The controversial video to Eminem and Rihanna’s collaboration, Love The Way You Lie, has broken records as it racked up over 6.6million YouTube views in the first 24 hours of its release.
The video, which glamourises domestic violence by constantly showing it as a precursor to sex with Transformers star Megan Fox, has provoked debate from bloggers, pop critics and broadsheet journalists alike.
The promo also stars Lord of The Rings and Lost star Dominic Monaghan, who isn’t only punching walls, but sincerely above his weight, again. Not only does he date Evangeline Lilly but he gets paid to snog Megan Fox?!
Joseph Khan, who directed the video, told MTV: “There are definitely things in both Rihanna and Eminem’s [lives] that we have to be very sensitive about when we were making this video, [but] it’s not a story about Eminem or Rihanna.
“It’s a specific thing that I created for Dominic and Megan to play two people with very specific story lines to each other. These are fictional characters in my head but obviously based on real human beings.”
He admitted that fans could see similarities between the promo’s storyline and Eminem and Rihanna’s lives: “The subject matter is some of the most complex stuff I’ve ever handled … [and] obviously there are parallels, in terms of the song, with Eminem’s personal life and Rihanna’s personal life.
“And I had actually, like last year, been working with Chris Brown… so I’m in the middle of all this stuff, and I have to be very, very careful with how I tread.
“Ultimately, if you really look at the video, it’s not about anybody in particular… It’s a story specific to two characters I created.”
Do you think the subject matter was handled carefully, or do you think everyone involved (apart from Megan, who donated her fee to a women’s charity) is kinda capitalising upon domestic abuse?