Driving and Hating

"Full of singles that bring out the best Eminem, the album has offered some of the best [t]racks in years and it is a great way to pass time on the way to work in the car."

This was posted on Examiner.com's Seattle site on June 23. This simple statement says so much about our society and culture in America and beyond.

I'm not going to bash Eminem, on the contrary. I find much of his music entertaining and truthful, and often extremely funny. He offers a perspective on things we wouldn't normally think of, or talk about, without consequences or concern for the topics he chooses in his songs.

The problem for me, regarding the Examiner's post, is that not only are they promoting driving to work (and alone, because it's rather difficult to find another person willing to listen to Eminem with you at such an early hour), but driving to work angry. Aren't we already angry enough? Oil spills, global warming, wars, a shitty economy, unemployment, homelessness, etc.

I don't believe we need throngs of people listening to Eminem rapping about killing and maiming wrongdoers and bitchslappin' "homos and faggots" (which is an entirely different subject, as I feel Eminem does promote homophobia to his already impressionable teenage fan base - just read the comments section below any Youtube video and you're bound to see words such as "homo," "gay," "fag," and many others) while behind the steering wheel, already distracted by daily life. The last thing I want is someone even more pissed off at me because I am getting to where I am going more efficiently, probably faster, and definitely having more fun ... oh, and in the way, because "roads are made for cars."