Eminem - The Monster (Explicit) ft. Rihanna Music Video analysis

This song is one of those songs that has been in the charts for ages without a video, the single was released in October and the video was released in December.
 I think some artists do this because they are so high profile that either the song is so highly anticipated that it gets released early or because they know the song will sell without the video and then when the video comes out the single sales will be boosted.

This video is pretty cool and it features clips and reconstructions of scenes from past videos and it just really proves how little Eminem has aged.





The video starts with a metronome, a newtons cradle and a heart monitor ticking, clinking and beeping in unison respectively.
This sets the scene to some kind of clinical room with a patient being assessed, in this case a psychiatrist.

Eminems silhouette can be seen sitting on a chair and the silhouette of Rihanna can bee seen walking past, I think silhouettes are used to add mystery and build tension, not that many people would actually watch the video without knowing who's in the video but just in case someone wasn't aware who was in the video this could add a level of mystery to the video but honestly it's pretty obvious who it is.
Maybe that's the point.

The lighting in the psychiatrists room is very dark so maybe the silhouette's are meant to show the darkness, this theory would fit nicely with the lyrics.

Rihanna turns on a Television and it starts with the title card "violence" featuring clips from older Eminem Videos the second card reads "Family" and features some more clips and a snippet of  Lose Yourself
The third is titled "Insanity" and features a snippet of My Name is.
Eminem is seen observing the footage whilst Rihanna is seen observing Eminem.
The fourth card is "Death" and features a clip from The Way I Am video.
The fifth looks at "Fame" featuring the 2001 grammy performance of Stan with Elton John.

 Performing with Elton John would be be a highlight of his career, it also features clips from Stan and clips of his ex wife and daughter which would imply lower points of fame and the effects it had on his marriage.

 The sixth and final is titled "Addiction" and features clips of a music video in which he is portrayed taking pills.

All the cards highlight themes from previous videos, the theme's of the past videos represent different issues in the rappers life, the way in which they were shown in a session with a shrink could potentially highlight how these things have effected him mentally.

The song it's self starts with Rihanna first verse, she stands in a dark warehouse like setting, she wears a tight fitting black dress, a black leather jacket and black lipstick.
Rihanna is known for her change in hairstyles but in this video she has a short black bob, the dark colours alludes to the dark nature of the track.

Eminem gets up out of his chair and the cage doors of a caged lift close around him and he is standing in the lift.

As the lift descends he panics and presses the buttons, this would indicate that he wants to escape the cage lift and pressing buttons  might make it stop.
I think he is trapped in a caged lift because firstly it's a cage (Obviously) when you're in a cage you can see through the bars but you can't get out.

Think about this from a psychological point of view it would imply he feels trapped either mentally or emotionally, (kind of like he is stuck feeling a certain way)  he can see the way out but can't get to it.
The Lift element adds movement, the lift not only moves through the videos literally but it also moves through them from a psychological angle, like the phrase says "the only way out if through".

As the next floor comes into view the scene from the My Name Is video where Eminem is seeing a shrink whilst wearing a straight jacket.

Eminem in the lift looks back at his old self in the straight jacket in disbelief.

The way in which the video was recreated is clever, the scenes had to be recreated to be able to dub the new lyrics in, the shot of Dr Dre was reused from the original but the rest of the scene was re-shot.

Both scenes look very similar (clearly not exactly identical but they are both similar none the less.) It's pretty amazing considering the My Name Is video was released January 1999 which would make it 15 years old it's nearly 16 years old so to be able to recreate the video to this standard is pretty amazing.

This scene represents insanity.


As the lift continues its descent and leaves the My Name Is scene Eminem in the lift is still trying to break out, I would say the reason he wants to break out is because looking at the past videos and what they represent makes him feel uncomfortable.

The scene from Lose your self, the scene where he stands in front of 8 Mile Rd. Mobile Court from the film 8 Mile which starred Eminem.

The film 8 Mile was set in 1995 Detroit and was about a young white rapper trying to launch his career in an industry dominated by black people whilst trying to deal with his personal life.
Including a scene from this video could represent how hard it was for a white rapper to make it into mainstream rap.
This could represent trying to make a name for him self and it represents his family.

As the lift leaves this scene the audio and the images from inside the lift become warped, this fits shrink and patient theme because his thoughts are literally being twisted.

The next video is The Way I am, the scene where Eminem is falling having jumped off a skyscapper, this represents death.
Because the death is suicide that would also imply that he is feeling depressed which also relates back to the shrink theme because they deal with similar problems.

The final video is the footage from the duet with Elton john from the 2001 grammys where they perform Stan.

To get the opportunity to perform with Elton john must have been a great honor simply because he is so well known so I would say this would represent a high point in Eminem's career, this would represent fame.

If you compare the theme of fame with the other themes such as death, insanity and addiction it is clearly something that is much more pleasant in comparison but I suppose that is the sacrifice you have to make when it comes to becoming famous, you might have to put your career first and family second and you might feel depressed and lonely at times but I guess that fame is the reward.

Whether being famous is worth the sacrifice is another thing and I guess it's up to the individual as to whether fame is worth the hassle.

The lift comes to a slow stop to reveal a crate sitting at what looks like the back of some kind of ware house with 2 men heavily armored point guns at the crate.

The cage doors open and Enimen walks up to the crate, as he approaches he noticed a man inside which he realises that it is himself in the crate.

The Eminem in the crate tosses some scraps of paper out of the crate at himself standing outside the crate.

I'm not overly sure as to why there are two Eminem's but I would say the lift is like a metaphor for "going deeper into his psyche" I can't really think of a better way to explain it, I just think that because he started travelling into the lift whilst seeing shrink makes me think this is meant to represent him going back over his problems and working out why he feels that way.

In the end he finally finds out the cause of all his problems is himself, the fact he is locked up and guarded in his own head (if we really were taken though a journey into Eminem's inner most thoughts) would imply that he doesn't like himself or at least that version of himself.

Eminem outside the crate picks up some of the paper scraps and reads them before putting them in his pocket and walking away.

The fact he reads the scraps takes them away would imply that he accepts what the version of himself has to say and if it was advice he would probably take that advice but the fact he doesn't let himself out also implies that he still isn't comfortable or "friends" with that part of himself and wishes for it to remain concealed.

It's really hard to explain but I think I can relate to that, everyone has a part of themselves they don't like and whilst they would rather not acknowledge that part of them it's still there and some times you need to face it or at least acknowledge it's presence to improve as a person.

I think that's the meaning of the video, I think the meaning of the song is pretty similar.

I think the song's meaning is about the conflicting feelings of fame because he just wanted "fame" and he didn't want all the other horrible things that come with it which relates back to the Fame theme in the video where it was the only positive out of all the other negative themes.