So I went to go see 8 Mile tonight. It's all part of my recent realization that I actually like Eminem. Or maybe my recent acceptance, because I think I actually realized it awhile back.
The movie was ok. Borderline good. Not Oscar material or anything, and certainly nothing mindblowing, but cheap, quality entertainment. Perhaps sort of the 2003 rap version of the dance classic Footloose? Although we all know Footloose kicks far more ass.
But here's my issue with the film. Because I have to find an issue in everything. Here it is:
We all known Eminem's character, Rabbit, is going to be dissed 'cause he's white and wants to rap. That's a given. And we all know that he's a guy that suffers and deals with mad shit and rises above it. Otherwise he wouldn't be our hero.
So we watch him oh-so-heroically deal with plenty of shit throughout the film. A lot of things go wrong. Tensions build between rival rap groups. Oooo....
Now, we are in the final scene. In the past few days, Rabbit has had his girlfriend cheat on him with a so-called friend, has gotten a black eye from being beat up by rival rappers called "The Free World," is stressed from domestic problems and fights with his mother, and is busting ass just trying to save up enough money to cut his own record. We're all feeling for him at this point.
Nonetheless, somehow Rabbit has gotten up the courage to "battle" against "The Free World" in what proves to be an interesting test of wit and rapping down at the local freestyle contest run by Rabbit's friend, Future. Rabbit decides to partake, and yeah, he gets dissed for being white, with clever(?) references made to "Leave it to Beaver" and Vanilla Ice. But Rabbit stands his ground and rises above the imaginary borders that seperate him from both his enemies and the supporting crowd attending the battle through his unique and rather amusing rhymes.
After coming out victorious (of course - I'm really not giving anything away here) after two rounds of head-to-head freestyle "battles," Rabbit is confronted with his arc-enemy (arch? - French is fucking up my spelling) Papa Doc, a member of the all-black-leather-wearing "The Free World" and former freestyle champion. It's time for Rabbit to rap like a madman and prove to the world that he's not ashamed of who he is, where he comes from, and where he's trying to go.
So far so good. And Rabbit's little freestyle about who he is (references to trailer trash, getting fucked over by the gang of Papa Doc, and his girlfriend's infidelity) is not bad. But then he gets to dissing Papa Doc for coming from the other side of 8 Mile (a road divided by class lines) and the insults are as follows:
- his real name is Clarence
- he went to a private school
- his parents are still happily married
- etc (fill me in if you can remember others)
So I was laughing at the time. 'Cause hah! That's really funny that a rapper would try and be badass while he comes from an upper-middle class suburban family that could afford to send him to private school. Look at him trying to be badass now, cause where he comes from just PROVES that he's not! Ha ha ha.
And then I thought to myself, "Wait a sec. Isn't that just as wrong as thinking that Rabbit can't rap cause he's white? Or that because he's white, he didn't grow up with some of the same fucked up shit that the other rappers did? Or that because Papa Doc had money, or went to a private school, that he can't rap? Or know about hardship himself as well?"
So didn't the whole film just erase that whole don't-judge-me-til-you-know-me-and-the-shit-I've-been-through not-so-hidden message it's been working so hard to get across to the thick audience?
I saw Will Smith in an interview once. He came from a fairly wealthy family, went to a private school, and, when he first started rapping, was accused of not being "black enough" by some of his so-called peers in the rap industry. And his answer was, "To me, black does not mean ignorant. To me, black does not mean uneducated. To me, black means black." I liked it.
Sure, I'm some suburban white girl from the suburbs of Detroit who happens to listen to and feel deeply touched by a lot of rap music. I knew the name of, lyrics to, and producers of 95% of the songs on the 8 Mile soundtrack (and I can also attest to the fact that they did a good job of respecting the 1995 date - the songs they were listening to in the car were indeed the songs of the moment. I only know that cause I was 15 in 1995, and I remember the songs of that particular moment ridiculously clearly). And I disrespect anybody who thinks that because you're white, or because you haven't grown up in the ghetto, or because you don't smoke mad weed straight to the head, or because of x or because of y that you can't "get" rap music or that you have no business liking it.
And I sorta feel like, you know what? 8 Mile was, in the end, just promoting another stereotype. Sure, it's wrong to think that Rabbit (and obviously the parallel is to be drawn directly to Eminem) can't rap 'cause he's white, but it's ok to think that Papa Doc can't rap cause he didn't grow up in the ghetto. What's up with that?
Even though I had that horrible experience of listening to a rather blunted (by blunted I mean those guys were fucking high as hell) De La Soul interview on NPR recently, at least I respect them for saying, "We grew up on Long Island. We don't know shit about growing up in the ghetto. We're not going to glorify a place to us that seems dangerous and scary and not a great place to live. So people accuse us of not being 'hard' enough. You know what? That's ok." I liked that, too.
One more note on "8 mile" - Rabbit's group/gang is called 33 1/3 ("thirty three and a third" is what that is supposed to look like), but the crowd shouts "313" or "Three One Three!" and the group kinda uses that as their call. I would just like to point out that this is the Detroit area code, for anybody who wondered where the name came from. Alright.
PS The film just does not work in its subtitled French form.
I would love to see this movie in French subtitles. Man.
I saw 'grease' in dubbed French in Quebec a few years ago. Also classic.
btw, Odessa is my great-grandmother's name. My favorite great-grandmother, who is still making trouble in Utah at nearly 100 years old. It's a great name.
Not to defend that movie or anything, but I don't think the point was that PDoc couldn't rhyme because he was upper middle something class, but that he was trying to portray something he wasn't. Unlike poor widdle Wabbit who was finally okay admitting he was a spaghetti-o snorting trailer leech.
Not to defend that movie or anything, but I don't think the point was that PDoc couldn't rhyme because he was upper middle something class, but that he was trying to portray something he wasn't. Unlike poor widdle Wabbit who was finally okay admitting he was a spaghetti-o snorting trailer leech.
Sorry. CPU indigestion.
Yeah, New Guy, you're probably right. My beef is just the fact that it was so unjust to dis Rabbit, but totally fine to dis Papa Doc. Not like I have any loyalty to either team, or anything. But you're argument is a valid one.
And Angel - I have thought that, maybe, were I to have a girl, that I would name her Odessa. I think it's beautiful. But I just named this site Odessa Street cause I live on it. I just didn't think too much about the blog name - it was the first that came to me after funkybunny (already taken) and so I went with it.
I'm with New Guy up there. It's not that they were dissing him because he went to private school, but rather they were dissing him because he was dishonest. It's like if Wil Smith had suddenly started rapping about poppin caps and rolling with homies for drive bys in the projects or something instead of talking about how parents just don't understand. And another thought, the whole point of the rap-off is that these rappers had no place else to go, but Papa Doc had other resources, he could afford to cut his own record. Y'know?
And I think the 33 1/3 is a play on records as well as 313. See? Rappers are clever!
(And on a final thought, when I was watching this with some guys from work, at one point I turned to the guy next to me and we both spontaneously started humming the theme song to "Rocky".)
When was it ever made clear that Papa Doc was dishonest? He never said anything. He just wore his jacket, drove in the big black car and looked mean, no?
313 - Did you not notice how in the car the guy said something where he could have said "Detroit" but instead he said "313." Something like, "Man, all these buildings need to get out of the 313"
That's when I had a little Detroit area code flash.
But you're right about the record deal aspect.
I think that the part (cause I was with some kids watching it half way through) of the movie that I saw totally was about stereotyping. It usually always is, what more do we have in this world other than to bitch about people. A lot more, but unfortunately our world is filled with who you are, where you came from and who you know. Bull shit. In the end, you can't say, that you are not stereotypical, cause you are, you just have to say, I am currently attempting to live a non-prejudice life.
where r da lyrics dawg ?
I only have one thing to say: you reap what you sow. I don't think the film promotes the fact that it's more acceptable to diss the rich black dude on his rapping skills more than it is to diss a white boy who's rappin, but rather the fact that when you spit in the air, it's most likely gonna fall back on your nose. He just gave that group a taste of their own medecine. I am not saying that it's a better solution, but the desire of vengence is simply another of human beings' big characteristics. Rabbit simply let that go.
I'm feeling u on that whole tip on judgin before you know people. I'm as ghetto as can B and is one of the smartest people in my school. I get put down from my own friends about being black and actin like I got sense. That's too bad that they in the fuckin ghetto wit every problem you could think of (ain't sayin nothins wrong with livin there as long as you ain't actin like you love roaches) and I'm gonna B makin six figures. Damn! I got that off my chest
Hi!
I'm from Brazil, so I didn't understand shit related to what Eminem was talking about on his raps in 8 mile... just a bit!
I went already to USA, Canada, Germany and other countries in order to gather some culture for my life and as you can see I got my English all brushed up already. That's why I happen to fell like I can criticize some of your fucking arguments used against Slim Shady. All I can say is: Eminem rules.. he's the greatest rapper ever... even when I don't understand shit I know that his voice is the greatest and I never heard anything so furious (try to listen to TILL I COLAPSE)..., which makes every motherfucker in a room shut the fuck up to listen to what he's got to say! Besides I never listened to any shit like this before from any other fucking american rapper... So if you think the message of the film sucks, all I gotta say to you is: Why don't you go outside, play hide and go fuck yourself!
With best regards...
Sergio
===========
jordao@gmx.de
Sergio - Your English seems fine to me.
I never said I don't like Eminem. As a matter of fact, if you read through the site a little bit more you would find out that I really like the guy, and that I know the words to most of his songs and listen to them whenever I go running or work out.
And I also liked the film. I just thought that insulting Rabbit throughout the whole film and then him seeming like a "better" man for insulting Papa Doc was sort of...backwards.
BUT, I will say that a lot of things people have said in the comments - mainly New Guy and Kari - have made me start thinking on a different track.
Anyway. All of my "arguments" weren't against Slim Shady himself. They were against the message in "8 Mile." Please make that distinction and stop insulting me.
Sorry.. I never meant to insult you!
You've gotta understand that I don't happen to use pretty often words like: "Why don't you go outside, play hide and go fuck yourself"... In Brazil I got no chance to practice my English, and even if I get to find someone who's wanting to brush it up, I could never use all slang that I've learned from movies and shit... like "Yo..dog..what's happening under that hood" ...or even "Yo...Dog, can I get some fucking privacy here" (I said that to my brother the other day...he speaks some English)...
By the way... If you wanna know where did I get the why-don't-you-go-outside-play-hide-and-go-fuck-yourself-line, let me know and I send you a pretty good MP3 file about the "versatility of the word FUCK"!
Allright... if you wanna discuss this whole thing like growing up people, let me tell you something.
The thing is that Slim Shady believes that everyone can do good rapping once you're original and yourself... B Rabbit was just saying shit like: My techniques are bizarre and kill... if you're trying to say that I can't rapp coz I'm white and shit... you better look yourself in the mirror coz you're pretending to be someone else you're not...
Papa Doc was pretending to be a gangster from the gheto and shit... he was unoriginal! It doesn't matter if you come from the ghetto and it doesn't matter either if you're white. All he's trying to say was.... Don't denie who you are. Just show us what you're worth...
Nothing was backwards in the movie... What if I told all my friends that you're a fucking American who doesn't know shit about living in a country with the highest levels of criminality, where you get mugged all the time in the street and that you don't know either where the fuck Brazil is?! Well...if I were you and knew what I know, I'd say: You're a fucking Brazilian who's got rich parents and you never had to work till you graduate in the best university of Germany (TU Ilmenau) and never got mugged because Brazil is not like that (it really isn't) and that I do know that Brazil is in South America and that you guys speak Portuguese (no Spanish please!)! ... see?! The "for instance" was bad..but it's just like this.. I was being unoriginal! Allthough you are indeed a fucking American who doesn't know shit, I'm not the right person to criticize that cause I don't know shit either!
I hope you get what I'm trying to say... Like I said, I got good skills in English but I fell like I'm not able to transmitt all the shit I'd be transmitting if I were talking Portuguese or even German.
Regards,
Sergio
Sergio - Oh, now that you mention it I have that MP3 with the "uses of the word fuck" and it changes your "insult" drastically. I hadn't made the connection, so of course it sounded insulting.
So to you the whole movie was about originality?
I guess I can see that.
Have you downloaded all of the battles from the movie? They're great to listen to, even independent of the film.
Hey Lee... I guess you got it all figure it out! That's the main idea... at least to me.... originality!
When I got back from the movie theater I downloaded the whole movie with an outstanding quality to my HD. I got it from Kazaa... I already whatched it three times and the final battles I'm still whatching like twice a day! ...
You must be wondering how does a Brazilian look! When I went to USA no one believed I was Brazilian coz they think primerly on black dudes who play soccer for a living... If you wanna know what I look like, just check me out on:
http://photos.yahoo.com/sergio_jordao
I always show my pics to people I'm talking to on the internet coz I wanna point out that you're talking to a person who's got a face, a body, fellings, problems and everything.. talking like this seems like talking to machines.... don't you think so?!
So if you got some pics of your own and wanna share with me, just let me know!
Gotta go now... Bye...
KISS
Sergio
8 Mile may be about originality (or, more accurately, individuality); but you make your point, Sergio, using rather unoriginal language, copying the slang that rap artists use. Nice irony there. At least you didn't just copy it out of the textbook.
I think the film is another reworking of the American Dream. Good little Rabbit works hard and is dedicated to his dreams, and, you know, one day he might just make it! Hence why Kari thought of the Rocky theme. The basic structure of the plot is standard Hollywood clobber. What lift the film out of the ghettoed mire of mediocrity is the outstanding performance by Eminem. He may be playing a semi-autobiographical role, but he nevertheless seems like a natural on screen. The rap battles are awesome (in the non-Valley Speak sense of the word).
It strikes me that we don't get to see more of the city. Most of the shots are close-ups, centred around the personalities. We do see some of the trailer park, and the factory, but apart from that, the cinematographer doesn't really
Oops! That's my fault that that got cut off.
yo due its great fuck the free world eh! lol eminem is the fact of the future man! hes 1 of a kind wid the hip hop most purest raps of our sentuary no 1 can treat him like shit his mom stinks, gf' a cheater, ppl who hate him are crap creaters boom! mc cuzza
u got it bd man! through the end u had it all! the lot rapers respect an all