The video displays clear characteristics of the genre by the following reasons. It has a protagonist lip syncing to the lyrics in time with the beat. With this it also has a narrative which would be seen as hard edge. This stereotypically shows the harsh, ghetto side often expressed in rap.
It continues by referencing the passing of his uncle when he committed suicide shortly before the lyrics were written. This shows the lyrical reflection that rappers commonly express when talking about a sensitive subject. It further allows the connotation of a rap song by showing violence full on, referring to the harsh upbringings of the protagonist within the video as well as the Eminem himself.
Lyrics to Eminem - Stan
The relationship between the lyrics and the visual are reflective as the video simply shows a visual representation of the narrative within the lyrics themselves. In the first verse Eminem chooses to write from his protagonist 'Stan's' perspective, as a fan who is becoming slightly obsessed. this is reflected in the video by the fan dying his hair platinum blonde, similar to Eminem before sitting down to write the letter. He starts to read the letter aloud to himself as he writes this and the monologue acts as the first verse. However in the second verse the monologue is often distracted by the flashback of the events that had occurred between Eminem and the protagonist,
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but were only seen through the actor eyes. the video goes on ton show the protagonist anger through level of anger in the lyrics and the violent actions towards his pregnant girlfriend. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals switch in the final verse/bridge of the song where the protagonist becomes Eminem himself.
"Dear Stan, I meant to write to you sooner"
He appears in the video to write to his fan when he pieces together that this is they victim on the news, who has just taken his life and killed another.In the first verse:
"If I have a daughter, guess what I'm a call her? I'll name her bonnie"This was after his song bonnie and Clyde that he released on the slim shady LP. the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals were enhanced by the background knowledge of Eminem, this allows the audience to gain realism in the protagonist as he should know his previous months.
"I read about your uncle Ronnie too, I'm sorry, I had a friend who killed himself over some bitch who didn't want him."
This showed the desparate attempt to relate to his idol, by using his hard times similar to himself. When these lyrics were said in the video, stanley was facing towards the TV, as if he were engaging in a conversation with Eminem right then and there.
"Truly yours, your biggest fan, this is Stan."
At the end of the verse he signs off his letter, corrosponding exactly with the lyrics. the lyrics are can also be seen as ironic as at the end he does what only the ultimate fans have done;become a matyr to the artist. as he says this, he slams the pen down and stares deeply into the TV image.
"He wants to be just like you man, he likes you more than I do."
In the second verse, stanley talks about hes little brother and how he loved eminem more than he did. the visuals showed a flashback when him and his brother was shown enjoying his concert. this is reflected in the end when the younger brother is seen looking over stan's grave, with his hair dyed blonde. This makes a reference to the beginning of the video when stan had dyed his own hair.
"Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds, It's like adrenaline, it's a sudden rush for me."
this was illistrated by showing dripping blood on a newspaper, where he had cut himself. Eminem later says how he was worried about him doing this as he was only joking when he said this in previous songs.
"Dear Mister, I'm too good to call or write my fans."
in this quote he talks aggressively towards the picture hanging in his car of the artist, directly addressing him about his apparent flaws. the lyrics suggest that he cant even bring himself to say his name because he is completely let down.
However, the relationship between the music and visuals are not obviously considered as the video concentrates on the narrative between the two protagonists. The video doesn't cut to the beat but in the introduction into the first verse where they're faded cuts to beat the soft drum and Sybille. They use the storm to separate the different verses. There are no solo instrumentals of any of the instruments but there few cuts of close up to Dido lip syncing to the chorus.
However, the chorus was displayed in a way in which it sounded like it was playing on the radio, adding to the realism of the narrative and to add to the pessimistic atmosphere of the video. This was often faded in and out by the sound, introducing the verse.
Non diagetic sounds such as the rain drops and the thunder and the melancholic feeling of the music. The thunder can also represent the anger expressed by Stan and the progression of his anger towards his pregnant girlfriend and Eminem.
In the last verse, when Eminem is writing back, there is diagetic sounds such as the trailer moving, the personal assistants talking and the TV blaring in the background. This is to add realism and to cleverly combine the two stories when Eminem uses the sounds of the TV story to piece together that Stanley was the fan and the person who had committed suicide.
Throughout the song note sounds from the pen can be heard to give the viewer the feeling of the passion when Stan is writing as to when eminen speed of writing was slower and less tense.
There is also a pattern between the verses of the song and the aggressive tone. In the beginning of the song there is a much softer tone than when the cuts are quicker, the diagetic sounds are mush harsher and louder towards the end of the song.
Because of the strong narrative through the entire song it was hard to see many physical close ups of the artist throughout the song, however in the ending verse there are nothing but close ups on the artist while there are few establishing shots, keeping with the theme.
On the other hand, there are many inter textual examples of close ups, shown through the use of Eminem poster and pictures and that displayed through the whole song. this shows that even though they are trying to follow the storyline there are constant reminders of Eminem to promote him as an artist.
In addition, even though the camera privileges Stan, because of his constant battle to be as similar to him as possible, also helping to remind the audiences of the artist without him even being there.
Because of this, it has led to the name Stan used as a slang term for an over obsessed fan who has pushed the artist too far. Other artists within the industry such as Ludacris and 50 Cent have used this term in their own music, gaining Eminem more respect and influence in the hip hop industry. Swizz beats has even made a Stan 2, which he passed on to eminem only for him to turn it down, however swizz beats still used it within his own album the same year.
The notion of looking has not been used for sexual references, but to indicate Stan's behaviour spilling out of control.
The first time that it is used was when he was in the crowd and the notion was used to show Stan's view of his idol but Eminem's quick gaze over the crowd in comparison.
The second time was when Stan writing a letter to Stan in the second verse and he waves back to the TV when footage of eminem is shown, showing his slow sink into obsession and his slow lost of his own self control and madness.
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