8 Mile is a semi-autobiographical movie about and starring white badboy rapper Eminem, or his birthname Marshal Mathers. The story is semi-autobiographical in that it concerns a surly little whiteboy with the nickname of Rabbit, from the derelict suburbs of Detroit, who dreams of making it big in the world of rap.

The film tells only part of the story. We see Rabbit find self-respect and the grudging respect of others, but we don't see him break into the big time. The plot is essentially Rocky for the new millennium. The white boy desperate to make it a black dominated arena who struggles and trains, and finally makes it to the top. The playing field for 8 Mile is a hiphop dive, where rappers duke it out for 45 seconds--in rhyme.

There's something oddly Shakespearean about the experience. It's a battle of wits and vocabulary. The audience is upclose to the stage, voting loudly with hands and voice. But ultimately, it is a battle, whichever competitor utters the better insults, wins. So tempers run high off the rap arena. Fighting and shooting are all part of the realm.

Like Stallone's Rocky, I could barely understand Eminem in 8 Mile. Either I couldn't catch what he said, or the words just meant nothing. When the Australian classic Mad Max was released in the USA it was dubbed, I'm thinking 8 Mile could at least have come with subtitles.

For all that, I quite enjoyed the film. The dialogue I understood was often amusing, and Eminem's ability for rhyming slurs is impressive. Eminem only has one look--his eyes peer out from the layers of caps and hoods that he hides behind, and he looks both angry and vulnerable. He has only one note in his acting, but it's rather effective in the role.

Eminem obviously has some pretty serious issues with women. 8 Mile tries to clue us in to the star's miserable home life and his hatred of his mother, whom he portrays in every possible bad light that he can. Then there are his girlfriends--one ex and one present, both of whom betray him.

Perhaps we're supposed to put the pieces together and understand why Eminem's album's feature such fiercely misogynistic and frankly repulsive lyrics. If so, there's a dangerous undercurrent to this movie, if we're supposed to sympathize with the poor kid--his mother didn't love him so it's okay for him to spew women hating lyrics all over anyone who will listen.


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