Nicki Jonas reviews Eminem’s new film, 8 Mile.
The movie 8 mile is a fairly simple story about a working class kid, Jimmy Rabbit, struggling to make it as a hip hop emcee. From growing up in a trailer park, to the crap job he can’t leave, he’s a white kid trying to get hooked up in a predominantly black hip hop scene.

The movie is based loosely on Eminem’s life but like anything that comes out of America’s
mainstream cinema, you gotta take some things with a grain of salt.

Jimmy Rabbit is portrayed as a saint. This is certainly a huge personality
leap from the obnoxious off screen character that stirred the moral code of
middle America- Slim Shady. Where Eminem spits anti gay punchlines, Jimmy
Rabbit proudly defends an openly gay co-worker in a lunchtime battle at the
factory. The misogynist who fantasises about murdering his wife is
transformed on screen into a naïve romantic.

By creating different identities Eminem plays the rightwing media to his
advantage and brilliantly illustrates how fickle it is. The mainstream
pounced on the ’shocking lyrical content’ in The Slim Shady LP printing
thousands of headlines protesting against the corruption of America’s young
minds. For Eminem this resulted in overnight fame. Four years later with
the blockbuster release of 8 Mile, Eminem has stepped into the gentle
character of Jimmy Rabbit, a boy with a simple dream, and all the
homophobia, misogyny and domestic violence is forgiven.

Eminem’s commercial success raises the issue that despite 30 years of black
hip hop talent, it wasn’t until a white rapper appeared on the scene that
suddenly it seized the ear and won over the hearts of America- and
subsequently the world over. Such blatant prejudice highlights that racism
is still an inherent part of capitalism. Eminem, now wielding a huge
influence over thousands and with the media at his fingertips could easily
use this platform to point out the injustices in the music industry.

The battle scenes are the real deal and my advice is to see it on DVD if
you can- it contains all the unrehearsed live footage in the bonus viewing.
Though not an outspoken film, 8 Mile is definitely worth a look -no matter
what you have to say about the controversial rapper it’s undeniable that
he’s got serious skills and is not afraid to step up and prove it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 21st, 2003 at 3:53 am and is filed under Reviews & letters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.