Domestic Violence Depiction: Analysing Eminem and Rihanna's Artistry

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War in Love Domestic violence is defined as the abusive behavior in a relationship between two people that leads to mental, emotional, or physical harm (“What is Domestic Violence?” Para 1). When an individual feels like they cannot see life without their significant other, that significant other selfishly uses it to their advantage to create power and victimize the other. In the United States alone, there are nearly ten million cases of abuse each year (“Statistics” Line 2). As toxic relationships continue to be an issue within our society, artists Eminem and Rihanna create a song and corresponding video titled “Love the Way You Lie” and use it to share what these types of relationships are really like. The artists use the song and video to raise awareness about the cycle of abuse as they place their audience into their reality of a relationship involving domestic violence. The two artists both were a part of their own cases of domestic violence. Eminem mentally and verbally abused his now ex-wife Kim through his career. He wrote songs talking about how much he hated her and how he wanted to kill her; one of his performances even included a blow-up doll which resembled …show more content…

The song is delivered in the form of conversation. In the first conversation, the victim speaks to the abuser. In lines one through five of “Love the Way You Lie.,” Rihanna sings from the victim’s perspective and her tone is heavy. It comes from a place of sadness, heartbreak, and confusion as she says, “Just gonna stand there and watch me burn? / But that’s all right because I like the way it hurts. / Just gonna stand there and hear me cry? But that’s all right because I love the way you lie” (Eminem and Rihanna). Here, the abuser is being asked if they’re going to watch her be hurt, but creates an excuse for the violent action by saying that it’s an acceptable thing to

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