Decius wrote:
] ] "If New Orleans is "the Big Easy," then Detroit is "the
] ] Big Ugly."
] ] A convenient metaphor for all things scary and doomed,
] ] the city has long served as a bleak backdrop for writers
] ] and filmmakers who paint it as a desolate, dangerous
] ] melange of burned-up buildings and forgotten dreams."
]
] I'm fairly interested in seeing this movie. Making it out of a
] ghetto as a rapper is a difficult road, especially for a white
] guy. There is a very powerful story to tell here if they do it
] well. The thing is that Americans put so much focus on rock
] stars and basketball stars, and the fact is that most people
] who do get out of the ghetto are much more likely to come out
] of it as accountants then as rock stars, and the challenges
] associated with that are every bit as real. Focusing on talent
] based activities instead of skill based activities encourages
] people to focus on stuff that most people will never be good
] at no matter how hard they try.
]
] Of course, right now you are thinking, who would go see a
] movie about an accountant. I'll offer that if we can't make
] the right message interesting its because we're not trying.

Oh how right you are! First, yes, you can make it out of the ghetto, even those in Detroit, if you work hard and you're a bit lucky. I'm proof. Not bad for a Polack I must say.

Second, the message that you're much more likely to succeed in life with skill rather than talent is an important one to propagate. Could you do a movie about it? Absolutely. Although being an accountant would probably not be the skill of choice. Maybe a great networking engineer... ;-)

Decius wrote:

] I'm fairly interested in seeing this movie. Making it out of a
] ghetto as a rapper is a difficult road, especially for a white
] guy. There is a very powerful story to tell here if they do it
] well. The thing is that Americans put so much focus on rock
] stars and basketball stars, and the fact is that most people
] who do get out of the ghetto are much more likely to come out
] of it as accountants then as rock stars, and the challenges
] associated with that are every bit as real. Focusing on talent
] based activities instead of skill based activities encourages
] people to focus on stuff that most people will never be good
] at no matter how hard they try.

I saw the movie yesterday, so I thought I'd chime in with the Do|emite system of ratings. My scale is the following:

Full Price
Matinee
Yank off the 'net
Wait for HBO
Wait for Free TV

'8 Mile' was interesting enough to watch as a matinee, but I think that the main reason it raked in $54 M this weekend is the star appeal of Eminem. The plot works just like every Spiderman comic - hero is kicked, beaten down and humiliated, then he gets the strength to fight back and wins. I was surprised that there really only seemed to be one Eminem song in the movie itself - "One Shot" - but the story really doesn't lend itself to more than that. Detroit in '95 is pictured as revolving around rap battles, a la Showtime at the Apollo. You either get booed off stage or you shred your opponent. Oh, and the women in B-Rabbit's life (just like in Eminem's) are viewed much the same way as Eugene O'Neil (great American playwright) sees them. Think "misogynism to the extreme."

Do|emite

Dolemite wrote:

] I saw the movie yesterday, so I thought I'd chime in with the
] Do|emite system of ratings. My scale is the following:
]
] Full Price
] Matinee
] Yank off the 'net
] Wait for HBO
] Wait for Free TV
]
] '8 Mile' was interesting enough to watch as a matinee, but I
] think that the main reason it raked in $54 M this weekend is
] the star appeal of Eminem. The plot works just like every
] Spiderman comic - hero is kicked, beaten down and humiliated,
] then he gets the strength to fight back and wins. I was
] surprised that there really only seemed to be one Eminem song
] in the movie itself - "One Shot" - but the story really
] doesn't lend itself to more than that. Detroit in '95 is
] pictured as revolving around rap battles, a la Showtime at the
] Apollo. You either get booed off stage or you shred your
] opponent. Oh, and the women in B-Rabbit's life (just like in
] Eminem's) are viewed much the same way as Eugene O'Neil (great
] American playwright) sees them. Think "misogynism to the
] extreme."

I will admit my bias on this subject upfront, being a Detroiter and happy to see the cultural significance of the city finally getting some respect over the last few years. But I thought the movie was one of the best films I've seen since Donnie Darko.

Yes, the plot structure is somewhat familiar, but in our post modern world, what isn't? And the rap battles are used because that was pretty much the only way someone was going to get 'discovered', especially in Detroit in 95, which was not anywhere near being a place where rap talent was being scouted. Think back to 95... it was East/West Coast gangsta rap with the occasional thinkers (Busta Rhymes, Pharcyde, Beasties...). There was not much like Eminem's style back then. It is representative of the first rungs on the ladder that need to be conquored. Brutal, unforgiving, and fueled with testosterone.

Lost on the audience was the major transformation from industrial music and hard core alternative that was the scene at the Shelter/St. Andrews Hall (and all across the rust belt) to hip hop and underground black music during the early 90s. A big reason why a lot of us angry white guys suddenly found ourselves out of a job. And why someone like Eminem could even exist.

The point of the movie I think was that you can come from fierce adversity and still make positive momentum in your life. As Decius pointed out, this was portrayed with talent, when it's usually the result of skill. But I thought it was admirably portrayed that even the best are frail and have their moments of weakness and uncertainty. On your journey to making something of yourself, you will choke, be confused by your friends and allies, fall prey to temptation, sleep with the wrong people, be distracted by domestic issues, and get the shit kicked out of you from time to time... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]