Eminem is as brilliant a social critic as he is a Hip-Hop rapper. This is why his parodies about today’s cult of celebrity – personified by celebutarts like Britney Spears and political dingbats like Sarah Palin – are as insightful as they are entertaining.
But my enjoyment of his music has always been limited by what I perceive as his self-absorbed, wannabe-thuggish and humorless personality. (If only some rapper could parody him the way he does others….) No doubt this personal dislike is why I could barely contain my glee when I saw how actor Sasha Baron Cohen (aka “Borat”) made Eminem the butt of one of his trademark jokes at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday night.
It began, to everyone’s surprise, when Cohen, in another of his movie characters called “Bruno,” aped shock Jock Howard Stern by flying into the celebrity-filled auditorium dressed in nothing but a thong, Victoria-Secret wings and knee-high white boots.
He was on the program ostensibly to announce the winner of an award while flying around like Mary Poppins. But there seems little doubt that his aim was to land right in Eminem’s lap, which he did with Sully-like precision.
And, call me crazy, but I think Eminem seemed more embarrassed or even curious than disgusted. Though, as soon as he caught himself, he reacted like the “Slim Shady” should and reportedly began screaming, “Are you serious? Are you fucking serious? Get this motherfucker off me man!”
Unfortunately, like everybody else, his bodyguards were so caught up in the joke that they were rather slow in reacting to his bi-curious screams for help.
But after they managed to release the rapper from Bruno’s Venus flytrap, Eminem stormed out of the auditorium looking every bit like a bully who finally got his comeuppance….
Good one Bruno!
Meanwhile, I hope the above demonstrates that I can appreciate a joke no matter how crass or salacious. Because I find nothing funny or entertaining about the stunt Halle Berry pulled while presenting Jamie Foxx his MTV award.
But it might be helpful to recall how shocked and reportedly outraged she was when Adrian Brody took the liberty of French kissing her while presenting her Oscar Award a few years ago. Because then one would have to wonder why she thought it was cool or entertaining to not only French kiss Jamie but also grab his balls on national TV the way she did.
Humping Billy Bob Thornton on screen for an Oscar is bad enough. But getting freaky with Jamie on stage like this just for fun?! I don’t think so.
I’m not the jealous type. But, if I were her live-in boyfriend and the father of her baby girl, I would be even more pissed off at her stunt than Eminem apparently was at Bruno’s….
Finally, it might be remiss of me not to comment on the fleeting phenomenon that is Susan Boyle. But that is precisely what I’m going to do.
By the way, does the name Paul Potts mean anything to anybody…?
UPDATE
10:13 am: Enough already! I get that many of you are buying into reports that Eminem was in on the joke. Never mind reports to the contrary by reputable news organizations; not least of all MTV News itself. (Incidentally, I suspect we heard his expletive-laden screams, not because he was miked, but because Bruno was.) Whatever the case, wouldn’t you claim to be in on the joke if you were punk’d so unceremoniously…?!
Clearly this is the only way for Eminem to save face after having Bruno’s butt all in it on national TV. Not to mention that it spares this wannabe the thuggish imperative of having to exact revenge….
Jessy says
Although I do not agree with all that you write, I enjoyed reading your opinion and article very much.