This is a photograph of the popular rap star Eminem. I chose him to represent the evil in our pop culture because of the controversy that surrounded him and his lyrics. Eminem rapped about very provocative and controversial topics and was severely and publicly scrutinized for his music.

Personal- When looking at this image I have a sense of fear come into me. His eyes seem very angry and they make me afraid of him. I think this image reflects his music which conveys the same feeling. Even though it is on the line of discomfort and you want to turn away, you listen anyway; just like looking at this image.

Technical- The lighting in this image is a strong key like coming from infront and slightly below the subject. This gives him that erie, out of this world feeling that makes the viewer so uncomfortable. T This key light has a high intensity which causes the fast fall off seen around his face and neck. This contrast between the highlights and low lights of the image as stir visual interest. The reflect of the key light in Eminem’s eyes makes him look like an alien or some spooky non-human figure. The photograph is a close up of his face and upper body. The added visual effects of the blocks around is face are also interesting. They pull details of the image forward and add depth and interest to this photograph. These blocks seem to be projecting off of Eminem and I can’t help but feel like he is the one pushing them towards me with his scary eyes.

Ethical, Cultural, and Critical- Enimem’s music discusses topics such as, violence against women, child abuse, racial and heterosexual prejudice, and substance abuse. He was the first popular music artist to have these topics in his lyrics and talk about them casually, even endorsing these acts. Eminem’s immense popularity made him a target for political rights groups around the world. Parents went crazy saying Eminem’s lyrics were going to corrupt the youth of the country. The fact that every 13 year old boy buzzed and bleached his hair didn’t help Eminem’s case. He definitely influenced our society and I can’t agrue that it was for the better. His music was very degrading and hateful. It did have good beast and Eminem does have a talent for making rimes but the songs were so full of hate and anger that it was hard to appreciate him as an artist. It immunized society and lowered our shock value. After listening to some of Eminem’s music it is hard to be shocked by something else.

I’ll admit that I have listened to many of his songs and have even bought his CDs. But I feel Eminem represents evil because of his intolerance of minorities and free speech of taboo topics in his music. Eminem raised the standards of what must be done in order to shock our culture. He represents the intolerance and prejudice that popculture tolerates and I believe this constitutes as evil.