
“Love the Way you Lie”, a collaboration between Eminem and Rihanna, is a powerful music video that dives into the story behind an abusive relationship.  The colors, outfits, camera angles and different settings were all carefully chosen to help further develop the intensity of the relationship at hand.  A careful analysis of the production of the video provides the viewer with appropriate insight to help further strengthen the storyline in the lyrics.  Throughout the video, the consistent themes of fire and habit are portrayed both literally and figuratively within the lyrics, actions of the couple and production elements to depict the reality and toxicity behind abusive relationships and blind love.

Immediately, the idea of fire is introduced in the video as Rihanna is singing the lyrics “Just gonna stand there and watch me burn” in front of a wall of flames.  Not only does this dramatically foreshadow the abuse and manipulation that will come later, but it also sheds light on how awful and sadistic her boyfriend is.  While watching her burn is just a metaphor, its intensity shows the viewer how unsupportive and demeaning the relationship is.  In this scene, Rihanna’s hair is dyed and her nails are painted a bright and fiery red, her eye makeup is dark, and her earrings are bold, gold hoops.  All of these aspects make Rihanna look powerful, symbolizing her realization of the situation and her desire to overcome it.  Finally, the camera shot is close up on Rihanna’s face, drawing little attention to much else.  This shot allows the viewer to pay special attention to the hurt and anger on her face, as well as the intense enunciation of each word.  The lack of distracting elements immediately emphasizes the importance of the chorus.

The chorus itself sets the scene for the rest of the video.  Rihanna’s words are conflicting; half of them are filled with pain, and half are excusing the pain.  “I like the way you lie” becomes a theme throughout the video as the viewer continually sees the girlfriend come back to Eminem, even through the evident pain he causes her.  It starts off with the couple sleeping in bed, when the girlfriend notices another girl’s phone number written on her boyfriend’s hand, ensuing a fight.  Shortly thereafter, the couple makes up and resumes normal activity.  This cycle continues through the course of the video; however, it comes full circle at the end and shows the couple lying in bed together again.  This is an important moment as it defines everything that came before it – no matter how bad Eminem and his girlfriend are for each other, no matter the problems they go through because of each other, they cannot seem to let go.  It is almost as if they are a broken record, stuck in the same groove without the ability to move forward.

These scenes that portray the couple together are interesting because the producers make it clear that they are low class.  The house they live in is small, with trashy, old furniture and messy rooms, which is juxtaposed to their dirty and torn clothing.  Their public actions make it evident that they are not model citizens and do no live a life of luxury.  Instead, they are portrayed as ‘white trash’, which falls in line with common stereotypes of abusive couples that have and come from nothing and carelessly break the law.  This was done intentionally as this portrayal is easy for any viewer to grasp and accept.  While wealthy, upper-class members of society are imagined to act respectable and dignified, the viewer can easily picture members of the lower-class being law breakers and acting without couth, as this is a common sight.

While both Eminem and his girlfriend are portrayed in a low-class and reckless manner, it is also important to note how Eminem continually appears intimidating.  In each scene, Eminem is dressed in old, cut up t-shirts or ratty jackets.  He has a close shaven hair cut and tattoos that are stylistically comparable to those often seen on criminals.  Again, this is not done by accident, as it is no secret that this classic bad-boy look is one that frightens others and elicits stereotypical thoughts of danger.  Because Eminem is seen physically abusing his girlfriend and acting out on his anger throughout the video, the viewers’ hardwired assumptions based on his clothing and appearance are brought into light by his actions.

However, during the parts of the song where Eminem raps, there is a repeated scene where he is standing alone, in a wheat field, singing angrily.  It is here that the focus on his thug-like appearance is replaced with a spotlight on the emotion behind his words.  The shots from farther away and the motion of the camera de-emphasize his finite details and allow the focus to turn to his body language.  His posture and hand gestures convey his feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment with himself.  This, in combination with the lyrics “I feel so ashamed, I snapped, who’s that dude / I don’t even know his name, I laid hands on her / I’ll never stoop so low again, I guess I don’t know my own strength”, establishes the idea of recognition of wrongs.  For the first time, the viewer can truly see that Eminem regrets, and hates himself for, they way he has treated his girlfriend.  He is also alone in a large, barren field throughout these scenes.  This emphasizes that Eminem is alone in his anger with nothing to do but sulk in it.

Watching this video, the last set of scenes seems to be the most powerful.  Rihanna and Eminem have both moved to in front of a burning house.  In the last verse of Eminem’s rap, he says “If she ever f******g tries to leave again / I’m a tie her to the bed and set this house on fire”.  Although his girlfriend then appears outside of the burning house with him, there is a very literal connection to the lyrics; however, there is a more figurative one as well.  In this scene, this house is so much more than where they happen to live.  The burning house represents their unfixable relationship.  But even so, with their relationship burning in the background, the two do not leave each other – the constant struggle and theme seen throughout the entire video and song.  In one of the last sequences, the couple is kissing outside of this burning house/relationship.  Clearly, the two have a fiery passion for each other, but this passion is not enough to extinguish the flame that will ultimately leave nothing standing, just enough to cover it up for the time being.

“Love the Way you Lie” boldly dives into the nature of abusive relationships with the uninterrupted themes of fire and habit, which are illustrated by specific production techniques used throughout the music video.  The story of a man constantly abusing his girl, both physically and emotionally, speaks volumes on one’s ability to part from unwarranted situations.  While the lyrics of the song begin to paint a picture, the accompanying video colors the picture in to unfold its true meaning, maybe otherwise overseen.
