8 Mile, directed by Curtis Hanson (Wonder Boys and L.A. Confidential), was released in 2002 and includes a strong cast starring Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Eugene Byrd, Omar Benson Miller, Taryn Manning, Evan Jones. With Eminem’s song, “Lose Yourself”, wining an Academy Award for the Best Original Song, this marked 8 Mile as the first film to have a rap/hip hop song win an Academy Award.
8 Mile is not about Eminem's rise to stardom in the rap world, it is a story about one week in his life back in 1995, when he lived on 8 Mile Road, the name of a road in Detroit that marks a figurative and literal boundary between the haves and have-nots. 8 Mile chronicles a week of Eminem's life with his friends, family, and his personal drama that draws you in and leaves you on the edge of your seat, wondering what is going to happen next. So much transpires in this one week, you could only speculate what could happen in a month or more.
Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers (nick-named “B-Rabbit”), dreams of making it big as a hip-hop artist and begins this aspiration on the streets of inner city Detroit. “Rap battles” — which are kind of like two boxers where their goal is to “knock out” their opponent, but instead of using their fists, they use words — is where 8 Mile begins. In these battles, they pull no punches by using satire and insults as well as vulgar language in the form of rap lyrics, however to me this is less offensive than two boxers beating the shit out of each other with their fists.
With a flip of a coin, the rappers only have a few seconds to compose and 45 seconds to perform a rap that will verbally demolish their opponent and appeal to the audience. The opponent with the best delivery, lyrics, and crowd response usually wins. This is where Eminem gets his start in rap music and his first attempt in a “rap battle” is a complete disaster. As a white dude, Eminem gets no respect from the majority of the black audience and rappers; however, his “corner men” (friends who are interesting characters in and of themselves, played by Mekhi Phifer, Omar Benson Miller, De'Angelo Wilson) are loyal and very supportive of him and his talent.
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