s lyrics are full of rage; it’s as much a story of unity as Eminem’s lyrics are of alienation. It is the kind of story that renews a belief in the American way.
If Slim Shady had directed 8 Mile, it would be an X-rated horror porno. Left to Marshall Mathers, the hurt and angry misunderstood underdog, the film would be a controversial after-school special. But Eminem, the Hollywood player, was behind 8 Mile—the only one of the three personas who would think to wield the power of the big screen. The film was an outlet for Eminem to elevate his story to the universal plane, by translating it into more accessible terms. It was also an opportunity for him to recast preconceived notions, to explain himself better than a Barbara Walters sit-down, without the coaxed tears and soft lighting. The film showed exactly where Eminem was from, simultaneously reasserting his street cred and capturing a time and place where hip-hop was pure.
Eminem’s acting leap is logical: It is phase two of rap-career expansion, which generally follows the launch of an artist’s record label and clothing line, and if they’re as talented as Eminem, their efforts as a producer. By the end of 2002, Eminem had bagged them all, signing