1. This video featuring Eminem and Rihanna represents a huge contrast between the 2 opposite
genders. Levi-Strauss will describe the whole video a dictation of a conflict between two
'binary oppositions.' Regardless of both Eminem & Rihanna not being physically part of the
narrative, the use of their star power helps us imagine how they would of felt if they were in
the position of the fellow actors. It helps us as an audience to relate to the celebrities.
The video compares the different role of the boy and girl in a relationship and also represents
the difference in perspective of the two genders. The video starts with a close up Rihanna
which immediately engages the audience - especially those who are Rihanna fans. Here we
are encouraged to follow and understand the girl’s feelings through Rihanna's voice and
simultaneously the visuals help us understand the main theme of the video because the lyrics
illustrate the meaning of the song (Goodwin). As Rihanna is singing, we see cross cuts to a
girl and her boyfriend sleeping and cross cuts of her sitting with fire in her hand. This
portrays the 'original equilibrium' of the video (Torodov). The fire connotates the girl's state
of mind and noticeably, there is also fire in the background when Rihanna is singing, which
represents the destructive mood the girl is under when they know that their guy may be
cheating on her. This concept goes back to the general ideology of males being the dominant,
cheating figures that see women as mere objects of sexual desire (Mulvey) and therefore
don't think twice before committing adultery. The fire seems to give a literal meaning of the
lyrics ''....watch me burn...''
Suddenly the girl's eyes open, we hear a sudden breakthrough of Eminem’s powerful voice
that goes hands in hand with the aggressive lyrics that the song has to offer. The voice of
Eminem introduces the 'disruption' in the video (Torodov). The lyrics correspond with the
visuals where we see the boy pushing himself onto her and almost trying to forcibly convince
her. All throughout the portion sung by Eminem we see the aggressive conflict between the
couple and the visuals seem to conform to the idea of male dominance because
conventionally men have always managed to get it their way however what interestingly
struck my attention was the equally harsh actions the girl responded the boy back with which
allows the women of this generation to relate with and in fact allows them to feel in power.
Rihanna re-enters the visuals once the chorus approaches which to some extent Goodwin will
believe amplifies the lyrics as the star power accompanying the lyrics helps enhance and
exaggerate the meaning and the main theme of the song. It emphasises the fall out however
interestingly, the visuals seem to contradict the meaning of the lyrics because it shows the
couple making out when the lyrics are referring to a break in their relationship. The
contradictory visuals to the lyrics reflect the confused relationship the couple holds.
Just before we experience another breakthrough of Eminem's rap we see fast edits between
Rihanna singing and Eminem just wandering which hints the audience and prepares them for
another portion of visual coming from a perspective of the boy. Throughout this video the
audience is able to understand the conflict of the couple from the two gender perspective and
Rihanna and Eminem's star power defines the relationship and also allows us audience to
relate to the situation and in some cases we are encouraged to follow one's narrative more
than the other's due to mere star attraction.
As Eminem is singing, the visuals of the isolated boy sitting down encourages us to believe

2. that he may be regretting his actions and possibly seeing himself in the wrong. Here Torodov
will describe to be the 'recognition,' portion of the problem in the narrative. This cuts to
visuals of flashbacks showing how the couple initially met which allows the audience to
follow up the narrative however it always cuts back to either show the girl crying or the boy
screaming and so the fast edits provide a comparison in which we see the contrast between
their current state and their previous state of relationship.
After all these visuals, we see the whole video coming to a new equilibrium (Torodov) and
visuals are seemingly slowing down. The visuals of Eminem offering a teddy bear to the girl
provides a literal understanding of the new equilibrium and it shows some hope of the couple
possibly getting back together.
Yet again Rihanna enters the visuals along with the chorus but this time we also see Eminem
accompanying her which to some extent reflects the reunion of the two individuals through
the stars. This time we see the couple becoming intimate again however we see elements of
flashback in which the boy goes attacking a boy for the girl. This ideally show how the
relationship initially worked out. The action code excites the audience in wanting to resolve
the problem (Barthes). Here we see the constant conflicts that the couple have managed to
overcome. Throughout the whole video the 'men' have been represented as the 'villain,'
(Propp) whether its Eminem's aggressive tone or the boy's aggressive attitude in fact you see
the boy breaking the mirror with his fist as if he's given up but we then see the girl smiling at
him from the background.
Eminem begins to rap again and this time the lyrics illustrate the meaning of the narrative
because the voice is accompanied by several close ups of the couple which builds up the
intimacy and also hints the couple resolving the issue however to a surprise we see the girl
walking again which irritates the boy again and this time he begins to destroy the bedroom
and forcibly grabs onto the girl. Propp will say that the girl at this moment is represented as
the 'princess,' as it shows her in a vulnerable situation.
A lot of fire is shown during the series of images as it enhances the idea of destruction in
their relationship in cast we see the girl lighting off a flame in her hands which conotates the
end of the relationship and we see a literal translation of the lyrics ''....watch me burn....''
when the boy is set on fire downward up and the girl is in flames. The mis-en-scene of the
teddy on fire signifies the idea of the end of love and innocence (Barthes) and we see a shot
with Rihanna and Eminem looking up at a burnt house which portrays a very tough and
destroyed relationship but all this comes to an end with a simple shot of the couple lying in
bed together which noticeably is the shot that the whole video began with. The last shot
implies on a possible nightmare and thereby suggests that there is more to the story than all
that we are presented with hinting on a post life after the video ends. This leaves the audience
wondering about the whole concept and the use of enigma code (Barthes) will interest the
audience to watch it again to possibly resolve this problem.
From this video, I am highly influenced by the concept of disruption and equilibrium
(Barthes) and thereby have taken this further into our final music video which will portray a
life of a couple going through all their ups and downs in their relationship. Our video will
start off with a problem that will be seen resolved throughout the duration of our music video
along with visuals of their flashbacks that implies on their recall of memories and their time
spent together.