GENDER REPRESENTATION-LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE: EMINEM FT RIHANNA

I will be analysing the gender representation in ‘Love the Way You Lie’: Eminem ft Rihanna.

This music video portrays men as dominant in relation to women. The music video portrays a negative representation of women as it connotes that they are easily manipulated. I denote this through the scene where Megan Fox gets knocked about and then Eminem gives her a present to make up for everything.  Through this I can also interpret that women are materialistic and vulnerable in these situations. This objectifies women as they are mostly seen as the victim and in need of compensation.

Moreover, men are also given a negative representation, which grants them empowerment through the music video depicting them as threatening. I denote this through his lyrical dialogue, “Imma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire”. This presents his male character to be very aggressive and powerful, making his seem like an authority figure.

 

However, both genders seem to have a weakness through their sexual desires. This seems to be the main point of the music video to portray sexual desires as an overpowering element in relationships. This causing everything to be forgotten about and an abusive relationship to not seem as bad because their sexual desires are being fulfilled. This is evident throughout the music video but in particular where both violence and sexual acts are in combination or sequence. This communicates a reason for why some stay in an abusive relationship because through these sexual acts, they feel loved.

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During Rihanna’s solo we are introduced to many beauty shots of her where she is hooded and there is fire in the background.  This fire could be a representation of hell or symbolic that abuse cannot only effect people physically but it also ‘burns’ in them internally, leaving a scar just like a burn would. In addition, the flames could also be reminiscent of what Rihanna went through with Chris Brown being in the press for abusing her. Is she trying to explain herself for staying in an abusive relationship? Perhaps this relationship made her feel the fault for it, like she is the devil and he is the angel? Eminem’s depiction of being heavenly is clear through the wide long shots of him in the field and open space creating a supremacy upon his character. The low angle presents him as God-like and an idyllic figure.