            In Eminem’s Monster music video, Eminem looks back at his past moments and problems he faces in life. The video features clips and reconstructions of scenes from Eminem’s past music videos. Those clips come together to help Eminem portray his message. Slim Shady was created by Eminem as an outlet to vent about his personal life and things he would get in trouble for saying. Anytime there was controversy over his lyrics he blamed it on Slim Shady, saying it was all an act; eventually he became the alter ego he created. The video is leading up to Eminem killing his alter ego, Slim Shady.

           The element of color is strongly used in this music video. Eminem’s past has a dark vibe to it and the video overall has a serious tone so the use of the characters being in a very poorly lit room is important. The opening scene shows Eminem and Rihanna’s silhouettes to add a bit of mystery. Eminem is talking to his psychiatrist, Rihanna, in his therapy session and he’s going over the key moments of his life after fame. The viewers see this happening when Eminem gets on a dark, caged lift and is in a way revisiting those moments. The moment of his debut, his biggest accomplishment, and the controversies he faced. 

            The clips from past music videos each symbolize a different moment in his life. The ‘caged’ lift symbolizes that he’s mentally trapped, like he is stuck feeling a certain way. The first clip he sees is from his debut single where he sees his old, insane self in a straitjacket. Eminem is in disbelief and is somewhat afraid of his old self, this clip symbolizes insanity. The lift continues to move and his next stop is a clip from “Lose Yourself”, possibly his greatest accomplishment. This clip symbolizes his hard work to make it big in the rap industry. This clip is filmed in 8 Mile, Detroit where Eminem grew up and started rapping. The next clip is of Eminem free falling from a building. He is showing an attempt of suicide. The death implies that he is feeling depressed which also relates back to the fact he needs therapy. The last clip he sees is his performance from the 2001 Grammys with Elton John. This obviously is referring to his fame. The fact that he was performing at the Grammys just shows him that he made it in the music industry. 

            After visiting his past, he is facing himself, the monster inside him, the voice in his head, the real Slim Shady. Slim is in a cage surrounded by guards and empty prescription drug bottles. The empty bottles show that Slim has abused drugs. He throws a note out to Eminem possibly a cry for help to let him out but Eminem keeps the note walks away. He lets go of Slim, he sets himself free from him. The lift symbolizes a tool to help Eminem set himself free. He had to moved past his problems like how the lift was moving past his problems. The lift was his “ride” to moving forward to overcome the obstacles in his life and come to terms with his past.

           In conclusion, the video portrays how fame can affect your life. Eminem not only had controversies over his lyrics, he also had a very hard time getting along with his family. Fame caused him to make sacrifices. He put his career first and his family second which can cause him to feel lonely and depressed but in the end fame and money are the benefit. He lost himself throughout his career, he became this person he didn’t like. He tapped into a person he hasn’t seen before and he has to accept it because that’s who he is. Everyone has a part of them they don’t like so they tend not to acknowledge that person but it’s who you are so acknowledge its presence to improve yourself as a person. 
