8 Mile (4 Stars)

It's amazing how my tastes can change over the years. I remember watching "8 Mile" on television about 20 years ago. I hated it. I had (and still have) an aversion to rap music, and I disliked Eminem. In 1997 I was unemployed for a few months, and I sat at home watching MTV. Eminem, who wasn't popular at the time, appeared on Spring Break shows. He really wasn't talented. He just jumped around shouting "Yo! Yo! Yo!" into the microphone. I admit that he improved in the following years, but I still don't like rap.

Seeing the film again today, I was drawn in from the first few minutes. It shows the utter poverty in Detroit in the late 20th Century. B-Rabbit, played by Eminem, lives in a trailer with his mother and younger sister. Later in the film they're threatened with eviction for non payment of rent. You can be evicted from a dump like that?

B-Rabbit is an underdog. He's one of very few white men in a black neighbourhood. He has friends, but he's still an outsider. He wants to succeed as a rapper, which is typically black man's music. He takes part in battle rap events. Battle rap supposedly began in the 1980's, but it was the film "8 Mile" that introduced it to the masses. Two rappers have a short time to improvise rap in which they insult each other. The audience votes for the person whose rap was best, i.e. the most insulting. After showing himself up by freezing in a battle, B-Rabbit builds up his courage to take part in a big rap battle, despite intimidation from his opponents.

I had difficulty reconciling the shy young man with the fierce rapper on the microphone, but I can understand it. The rapper puts on an act.

I like "8 Mile" a lot and I intend to rewatch it on Netflix. But I still don't like rap.

Success Rate:  + 3.9

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