There's this idea that because it's art that it's fake in intent and that Eminem never intended this to psychologically harm or threaten Kim Scott... But "Kim" is clearly meant to harm, it's domestic violence in song form.
In Kim, Eminem narrates a fantasy of him murdering his then wife Kim Mathers (later, Scott). This song was written, I believe, after Eminem caught Kim kissing a bouncer. He assaulted the bouncer and later said that he was about to murder both Kim and the bouncer but his gun was not loaded. So, we're already off a great start.
But here's the thing that's really bad.
https://people.com/celebrity/kim-mathers-eminem-nearly-drove-me-to-suicide/
Eminem wrote a song about murdering his wife, then brought a blowup doll on stage (that looked like his wife) to assault, and then his wife attempted suicide...
I... Am not sure why this song remains considered such a great song. There is artistic merit in depicting domestic violence accurately but... that's because it's domestic violence from a domestic abuser. It was a song intended to inflict extreme pain on Kim and to serve as a warning that he would kill her if she cheated on him.
Kim is a really bad song.
In Kim, Eminem narrates a fantasy of him murdering his then wife Kim Mathers (later, Scott). This song was written, I believe, after Eminem caught Kim kissing a bouncer. He assaulted the bouncer and later said that he was about to murder both Kim and the bouncer but his gun was not loaded. So, we're already off a great start.
But here's the thing that's really bad.
Mathers, 32, tells Dr. Keith Ablow in an episode of his talk show airing Friday that the final straw came when she saw Eminem (real name: Marshall Bruce Mathers III) onstage beating a blow-up doll that resembled her while singing a song about her.
"Seeing the crowd's response and everybody cheering, singing the words and laughing and it just felt like everyone was staring at me," she says. "I knew that it was about me and that night I went home and I tried to commit suicide."
https://people.com/celebrity/kim-mathers-eminem-nearly-drove-me-to-suicide/
Eminem wrote a song about murdering his wife, then brought a blowup doll on stage (that looked like his wife) to assault, and then his wife attempted suicide...
I... Am not sure why this song remains considered such a great song. There is artistic merit in depicting domestic violence accurately but... that's because it's domestic violence from a domestic abuser. It was a song intended to inflict extreme pain on Kim and to serve as a warning that he would kill her if she cheated on him.
Kim is a really bad song.