In an interview given to Musik Magazine in 2000, Eminem comments some of his lyrics:
'Please Lord, this boy needs Jesus/Help this child, help him destroy these demons/Please send me a brand new car and a prostitute while my wife is sick in the hospital'. What I'm trying to say is we've got all these preachers going 'Jesus, Jesus! And then they're molesting kids. I'm taking stabs at crooked muthafuckers in the system. (Eminem)
Believe it or not, but Eminem feels concern for kids. He is a denonciator of our society's hypocrisy. Some people don't like it when the truth gets exposed like this. But in the end only truth matters. Eminem's words will shock you, stab you, pull away your old fashioned way of thinking : he is a commentator of our society's deseases and should be taken seriously, because he does his job very well. Between his funny and dark humored lines, Eminem has something serious to say. The theme of the perverted priest also appears in the « Role Model » video where you can see the priest caressing a young boy's knee.
Parents, you should be more worried for your kids being abused by priest than by Eminem's so called « bad influence ». Eminem won't rape your kids?
How many paedophiles priests have tried to abuse young children? How many scandals involving young kids the Vatican has been confronted to? How many scandals the Vatican is currently trying to hide?
If you check out this website, you will find out that there is an alarming number of sex affairs involving priests and children:
http://www.licatholic.com/news.htm
I've been confronted to Christian fanatics from different tendencies and I noticed that they all has something in common. While considering themselves as "saints" and calling people who didn't belong to their organizations "sinners", they were in fact perfect hypocrits. They were playing two different roles and were acting like two different persons whether they were at Church of at home. At Chuch, they were trying to hide their own dirty behavior. At home, they were swearing, disrespecting their wifes and children, hiding some dirty magazines and tapes. And of course, they considered themselves as "saved by Jesus" while other people were (you guessed it) lost.
What an hypocritical behavior!
Eminem fights against such hypocrisy. He describes things the way they are. He also expressed against Bill Clinton's hypocrisy:
« When someone says kids look up to me, I'm like 'Our president smokes weed and is getting his dick sucked and is fucking lying about it. So don't tell me shit. I'm not the fucking president. I'm a rapper and I don't want to be a role model'. I'll tell a kid, 'Look up to me as someone who's come from nothing and now has everything. Don't look up to me for being violent and doing drugs. Don't be like me.' »
Eminem's got a clear message for kids (and also for adults). Look at things the way they are. Don't try to escape from reality. Look at it in its entire uglyness and try to learn a lesson from it.
To the kids, he clearly wants to say that he's not their role model, but that they can learn from his story. Eminem encourages a lot of kids who come from poor social classes. He has shown the that they can « make it » if they are determined to.
He is not the fool some parents want to make of him. He never encourages them to be violent nor to take drugs.
I do teach English and German at public schools. I am an Eminem biographer and a freelance music journalist.
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