He's known as a misogynist, a satirist, a jokester, an attention-seeking bad boy, a creep, an artistic genius, and a man with a history of addiction and abuse. She's known as a diva, a self-proclaimed "good girl gone bad," a brilliant performer, and a survivor of violent assault by her equally famous ex-boyfriend. When Eminem and Rihanna teamed up to perform a wrenching song about a violent relationship, people were fascinated, disturbed, thrilled, angry, triggered, impressed, affirmed, upset, unsure… whatever your personal reaction to the song, there's no question that "Love the Way You Lie" caused people to throw out a lot of strong adjectives.
When "Love the Way You Lie" was released, fans went nuts. Bloggers went nuts. YouTube went nuts. What is happening in this song, people asked? Does it condemn dating violence, or glorify it? Is it about catharsis for Rihanna, or excuses for Eminem? Is it a piece of thoughtful artistic reflection, or something more closely related to Eminem's longstanding enthusiasm for shocking the media? And what about the good-looking actors and hard-hitting plot of the wildly popular music video? There's so much to talk about here that we're going to stop talking now so we can get on with it.