In this unit we have been close reading visual texts and looking at specific elements that help us to interpret the meaning of a text. I chose to do a close reading of the music video for "Not Afraid" by Eminem. My interpretation of the video as whole is that it depicts Eminem's journey from a bad place in his life to changing and getting to a better place. The lighting, symbolism, and realism help support my interpretation of the music video.

The entirety of the video shows Eminem's journey from darkness into the light. The shadow and lighting in the music video support my interpretation of the this. In the beginning it is very dark and gloomy. At the end, when he is in the basement it almost seems like it is in black and white. I could actually feel the coldness in the room by his white face, dark heavy coat, and the overall sad, lonely feeling in this scene. In the end however, there is a bright light that is shining behind him after he has decided to make a change in his life. The color white represent purity and faith and in this case, Eminem is a new pure being after his transformation; he has made himself anew through the realization of his mistakes and his newfound faith. The contrast from darkness to light shows Eminem's transformation from who he was to who he is now.

The main form of symbolism that I got out of the music video was the cross Eminem wore around his neck. Although he is wearing the cross throughout the entire video, it was not a main focal point for me until the end. At the end when the light is shining behind him, the cross is almost illuminated against his black shirt. I interpreted this as his transformation from evil and darkness to goodness and light. Even if the audience of the music video had no background information on Eminems journey, the lyrics throughout the song explain how he lost his focus on his daughter and his faith. Once he realized how much of his life he destroyed, he returned back to his faith and promised to focus on his daughter again. The cross was there on his chest all along but he didn't realize or utilize his faith until he fell into his destruction and transformed his life.

Throughout the music video, I believe the most important element that supports my interpretation is realism. Throughout the entirety of the video, the actions and interpretations I came to show the realistic view of someone who has been through horrible things but in the end comes out a new person. At the very beginning, Eminem is standing on the edge of the top of a building. I assume this means he is contemplating jumping off the building as I see his feet moving closer to the edge. Later, Eminem is walking through a crowd of people on the sidewalk in the city. The video goes back and forth between him out in the streets appearing to be just like everyone else but then it goes back to him in his dark basement explicitly releasing his anger through the lyrics and the smashing of chairs and punching walls. This shows that even though he appears to be like everyone else, he is really in a place of darkness that he is eagerly trying to get out of. Through his journey to his changed self he walks through traffic. I interpreted this as he is not afraid of death but is almost welcoming it and leaving it up to chance that he will live or die. Then Eminem sees his reflection in a car window. His eyes darken and his facial expression shows that he doesn't even recognize himself. He then continues walking into a street full of mirrors; he is surrounded by the image of himself and tries to run from it. I believe the demon that he is running from and the reason he is in such a bad place is because of the demon inside of himself. By running from the mirrors it shows him running from himself. When he breaks through the mirrors the whole mood of the video changes. He stands up on the edge of the city and it is destroyed. Behind him there is a bright light, and the scene is no longer gloomy. I interpreted this as he is looking at the devastation of his past. Overwhelmed by it he falls into all of this destruction and is finally faced with it. From there Eminem is risen up into the light and the tone of his voice and the lyrics change from what was anger from the beginning to now a more hopeful and motivated tone. At the beginning he keeps a very stoic face at all times; he is emotionless and always has an angry tone. But at the end of this video Eminem has a different look in his eye. Along with the hopeful and motivated change in tone of his voice, Eminem is back on top of the building but this time he has a glare in his eye. He has transformed and is prepared to live his life in a new light and I can see this by the look on his face at the very end. 

The lighting, symbolism, and realism, help support my interpretation of the music video. I interpreted the music video as showing Eminem's journey from darkness into the light and transforming his life for the better. All of the elements used throughout my close reading, helped support and depict the fact that Eminem was in a dark place in his life and was on the edge of ending it all. But in the end whether it be by pure resilience or how I also interpreted it, by faith, he changed and is living his life in a positive way to affect not only himself, but his daughter and everyone who looks up to him. I believe Eminem used this video to speak to us in a way that everyone can relate to; he is showing that he was in a dark place but got out and so can we. Whether it be a big problem or a little problem, everyone has and will go through something that will greatly affect their life. They have the choice to let this overcome them and take over their life or to fight back and overcome their weakness which may even be the demon inside of their own minds. Eminem used the lyrics and this video to encourage a large audience to fight whatever battle they are fighting because they can overcome it just like he did.

