22 July 2010
Rihanna doesn’t have a writing credit on this track, but she had been a high-profile victim of male domestic violence and abuse before ‘Love The Way You Lie’ was released. As a result, the chorus lyric she sings is uncomfortable. Still, it’s her choice and her lived experience, and they’re complex things, so aren’t for us to question here.
No, what makes ‘Love The Way You Lie’ another despicable Eminem project is his false equivalence of—by association—Rihanna’s personal, painfully familiar experience for a woman of an abusive relationship, and the male experience voiced by him. No doubt it was finessed from the radio edit or faded down before the traffic updates, but Eminem’s male protagonist speaks of committing several acts of physical violence against the woman in his relationship. What else would we expect of the crass misogynist behind ‘Stan’? What more should we expect of the Irish music-buying audience that made ‘Stan’ Ireland’s Christmas number one?
Women’s Aid at the helpline 1800 341 900 and website womensaid.ie and ADAPT Kerry in my home town of Tralee at the helpline 066 712900 and website kerryrefuge.com are two organisations who provide support for victims of domestic abuse.
