Fandom is a tale as old as time. For as long as there have been artists, creatives and leaders of any sort, there have been people who admired them and looked to them for guidance on how to live their own lives. Just because the word ‘stan,’ referring to an overly enthusiastic fan, has only recently become common parlance does not suggest that followers of this intensity are a modern phenomenon, but a lot has undoubtedly changed since rapper Eminem released the song that would inspire this moniker. “Stan” is a haunting story of a young man obsessed with Eminem as an artist, and as a person, who takes fandom to another level and eventually kills his pregnant girlfriend and himself in a psychotic rage. Although celebrity stalkers had occasionally made the news prior to this song’s release in 2000, “Stan” arguably brought to light the reality of the parasocial relationships regular people sometimes form with celebrities they don’t know in real life. Now, 25 years on, Steven Leckart’s Stans explores the life and career of Eminem, the influence of his song “Stan,” and the way his fanbase reflects its warnings — it’s a rich and fascinating examination of fandom.
What Is ‘Stans’ About?

Eminem, known off-stage as Marshall Mathers, certainly forms a central pillar of Stans, offering reflections of his upbringing, career, and struggles. However, as the title suggests, this isn’t really The Slim Shady Show. This is about the people who worship the ground Eminem swaggers on, and boy, do these people offer some deep and at times disturbing insights into their own lives and why being a fan of Eminem’s music is so profoundly important to them. These people form the main narrative of the documentary, offering a look at the knock-on effect of Eminem’s own life and career. They enjoy his highs with him, and despair at his lows. Meanwhile, Mathers gives a reasonably brief recollection of his life and career, growing up destitute and desperately unhappy in Detroit before finding, honing, and sharing his incredible talent for wordplay and rapping. Anybody who was there for Eminem’s scorching debut remembers the outrage he caused, with parents, teachers, and politicians everywhere condemning his “bad influence” and caustic lyrics, certain that he would single-handedly bring about a generation of thugs and degenerates. But over the years, this provocative artist has come to be understood differently. It’s not even that he has remodeled his image, because he largely remains the same raw and brutally honest person he always was, but that the world at large has come to see more of who he is as a person, and respect the hell out of him. Although Stans focuses mainly on his fanbase, it allows Marshall Mathers to present himself as he is now and talk honestly about the impact of his fame.
‘Stans’ Is a Terrifying Look at Where Honest Artistry Can Take a Person

Image via Trafalgar Releasing

Eminem broke many boundaries and bucked tradition at just about every turn in his career. Not only was he a serious and very talented white rapper in a predominantly Black genre of music, but after his opening act of causing pearls to be clutched around the world, his music quickly became a very cathartic and personal form of expression that told true stories of his own life and failures. His niche was that he put everything of himself into his art, telling his most intimate experiences through his lyrics. On the one hand, this proved to people that rap could be a serious and respectable genre of music, but on the other, it effectively threw open the doors to the artist’s inner workings and invited millions of people in to gawk and poke at his most raw and sensitive parts. In addition to his very humble working-class roots and his eventual rags-to-riches story, his image hinged on being an accessible, relatable artist who wasn’t some golden god, but just a person like any other, who happened to get rich and famous. This combination made it so that his fanbase not only felt they connected to him on a more personal level, but that they genuinely knew him. This is where “Stan” came into the equation. From knowing what car Marshall drives, to having more tattoos of his face than anyone else, to working in the same crappy diner in Detroit that he did as a teen, the fans interviewed in Stans put so much of their energy and lives into orbiting this one popular musical artist. The release of the song “Stan” caused them to reflect a little on what their own fandom really meant. This is one area that the documentary really should have put more emphasis on (well, it would have been nice to get the input of Devon Sawa, who played Stan in the famous music video, too. How has his life changed as a result of literally being Stan?). Would the song prompt fans to recognize themselves in the character of Stan, see how his obsession brought down everyone around him, and shake themselves off a bit? Although we get a brief look into what fans thought about the song’s message, the documentary moves right along to more stories from fans, the most unsettling being from one French fan who, when asked the difference between him and Stan, can only respond that he hasn’t killed his wife, but that’s because he’s not married. One can only wonder if these fans realize just how unhinged they come across sometimes.
‘Stans’ Is a Bleak But Fascinating Look at The Price of Fame

Image via Trafalgar Releasing

What really stands out about Stans is the impact of all this on the man at its core. Marshall, for all his admitted faults, comes across as the music industry’s most unwitting messiah. He never really intended, nor did he desire, to have millions of people obsessing over the details of his life and looking up to him like a god, but that’s what he got. Even the stans interviewed for the movie know him intimately enough to recognize the point at which fame was becoming his undoing, and how uncomfortable he really was with being revered in such extreme ways. The way they tell it, they share in his victories and defeats, and this isn’t always a bad thing. Marshall’s openness about his struggles with depression and substance abuse spurred some of his fans to seek help for their own issues. His career is certainly a testimony to the uniting power of music, and the many different faces that unity can adopt. Not only is Stans a fascinating look behind the curtain of Eminem’s life and career, but it sheds a harsh light on popular culture itself, and the existence of parasocial relationships in the 21st century. There is no doubt that social media has made famous people accessible in ways they never were before. Twenty years ago, if an artist didn’t publish a statement through their manager, you basically never heard them speak at all. Now their every thought and interaction is in the public domain, and any layman can make contact with them if they so desire. The world of “Stan” is so innocent by modern standards that his weapon of choice is pen and paper. Indeed, the world is a very different place now than it was in the blissfully easy days of 2000, but it seems that Eminem was onto something with this particular song, foreshadowing a time in which stans were not just the occasional weirdo, but culture at large. Marshall Mathers made himself vulnerable by opening himself up to the public through his lyrics, and in turn, the public developed a sense of entitlement towards him. He was offering, and they were more than willing to take, and this is what the world of celebrity has become. Whether they offer it or not, any little crumb of personality a celebrity drops along the way is pounced upon, dissected and thrust under a microscope. Stans’ real strength is in exposing the transactional nature of celebrity, and how, when there’s no more personality for sale, the customers will riot, tear up the shop and take anything they can get their hands on. Then sometimes use it as ammo to destroy the character of the person they got it from. Stans is now playing in theaters.

Stans

A scathing documentary about the price of fame and honest artistry.

Release Date

August 7, 2025

Director

Steven Leckart

Pros & Cons

The movie uses an interesting range of interviewees to tell the story from a variety of angles.
It functions as a chronicle of Eminem’s career, and of its wider influence.
Eminem’s input ensures the audience understands both sides of the parasocial relationship.

It is sadly missing the input of Devon Sawa.
Fans’ reactions to the song “Stan” needed deeper exploration.