Eminem When I’m Gone video review

Rating 4 stars and a half
Eminem is certainly the best known rap artist and also the most misunderstood: when he shows his dark side spreading his wicked lyrics inside of his songs, people say that he’s a bad person. When Eminem pours his heart out, allowing people to penetrate into his mind and showing them what’s going on inside of his head, some other people complain that Marshall keeps « whining » and that they are tired of his tears.
If you’re not willing to listen to my explanations and to open your mind about what I have to say, you’d better not read to the end.
Marshall Mathers is a star. A superstar. The only one who made me realize that stars are normal people with a heart too. In the past, I used to despise celebrities (I’m still not the kind of person who find their world so much interesting). I used to think that all of them were very superficial persons whose only interest was to participate to some annoying shows and to hang out with each other.
I totally changed my mind about a world that I used to picture as a glitter world. Marshall Mathers is famous, but so much different from the other stars. He is touching, because he expresses things the way he felt them. Since he became famous till now, Marshall never stopped being true to himself and he has my full respect for that.
Some of you complain that Marshall is « whining about Hailie ». Have you ever considered, lucky guys and girls, family mothers and fathers, that you have your kids with you nearly 24/7? Have you ever considered how your life would look like if you were separated from your kids very often during the year? If you pretend you wouldn’t be nostalgic about your family, you must be whether heartless or hypocritical.
Since 1999, life has been rather hectic for a man who grew up in the Detroit ghetto. Since the beginning of his career, Eminem has never stopped performing, touring, participating to TV shows etc…The brilliant artist hasn’t stopped battling with his personal problems either.
He has sacrificed a lot of time that could have been dedicated to his daughter.
I do consider that people have no right to judge him, since most of them don’t live the same kind of life style. Also, most of them haven’t been through the same dramas and difficulties he has been trough.
Don’t judge…open your mind, your ears and be ready to watch Eminem’s brand new video:
Meet Eminem at Narcotics Anonymous. He is sitting in the middle of a crowd During a reunion, a man shares his 6 year battle against drugs.
As he finishes his success story, the organizer gently asks if anyone has something else to say. Marshall raises his hand and walks up to the podium to share his story. Strangely, Marshall’s first words will take you back to his first video, Just Don’t Give A Fuck, and remind you of his former words « My name is Marshall Mathers, I’m an alcoholic » while people answer « Hi Marshall! » in the background. The only difference is that Marshall exposes his recent dependency to sleeping pills.

Marshall exposes his life struggles in his own words, showing his very artistic and beautiful Hailie tattoo:
« 
Have you ever loved someone so much you’d give an arm for?
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?
When they know they are your heart
And you know you are their armour
And you will destroy anyone who will try to harm her
But what happens when karma turns right around and bites you… »

The « Narcotic Anonymous » room is dark on purpose. No sunlight seems to be allowed to penetrate in this bottle green background. It symbolizes a shadowed life full of pain and struggles. As the video guides us through Marshall’s life, it transports us into his house where you will meet daddy and daughter in a poignant dialogue…
The sunlight might be present, but clouds seem to occult daddy and daughter’s relationship. Marshall has no time to see his daughter’s paper shapes. Hailie feels quite helpless between a mom she is unable to find and a dad who is constantly busy writing his song.
At the very moment Marshall makes the following statement,« Daddy’s writin’ this song, this song ain’t gon’ write itself », the viewer will see a sentence magically put on paper:

A disappointed and lonely Hailie and flashback :Slim Shady, the evil persona dissing Kim on a record.
Eminem perfectly knows that his amazing success story caused a lot of pain inside of his family. A lot of problems remain unsolved and Marshall struggles with karma.
While the chorus starts, you can see Eminem dressed in his Detroit jacket and praying for his daughter, while Hailie swings in the garden.
Marshall wants his daughter to know that he is there, in Detroit, with her, at least in mind, even when he is at the other end of the world.
Second part of the drama. Marshall always promises his daughter, that « he ain’t leaving no more ». Sometimes, adults have to lie to their kids in order to make the reality look more bearable. But kids are very clever in detecting the truth. Hailie is just fed up with her daddy’s lies and as Marshall is ready to leave , she pulls boxes in front of the door, trying to block it, in a desperate attempt to keep her dear daddy at home.
The sunlight penetrates into Marshall’s house, unlike the « Narcotics Anonymous » room, but the boxes prevent the room from being clear and sunny. Darkness is present in two people’s lives despite the fact they literally adore each other. Hailie offers a little picture to her daddy in order to keep him safe.
Time flies away and Marshall is back on stage. He wears a dark suit and a red tie. He has become Eminem aka Slim shady again. The dark suit and the red tie contrast and make the viewer feel the pain. A daddy’s heart is bleeding. He holds the mic and the crowd acclaims him. Loving fans are throwing roses at his feet:

Suddenly, Eminem can’t believe his eyes; Hailie is standing in the middle of the crowd, holding her necklace, crying for help because her mom slit her wrists.

Bad and scary memory from 2001. Hailie speaks with Marshall’s voice, which allows us to think that what happens is an inner dialogue. Marshall is tortured and can feel his daughter’s reproaches hammering into his head. He wants to be efficient in performing and keeps swallowing his pills. The more he swallows his sleeping pills, the less sleep he actually finds. This part is a clear reference to what happened to Eminem during the Anger Management Tour III.

Eminem looks at himself into the mirror and symbolically destroys his made up Slim Shady persona. Dr Jekyll has killed Mr Hyde.
The real Marshall is symbolized by his natural hair color, while the public person is the dyed blonde Eminem you all know very well…
Marshall has visions of nighmares until his life goes back to normal. Back home, he finds Kim, Hailie and her little sister who welcome him.
The pain has vanished and Eminem has become Marshall again: a happy family man.

The video is touching and well made. Eminem, who is known for his sincerity towards his public, has fully exposed his inside dramas. He has exposed his harsh fight with sleeping pills and has accepted to fight one of his former demons from the past.
When I heard about Eminem’s European show cancellation and about what had happened to him, I immediately knew that his hospitalization and rehabilitation program were no joke. Despite the fact some people told me that Ambien was harmless and prescribed to older people, you gotta consider that Marshall Mathers has been hooked with pills since his childhood, because his mom took him for an hyperactive kid.
Eminem’s drug dependency goes back to the period he was living with Debbie and fighting it is more than a harsh struggle. However, Marshall had the honesty to envision that he had a serious problem and did everything possible to get it fixed. He is now confident in winning this fight against addiction.
Good job with the emotional When I’m Gone video, Eminem! I liked it from the beginning to the end. Once again, tears filled my eyes while watching it. I gave it 4,5 stars.