A Media Text that Changed My Life

 

The media text that I feel has largely changed my life is Eminem's 2004 album Encore. This was the first explicit album I ever had full access to and listened. The album, as every other Eminem album, is very raw and openly addresses world issues. Despite not being the favourite of his albums, I feel this had the earliest influence on me as it was the first time in my life I had ever experienced personal and interpersonal taboos openly highlighted in the form of music. Not only did the album engage me with the genre of hip-hop; Encore (and Eminem in general) formed my more analytical perspective on life and it's many topics. Despite being his 5th album individual, it opened the metaphorical door to his past albums such as The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show (these being the two I would class as my 2 favourite productions), allowing me to further my then naïve knowledge of Eminem and his lyrical genius. Each song, whether presented in a comical or serious way, contains two sided opinions; regardless of the spin or bitterness, more than one account of the issue confronted is given, further emphasising the intellectual intelligence of Eminem as not only an artist, but as a person. This was a factor which heavily endeared to me when I was young as it highlighted to me a role model is not always flawless and being a well experienced and rounded person with brutal honesty is as good a quality as any. Depite his well covered controversy. I still view as Eminem as a good role-model to has as his stand-out attitude and rise to fame is extremely infective- and exposed to the right people will develop the emotional engagement of a society who I think have become extremely narcotised with media to the extent I believe it is flattening individuality in numerous ways; nullifying the amount of what Young and Rubicam's 4 Cs deemed as Succeeders, Reformers and Explorers.

 

The encoding (Stuart Hall 1980) within this album is one on a very personal level to Eminem as Mathers intends to confront his own personal views, with those who take an inspiration from this a bonus. He also explains that he does not purposely influence people who take a preferred reading; and that he only wants to inspire people who solely related to his struggles or views and does not manipulate any audience who try to forge personal identity through his music. Critics who adopt a negotiated reading to albums such as Encore will often be Mainstreamers and Reformers who are often in professions of power such as government figures and key role players in a capitalist society as these are the type of people Eminem digresses within content. They will understand he opposes the harsh reality within society and class hierarchy however, disregard it as they believe they are fully competent and individually comfortable within their position; refusing to level with the struggle people encounter, addressed in Encore. Ultimately, someone who takes an oppositional reading to Eminem and his albums will be the similar type of person to one who takes a negotiated reading, however will be disgusted at how Eminem feels it acceptable to confront a social taboo in such a violent and abrupt manor, seeing his releases as a form of intoxication to those of whom lap it up, such as children.

 

Finally, this type of album, utilizing the uses and gratifications model, will predominantly be used by someone who seeks personal identity. However, Encore at the time of release was such a phenomenon it could also had been purchased by audience seeking information on modern society, escape into a "world" where your personal views on life are conformed and agreed with and social interaction; a key factor on which makes Eminem so unique; the bomb of which his work  society and provokes social interaction whether that be between 2 children hearing this music for the first time, or a governmental discussion on whether his work is too explicit and raw to openly allow to be released to the public.