"Love The Way You Lie" Analysis

This music video by Eminem carries a very strong narrative through out and this helps with the stars involved such as Rihanna, Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan. Fans of these stars will be interested in seeing the video especially fans of Eminem himself. The video presents Eminem and Rihanna telling a story of violent and passionate love through the two main characters played by Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan. The acting by them is very realistic and adds to the impact of the video and the narrative.
The music has a contrast of piano and use of drums. The drums and sharp beats represent the strength of the male character and the power he has over the female character, yet the piano represents the beauty and elegance of the female. Eminem is portraying the role of the male character and Rihanna portrays the female in the relationship. The violence of the relationship is shown within the first 40 seconds of the video so that the relationship between them is established for the audience. The element of fire is a motif in the video and seen through out. At the start we see the female character cupping fire which represents the fiery character of herself and the way she feels. Another way we see it is when Rihanna sings to the camera she is stood in front of a burning house and again this is representing the fiery passion the relationship involves. Within the first minute we see that both characters are violent toward each other and not just the male.




The setting of the house is very dark and involves dull colours on the wall and in the décor. The sun is peeking through the curtains. This shows how they are both cut o0ff from the outside world and how they only have each other in their own world. The costume for the characters are again dull as we see Megan Fox wearing a beige tank top and denim jeans with biker boots. This isn’t a glamorous look for her as for her accessories she wears chains and leather which could represent her being chained into this relationship. The male character is seen wearing beige shorts with no top to show his tattoos. Tattoos were originally worn by prisoners before they became a accessory which would present him as being a trouble maker. The scene when he steals the bottle of alcohol reinforces this idea of him. The lighting of the house is again very dark and the scene when they are in the shop and rooftop are the only times they are seen in bright light. This shows them being cut off and ever since they became in a relationship they have been in the dark.

The performance from Rihanna and Eminem are also powerful and filled with passion of the lyrics and the meanings of the words. Rihanna is wearing black and leather with bright red hair and nail varnish. The red could represent the love of the characters and also the danger involved with the leather representing a strong and confident image. The black hair band with black bow on it completes the look with femininity included. Both female characters are not seen as ‘damsel in distress’ types rather than women who are strong. However the character played by Megan fox is seen breaking down and at times equally violent.

The lyrics of this song are linked very well to the video and represent the narrative of the video. For example “Don't you hear sincerity in my voice when I talk, Told you this is my fault, Look me in the eyeball, Next time I'm pissed I'll aim my fist at the drywall, Next time, there won't be no next time, I apologize even though I know it's lies” These lyrics explain that even though he is abusive to her she still comes back to him even when she knows he is lying about restraint but she loves him too much to just leave.


The video is filmed with mainly a handheld camera with the scenes of both characters together. This is to emphasise the tension in the relationship and the house they are in. The use of close ups also emphasise the tension but in some shots show the love they have for each other. In one shot it is a one take shot going through the different rooms of the house with the make character becoming more violent as he follows her through the rooms until she shuts herself in the bathroom. The juxtaposition of this shot is after the looks of affection as a way of telling the audience that there is a reason why she tries to leave him and how quickly the relationship can change from love to violence. The editing of the video is passing from characters to singers but both in front of bright light and shadowed. For example the light coming through the curtains in the house to Eminem in the field with the sun behind him.

The audience for this video will be hard to identify as it doesn’t have a specific audience apart from fans of Eminem and Rihanna. This type of music is very contemporary and will attract late teenagers and young adults. I would say that the audience will be mainstream. The purpose of this video is to sell the song and the representation of Eminem and his ideas on life. It is also a way of showing very real life violence of relationships and abuse. This makes the video more powerful to watch and specially important to fans of Rihanna who was violently abused by her boyfriend in 2009.

The ending of the video is very questionable as we see a burning house which is representing the house the two lovers are in and each character ‘burning’ with the last shot of them on the bed together like at the start. This could raise questions such as “Did it all actually happen?” or “What will happen in the future?”