Pull the Plug on Eminem

Insight on the News, Feb 26, 2001 by John Elvin

If you're looking for a reason to go and live under a rigorously repressive regime, such as the Taliban in Afghanistan, look no further than the lyrics of Grammy Award nominee Marshall Mathers III -- aka Eminem, a rapper whose rantings would have qualified him for an insane asylum, rather than a pop-music award, not so many years ago. The only thing worse than Eminem's graphic gutter talk extolling nightmarish behavior is the fact that the daily news proves him to be a role model. The next time you read about a harmless elderly woman whose throat was slashed during a home invasion or a pizza-delivery driver beaten to death with a baseball bat by a group of barely-teen-aged savages, thank Eminem.

To their credit, groups and notables across the political spectrum have denounced Eminem and his messages. Gay- and lesbian-advocacy groups find him abhorrent; Christian organizations such as the American Family Association term him morally depraved. Defenders who are not profiting from the popularity of rap music are fairly hard to find, though the American Civil Liberties Union has defended a student expelled for composing lyrics similar to those of Eminem. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California -- or should we say Hollywood -- Democrat, suggests that violence in our society is a result of guns, not words. Sure, the rapper is perpetually "popping" somebody, but did Boxer notice his frequent references to slitting throats as well? He specializes in applying the razor to adults, apparently, but also mentions a 4-year-old kid as a target.

Hollywood maintains that parents who don't want their kids listening to such rot simply should not allow it. There was a time, long ago and far away, when that approach might have been generally effective -- such as when many children lived in rural isolation and their only exposure to music was the Victrola.

Thus far, there hasn't been much call to steer clear of Eminem's forthcoming appearance at the Grammys as we go to press. The TV audience is expected to be around 60 million viewers. One group, the feminist Family Violence Prevention Fund, has called on the public to "Say No to Eminem." That crusade focuses exclusively on Eminem's violent and hateful attitude toward women, a mere slice of his mud pie. The group hopes to convince CBS to cancel the rapper's appearance. If the network allows a performance, "we will consider a boycott against sponsors of the program," according to Esta Soler, executive director of the fund.