An article from the New York Daily News pretends that “Eminem is pushing poverty’.
I’d rather say Eminem shows people the way out of poverty. Eminem’s story is a great lesson for anybody who is financially down and who is going through harsh circumstances. Marshall Mathers has taught to people who are going through similar living conditions than his in the past that they should always follow their dreams no matter what their dream is. 8 Mile has also been made for people to understand that they could ‘escape to their own 8 Mile’ if they struggled hard enough and had enougn faith to fullfill their dreams. The author of this article seems to forget that Eminem came from nothing and that he’s been living in a harsch familial context.
School used to be a nightmare for him. Eminem targets school, because he has good reasons to do so. I’m a teacher who will keep saying ‘fuck the school system’ as long as teachers won’t have an ear for pupils.
Eminem is a role model for many kids who get abused ‘morally and physically- at home as well as at school. First, 10 year boys shouldn’t be able to listen to an uncensored CD of Eminem. Second, if they dare calling little girls ‘bitches’, it is due to a lack of parental education, it is certainly not Eminem’s fault. Why should Eminem be held responsible for any kid’s bad behavior? This a too simplistic view.
Eminem does not reject education globally, he hates the way he was treated and bullied at school. Eminem never told kids not to learn their lessons.
People who know details about Eminem also know that the gifted rapper spends hours studying his dictionary in order to find words to rhyme. If he was totally against education, why would he do that? Again, if he was against education, why would he want his daughter to go to College?
“Everything that I am doing right now is for Hailie . . . the money — it’s for her college.”
Eminem didn’t have the chance to access education, because his life in his childhood was living hell between a drug addicted mom and constant bullies at school. It was impossible for him to focus on school subjects at this time.
He has proven through his example that you can also succeed without having any education. This brings some hope to poor people who don’t have such an easy access to education.
And no, Eminem doesn’t encourage young men to be disrespectful towards women. His songs are a satire. Nobody with a sense of humor would take ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ 97 and ‘Kim’ seriously. The best way Eminem found to let out his emotions and his rage is his music. He helps a lot of people who have known the same circumstances or who feel the same.
Take a deeper look at Eminem’s life story and you will see that he deserves admiration for coming from nothing to stardom. How many persons can claim to be self made men? Despite so many problems, confronted to a sick mom’s behavior, abandonned by his Dad in his earlier years, bullied at school, addicted, suicidal, growing up in the poorest part of Detroit, being cheated at and humiliated by his ex wife, Eminem deserves admiration. He has made it to the top. Despite all.
His story is no Hollywood sob story, it is his life:
http://www.freep.com/entertainment/music/eminem30_20000630.htm
The talented rapper doesn’t encourage poverty, he shows us the way out of this hellhole.Eminem is pushing poverty
Monday, January 20th, 2003
The announcement last week that low-rent rapper Eminem was the People’s Choice for best male recording star of the year is a huge win for those bullish on the coarsening of America. The award comes as no surprise because the mainstream press has been glorifying Eminem for a couple of years now, ever since he stopped gay-baiting on his recordings. The elite media will tolerate just about any kind of depravity, but denigrating homosexuals is over the line.
The general acceptance of Eminem may seem trivial on the surface, but it is not. That’s because the “entertainment message” that Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers) puts out could very well induce poverty.
Just providing the basics for a small family requires a fairly high skill level. Earning a living also requires an understanding of how society operates and an acceptance of the rules. But Eminem and other rappers reject the struggle to succeed, instead encouraging rebellion in the form of anti-social behavior. If your girlfriend does you wrong, kick her in the stomach. If your mother gives you a hard time, call her a dirty name. If you want to get high – go right ahead.
The corporate charlatans who peddle this pernicious rap crap tell us that they are giving a voice to the disenfranchised. But what they are really doing is contributing to the cycle of poverty. If they truly wanted to hear from the disenfranchised, they’d put out how-to-succeed books and tapes by poor people who have made it.
Hundreds of teachers have written to me saying their young students emulate rappers in speech, dress and attitudes. Thus, we now have 10-year-old boys calling little girls bitches. We have 13-year-olds with tattoos and body piercings. We have poor children without parental guidance selling dope and carrying guns.
At one time, society and even the entertainment industry frowned on that kind of behavior. Not anymore. There’s gold in the beat of rap music. The hills are alive with the sounds of obscenity and violence.
If a working-class or poor child rejects education, does not learn to speak properly, does not respect just authority and does not understand that having babies at age 14 is a ticket to ruin, that child’s life will likely be tragic.
Eminem and his corporate masters care nothing for the legions of confused, aimless youth who are embracing the gangsta attitude with a vengeance. Sure, we’ve always had teenage rebellion in this country. But now the bar has been dropped. Now it’s okay to rap about abusing women, smoking crack and solving problems with a gun.
Eminem may be the People’s Choice, but he is as harmful to America as any Al Qaeda fanatic. The press is giving him a free pass and lionizing his “artistry.” Meantime, bewildered American children continue to drown in their own ignorance and bitterness.
In a capitalistic society, the strong and smart prosper, the uneducated and undisciplined collapse. That’s the rhyme and the reason that Eminem, his enablers and his brethren are true villains. They sell mind poison and one-way tickets to misery.