Intertextual References in Music Videos: We Made You by Eminem

Eminem's music video for 'We Made You' (2009) raised alot of controversy due to the number of intertextual references and the way in which they were portrayed. I chose to use this video because of the various references to celebrities, political figures and films/tv shows.

Female Celebrities
The video references many major female stars such as, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Kim Kardashian. There is alot of irony in the video because they have chosen to have the girls dressed in outfits seen on the real singers but then have them look completely different in terms of what they truly think the girls look like. For example instead of being slim and toned, they have portrayed Jessica Simpson eating a burger and being overweight while wearing her famous Dukes of Hazzard outfit. They also used a Britney Spears impersonator from America's Got Talent - Derrick Barry, to portray Spears in her 'Gimme More' video outfit. One of the most controversial characters portrayed in the video is Sarah Palin because they refer to her being more of a sexual object than a respected politician.

Films/TV Shows

The narrative of the video acts as a parody of the american reality tv program Rock of Love, where Eminem acts as Bret Michaels (the bachelor in the real show) with all of the girls they are mocking surrounding him and almost worshipping him. They make it look very pathetic by over emphasising their desperation for 'love'. Also featured in the video is references to the films: Star Trek and Rain Man. The star trek narrative adds comedic value as well as conforming to the conventions of Eminem's videos which star Dr. Dre because he is ultimately the one with the power/the most knowledgeable one out of the two.

Guitar Hero Reference

The only scenario where Eminem is miming by himself with no other extras in shot is in front of a Guitar Hero backdrop, which would easily be identified by the majority of the audience watching the video. It acts as if he has been dropped on top of the game itself.

Impact on the Audience?

For the majority of the audience, the video will be viewed as comedic because so much of it seems to be Eminem poking fun at the latest celebrity news and it almost seems as though they didn't attempt to hold back from visually representing that, which is not done very often. 

The video would also appeal to the fan base of Eminem because he is known for his comedic videos involving poking fun at other stars at the time of production, therefore by following the successes of the previous videos he has made, for example, 'Just Lose It', it will target his fans.

This is one of the most effective videos I have seen that uses intertextual references because it manages to draw upon so many different aspects in the industry and not only make the audience laugh and cause controversy, but at the same time it manages to subtly include thoughtful messages about the way that female celebrities are perceived and the fakeness of reality tv.