A Critique of Eminem's "Stan" and Music Video

Being one of the leading rap/hip hop artists of the 21^st century, Eminem continues to engage, empower and connect with his fans. Back in 2000, the release of Eminem’s third single “Stan” on the album The Marshall Mathers LP peaked number one on the top hits charts worldwide.  The song itself tells the story of a fictitious character named Stan who claims to be Eminem’s biggest fan. In hopes of showing his affection and dedication to Eminem’s music, he writes a series of letters to Eminem, found in each verse of the song, gradually and progressively becoming angrier at the lack of replies he receives. The song itself is very much powerful and delivers a sense of Ethnicity and Community. 

The video opens with the sound of loud rain and crashing thunder that surrounds the window of a house. As the camera zooms in, we see Stan’s girlfriend laying in bed, pregnant, who then gets up and rushes to the bathroom which is locked. On the other end of the bathroom door, Stan is inside bleaching his hair in hopes of resembling his idol Eminem. After continuous pleading to let her in, the two get into an argument, ending a loud slam of the door, furthermore symbolizing anger. As soon as the door slams, the music begins with a verse sung by Dido; this verse is sung several times throughout the song between pauses.

In the first verse, Stan walks down to what seems to be a broken down basement, sits down at his desk and begins writing to Eminem for the third time, hoping that he will write back. He expresses his devotion through lyrics such as “I know you probably hear this everyday but I’m your biggest fan (…) I got a room full of your posters and your pictures man.” Stan also empathizes over personal family loss such as the death of Eminem’s Uncle Ronnie. Rain and thunder can be heard in the background as well as the sound of rough pencil scratching on a page throughout the video.

As the song continues, in the second verse Stan’s voice tone is elevated as he expresses his anger  and frustration over the fact that Eminem hasn’t replied to his letters. Thus, “Dear Slim, you still ain’t called or wrote, I hope you have a chance, I ain’t mad – I just think it’s F***** UP that you don’t answer your fans.” Stan mentions his personal struggles and expresses how he relates to his idol’s pain sometimes; “ I even got a tattoo with your name across the chest. Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds (…) I can relate to what you’re saying in those songs.” He then goes along to talk about his little brother, bringing back a memory of when they both waited outside Eminem’s concert in hopes of meeting him. He expresses how his brother Matthew might be  of an even bigger fan than himself, and shares his hurt feelings and disappointment in Eminem’s character.

The third verse is portrayed as an audio recording of Stan in his car as he is driving under the influence, with his girlfriend in the trunk, in the midst of committing suicide. The thunder is becoming progressively louder and at this point, Stan is in rage. He refers to Eminem in a mocking way by saying, “Dear Mister-I’m-Too-Good-To-Call-Or-Write-My-Fans.” And clearly states that this Is a bold, suicidal act when he says “this’ll be the last package I ever send you’re a** (…) I’m in the car right now, I’m doing 90 on the freeway. Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka, you dare me to drive?” As Stan vents further, the car speed begins to speed up, symbolizing the anger and rage in his voice. By the end of the tape, Stand realizes that he will be unable to send the tape to Eminem, aka Slim, resulting in a deadly crash into the river.

The fourth and final verse opens with Eminem sitting at a table writing belated letters back to Stan. As Eminem writes, he apologizes about the inconvenience of not meeting him or his brother. As this is being said, the image of a funeral arises furthermore displaying the irony of the situation. Flashbacks occur of moments mentioned in Stan’s letter, as well as Eminem’s advice and help for Stan, “You got issues Stan, I think you need counseling.”  Further on into writing the letter, Eminem mentions a news story that caught his eye and says, “I just don’t want you to do crazy shit. I seen this one shit on the news a couple weeks ago that made me sick. Some dude was drunk and drove his car off the bridge and had his girlfriend in the trunk, and she was pregnant with his kid and the car they found a tape, but they didn’t say who it was to.”, Only to realize that the news story was about Stanley’s death. “Come to think about it, his name was…it was you. Damn!” After Eminem’s final words, the music stops as well as one final thunder strike.

“Stan” is a very literal music video that tells the story of the lyrics and displays the meaning and intention of every verse towards the audience. This kind of music video has a direct relationship with it’s lyrics, which creates a “beginning and end” effect while watching the visual interpretation of the song.