It doesn’t entirely surprise me that the GOP would seek to find a patron saint in Eminem–deep textual analysis of Hip-hop lyrics isn’t what the party’s known for. If there’s one thing Eminem has been conflicted about his entire career, it’s his appeal to white people who only listen to rap music made by white people.
But Tim Pawlenty‘s choice to highlight the Bruno stunt at this year’s MTV Movie Awards is particularly odd, because as Paul Schmeltzer points out, Eminem was in on it. Yet Pawlenty said:
“Eminem was mad. And so, just like Eminem getting dumped on, we’ve got to kind of regroup. We’ve got to continue to fight. And we’ve got some things worth fighting for.”
You get the sense that Eminem might appeal to conservatives because of the whole “angry homophobic white guy” thing, except that Eminem’s anger isn’t really a Pat Buchanan type of anger. He doesn’t think that white people have it harder than black people. And the decision to participate in the Bruno stunt was a deliberate gesture aimed at satirizing his own homophobia (and therefore rehabilitating his own image)–with the implicit suggestion that he’s not really homophobic, because otherwise he wouldn’t joke about it. That was the whole point of that scene in 8 Mile where his character battles a homophobic worker at his car plant (played by Xzibit) who was bullying another co-worker who happened to be gay. I believe Eminem’s final diss was “he’s gay, you’re a faggot.” Hell, intentions, paved, ect.
In any case, even if you find Eminem completely offensive, he has an awareness of his own prejudices and shortcomings that the GOP might think of imitating, rather than just his being white and angry. They’ve got that part down er–Pat.
— A. Serwer
