eminem (was: Good Dog Bad Dog classic album)

["Peter T. Chattaway" <petert at interchange_ubc.ca>]

On Wed, 15 Jan 2003, Don Smith wrote:
> Now, Eminem, that's an interesting case.  I had dismissed him out of
> hand based on some reviews I'd read, but a friend of mine, whom I
> usually think of as being up on feminist perspectives, *really* loved
> the movie, and when I asked her about it, she adamantly encouraged me to
> give the guy a listen myself and make up my own mind.

Interesting.  In his (excellent) book _Killing Monsters: Why Children Need
Fantasy, Super Heroes and Make-Believe Violence_, Gerard Jones talks about
meeting a gay high-school kid in a workshop who happened to be a huge
Eminem fan -- apparently the guy found Eminem empowering.  So yeah, Eminem
does have an interesting array of fans out there.

As for this feminism thing, I know of at least one critic who slammed the
Eminem movie for its relentlessly dim and grim view of women:

   http://www.thehotbutton.com/today/hot.button/2002_thb/021107_thu.html

   [ snip ]

   Why is 8 Mile misogynistic? This one is simpler. With the exception of
   a 5-year-old and a lunch truck rapper, every female character in this
   movie that has lines is portrayed as a whore. And I'm not saying that a
   female character who engages in sex early in a relationship is a whore.
   Or that a woman shouldn't enjoy vigorous sex lives. The movie is quite
   specific. Every key woman in this movie has sex for financial
   advancement.

   [ snip ]

There are more spoiler-filled details at the URL above.

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 If true love never did exist how could we know its name? -- Sam Phillips
          Happiness happens but I want joy. -- Marjorie Cardwell

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