Chris wrote:Replay wrote:Em isn't homophobic, his lyrics have never really reflected that if you take a deeper reading...mostly he just says "fag" a lot, and in the same way everyone else seems to, which is to say more like "fuck you".
I.E. "But if we can hump dead animals and antelopes
then there's no reason that a man and another man can't elope" from "The Real Slim Shady"
I would be remiss if I didn't point out the irony of you defending his use of the word fag in any context. Tony Homo is pissed.
Em is awesome for one reason....he's a massive fucking nerd.....and nerds kick ass
When I tried to insist on being the language police last time, it turned into the ugliest fight I've ever been in, on this board. So I don't do that anymore.
Do I think people still say "fag" and "homo" and "gay" a lot when it's retarded and potentially even unfair to do so? Yes. But I no longer consider it mandatory to try to change the way others think and talk. Everyone has their own opinion on the subject, and I don't right-fight like that the way I used to.
I listen to plenty of hip hop, and most rappers have said the word "fag" at some point. What do you want me to tell you? I was angry two years ago about it all...now I hope attitudes change someday, but I'm more ready to accept things and people on their own terms. I'm not going to dismiss or disregard anyone out of hand, at least not anymore, and I can try to appreciate what's good about a situation without needing to lambast every part of it I don't agree with. I would have considered that progress, when it came to reining in the uglier side of who I used to be...
For hip hop, Emimen's viewpoint - and the fact that he was ever willing to perform with Elton John, or do this stupid-ass stunt with Baron Cohen - is indeed somewhat progressive. Mostly you hear shit like Xzibit's "one contact with another man makes you a faggot", with the intent clear that anyone who's engaged in homosexual contact should be sneered at if not killed outright.
So no, I am not defending his use of the word fag, but I am noting that Em is rather better than the industry as a whole in the fact that he has expressed any kind of tolerance for homosexuality at all. As you all noted to me before, some people use it in a way that's explicitly homophobic, and some people just use it because it's idiomatic slang that's passed into the language, with shades of gray in between.
Personally, like I've said, I think we could all do without it, but I don't consider it my job to be the content patrol anymore. There are better ways to support the things I want to support.
