Do You Like the Way it Hurts?
- Details
- Category: Treasure Addis-Mills
- Published on Friday, 24 September 2010 19:16
- Written by Treasure Addis-Mills
Well, it seems that domestic violence is now the new fad and approved and fully supported by the pop culture of America and beyond. Sorry, women’s rights and social progress, you’re old news; beating a woman and having the woman like it is now condoned. Ya, that sounds crazy to me too, but that’s the message I get every time I turn on the radio or MTV and hear “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem featuring Rihanna. It’s a catchy song and the rhythm is great. It comes on and I’ll turn up the volume and sing along. But when I dissect the lyrics, it’s all about him stating “I’m going to tie you to the bed and set the house on fire” and she responds, “Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, well that’s alright because I like the way it hurts.”
It dives into the world of domestic violence and discusses the emotional feeling when you feel you love someone, but know that it’s a horrid relationship that you need to get out of but can’t easily do. Apparently it was written around the abusive relationship Rihanna had with Chris Brown. This was supposed to be her way of showing the world that she was in a bad relationship and it took a lot of hard work to get away from it, but that she was able to do it and that other people in the same situation should as well. Really? There isn’t another way of getting that message CLEARLY across to the public? When it’s done in this manner, through the use of a pop song, just about all meaning gets lost, especially when the only thing I can remember about the song is “Just gonna stand there and hear my cry, well that’s alright because I like the way it hurts” and “maybe our relationship isn’t as crazy as it seems maybe that’s what happens when a tornado meets a volcano.” There is no resolution in the song, no true message that’s being sent out to those men and women in abusive relationships to leave the situation nor does it provide information on how to do so.
I think that if Rihanna is truly dedicated to showing abused women that they can get out of that situation, that she can do so in a much better manner than a catchy song that only sounds like it is condoning the abusive behavior. I heard the song over and over and had no idea that the message behind it was in relation to Rihanna’s previous abusive relationship. I can stand pretty sure that it’s the same for 98% of the rest of the listeners. To me, that’s definitely not a strong enough message, and in fact it feels more like advertising for staying in abusive relationships because “I like the way it hurts.”
