{"id":157369,"date":"2020-05-04T10:18:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T14:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=157369"},"modified":"2020-07-03T23:29:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-04T03:29:13","slug":"a-real-life-stan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=157369","title":{"rendered":"A real-life Stan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The story about the intruder breaking into Eminem’s house<\/a> last month (the news is just breaking now) is incredibly freaky. The guy somehow gets past the gate, as well as Eminem’s security detail (who were elsewhere on the property) and goes up to the front door, peering in the windows (this was caught on Eminem’s doorcam, and it is very creepy footage: this rando peering through the windows.) It was 4 a.m. The guy circles the house and then picks up a paving stone and heaves it through the window. He crawls through the window into Eminem’s house. Eminem was not asleep so he heard the crash and goes into the living room and sees this random dude standing there. Eminem “detained” the guy until the security detail came back and then the cops came and took the guy away. Or maybe Eminem just called the cops (there are conflicting reports. TMZ said the guards were sleeping but apparently that’s not true).<\/p>\n

This could have been so much worse. Eminem could be dead right now.<\/p>\n

Apparently Rupert Pupkin just wanted to talk to Eminem, get some face time; i.e. he is literally a “Stan”. As far as I can tell from the reports he did not have any weapons. So perhaps he didn’t want to HURT Eminem, but, you know, come on, you broke a window at 4 a.m. You’re a total freak.<\/p>\n

He’s been arrested and is charged with all kinds of things. An additional aspect to this is that Eminem has been quarantined, like the rest of us (although not much has changed, really, from Eminem’s normal reclusive lifestyle.). But this whole incident forced everyone to violate social distancing rules. The intruder was given a mask shortly after his arrest, but still. <\/p>\n

Now, Eminem fans have been chattering about this nonstop since the news broke, and you’d have to be a stan to even pick up on this, but the first thing I thought when I heard the news (or second – the first thing I thought was “Jesus GOD I’m glad nobody is DEAD right now”) was: the intruder’s name is Matthew, and Matthew is the name of Stan’s little brother in Eminem’s famous song “Stan”, the song which gave the world the term “stan.” (news flash: I just learned on my FB page that many people do not know the origin of the term “stan”. How is that even possible? How can you have MISSED that song when it came out? It was a MONSTER hit? You really would have had to WORK to ignore it. I guess I live in a bubble – with bazillions of other Eminem fans.) Stan is even used as a verb at this point. “I stan for Supernatural<\/em>.” “I am stanning so hard for Keanu Reeves” etc. In the song, Stan basically tells Eminem in one of the increasingly unhinged letters he sends to his favorite rapper, “It’s not ME you disappointed, it’s my little brother Matthew” (uh huh, Stan, sure, it’s Matthew who’s the superfan not you). It’s such a great song, a perfect evocation of the downward spiral from frenzied fandom to aggrieved psychosis. <\/p>\n

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