A persona created by Marshall Mathers, listeners are first introduced to the emotionless, impulsive, ignorant Slim Shady character in the song, "My Name Is."
"My Name Is," does an excellent job of introducing the Slim Shady character. Growing up Marshall had a difficult childhood and a combination of being bullied and having to deal with very difficult situations is most likely the reason for the creation of the Slim Shady character.
Unlike Marshall Mathers, Slim Shady cannot have his feelings hurt. He communicates this by addressing issues as Slim Shady that bothered Marshall Mathers growing up. In, "My Name Is," he says, "Well, since age 12, I've felt like i'm someone else Cause I hung my original self from the top bunk with a belt."I feel this represents the change Marshall felt in his life as he transitioned from not being able to deal with the difficulties of his childhood, to creating a new tougher persona that would be able to deal with the harshness of his reality. Age 12 is the birth of Slim Shady as the old Marshall whose feelings can be hurt dies. The dialect of the rap signifies the non caring attitude Slim Shady brings when he communicates things that would make most people emotional. By beginning the line with the word, "Well," Slim indicates a very laid back and cool demeanor that does not connote emotion. This calm style of diction throughout emotional memories and lyrics is how Marshall illuminates in his art that Slim Shady cannot be hurt.
Another example of Slim Shady not being subjected to emotion is in the line, "99% of my life I was lied to. I just found out my mom does more dope than I do (damn)." By not wavering from his calm demeanor in this line Slim Shady makes it clear that this does not emotionally hurt him. In the expletive (damn) uttered by a third party voice that is not Slim Shady it is clear that people outside of this character are viewing the true events of Marshall's life to be harsh and difficult. This signifies that events that would make normal people emotional, do not affect Slim Shady.
In addition to not being affected by emotional experiences, another aspect of Slim Shady is that he retaliates against those who have tried to hurt him. A good example of this is the line, "I told her I'd grow up to be a famous rapper. Make a record about doing drugs and name it after her." He is referencing taking revenge on his mom for the difficult childhood she put him through. Where Marshall submissively went through childhood at the mercy of his mother, Slim Shady is able to step up and show the world the horrible mother that Kim Mathers was. Slim possesses the ability to fight the battles and say the things that Marshall is unable or unwilling to carry out.
Another example of this is the line, "And by the way when you see my dad, tell him that I slit his throat, in this dream I had." Although Marshall submissively had to accept the absence of his father from his life and was in a very vulnerable position, Slim Shady is able to lash out at his dad and tell him that he wants to slit his throat. Slim Shady is able to take the dominant roles for Marshall where Marshall was forced to be submissive. This alter ego allows him to transcend having to take abuse from all of the people in his life and places him in a position of power where he is able to make others suffer just as he has.
Slim Shady also has a very destructive side. The destructive element of Slim Shady revolves around the fact that he has little to no regard for consequences and is completely impulsive in all of his actions. In the 60 Minutes special a major downfall of Marshall Mathers proved to be his drug habit. In, "My Name Is," Slim says, "Wanna copy me and do exactly like I did? Try 'cid and get fucked up worse than my life is?" This acknowledgment of drug abuse shows that Slim Shady is one to do any drug that he wants, and is irresponsible enough to encourage young kids to do it. The willingness of Slim Shady to do drugs proves to be one of Marshall's greatest downfalls as he recedes deeper into the character
Another example of the destructiveness of Slim Shady comes with the line, "I just drank a fifth of vodka, dare me to drive?" The use of the term, "dare," suggests a light hearted, care free attitude toward extreme drunk driving, as daring is associated with something young kids normally do in a non-threatening environment. This line connotes a general lack of care for his life or the life of others he may put at risk. This line re-occurs in the song, "Stan," and becomes intrical in the song to the idea that Stan is in fact Marshall in a tailspin after adopting the Slim Shady persona. Slim Shady has no regard for responsibility or reason, he only does what will make him happy at the time.
As Marshall Mathers retreats further into the Slim Shady alter ego his regard for reason in his actual life decreases. As noted in the 60 Minutes interview, when the main focuses of Marshall's life became impulsive living, he almost lost his life and as a result brought his entire family down with him. The downfall of Marshall Mathers is becoming Slim Shady.
