Of course it does.

Tongue Jerky Legion

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Id, Ego, Super-Ego...Marshall, Slim Shady, Eminem



Freud proposed that the human psyche could be divided into three parts: ego, super-ego, and id.

I find it pretty interesting that the entertainer that we know as Eminem has released albums based on these three parts of the psyche; Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers and Eminem - in that order.   Is this too deep for you?

The "id" acts as according to the "pleasure principle", seeking to avoid pain or unpleasure aroused by increases in instinctual tension. 

The Slim Shady LP, according to Billboard Magazine, Eminem "realized his musical ambitions were the only way to escape his unhappy life".

The Ego acts according to the reality principle.

The Marshall Mathers LP was released in 2000.  On this album was the single, "Stan," (which samples Dido's "Thank You"), Eminem attempts to deal with his new-found fame, taking on the persona of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend, mirroring a song, "Bonnie and Clyde," which was on The Slim Shady LP.

The Super-ego aims for perfection.

Eminem's next album, The Eminem Show was released in 2002.  It featured the single "Without Me", an apparent sequel to "The Real Slim Shady", in which he makes derogatory comments about boy bands, Limp Bizkit, Moby, blah, blah, blah. The Eminem Show was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Selling over 10 million in the United States and well over 20 million worldwide.

Eminem...real, or created by some BS guy Andre Young and some other white guys to try and socialize gangster rap in the late 90's?

I don't know.  I like it - it the potential words of my friend Kilzer, "Whatever feels good, tastes good, looks good - it must be good."

He didn't really ever say that, but it sounds like he would.  Anyway, Eminem is cool.

4 comments:

  1. Holy homonyms, Batman!

    Check this out:

    M&Ms!!!!!

    Id:acts as according to the "pleasure principle";
    "Melts in your mouth..."

    Ego:acts according to the reality principle;
    "...not in your hand"

    Super-ego:aims for perfection
    M&Ms are round! They're a circle....and as we all know there's no such thing as a perfect circle (yes, yes, the RIAA would differ on this point), and even though Giotto, physics nerds, and math geeks (this one is especially funny) would come close, the irration nature of PImakes perfection an impossibility, but that seems to make the act of aiming for it even more seductive.

    AND m&ms also "feel good, taste good, and look good."

    :)

    *crosses fingers and hopes HTML works*

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  2. Well, lessons learned:

    You can't post images (a href) tags in a blog comment

    And

    I can't keep track of my typing with the html mixed in. (sorry for the typos)

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  3. Well, I'm not too smart about all that Ids and SuperIDs and egos and stuff. But I would say something similar to "Looks good, tastes good, smells good...must be good." I'd also say,"Money well spent." or "Guh." Or "I told you so." My Dad would say,"Youv'e seen one boob, youv'e see em both." Or (after someone says "I think....")he would say,"There you go thinking again!"

    "Superman" is my favorite Eminem song, just for the record.

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  4. yeah but what does any of that have to do with music? or did I get lost in the "melts in your mouth bit?" I could have simplified the whole thing for you w/ the depressed guy on the bus, the pyschiatrist and the chocolate. If you are depressed, all you need is the chocolate and cut out the pyschiatry! ;)

    ReplyDelete