Curtis Hanson’s 2002 film, 8 Mile, is a hip hop biopic of the rapper’s, Eminem, life. The film takes place in Detroit, Michigan during 1995 and follows Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. as he attempts to launch his career as a rapper in a genre dominated by African Americans. The film not only depicts Detroit during the time period, but the racial struggles Rabbit goes through to prove himself. The overall film examines how economic status intersects with issues of race, gender and class.
When the film begins, the viewer is immediately introduced to Rabbit. Rabbit, a tall and slim white male, is seen getting ready inside of a bathroom for a rap battle by standing in front of a mirror rapping to himself. He is wearing an oversized zipped up hoodie,
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He holds a garbage bag filled with his clothes around his shoulder and the subplot of him coming back to win is created. Rabbit goes home after the battle and reveals his living conditions to the viewer. His family, which consists of his single mother and younger sister, lives in the 8 Mile Road trailer park. It is in an unkempt area with beat-up parked cars surrounding the trailers. At a later point in the film, it is revealed that family is on the verge of being evicted from their trailer because his mother, who is jobless, has been struggling to find a source of income. Thus, although they are a white family, they do not live up to the social expectations that whites are a family of four, own a house, established, have jobs and do not worry about making ends meet. This also shows how his mother fits the gender role of a woman because she does not work and depends on others for help.
Rabbit’s living conditions hugely contrast to his white male friend, Cheddar. Cheddar seems to be Rabbit’s only white male friend. Similar to Rabbit, he wears oversize clothes and tries to fit in. However, Cheddar and his family live up to social expectation by living in a house as opposed to Rabbit and his family who live in a trailer. His house is well kept and nicely decorated. It also has a television set which may hint that his family is not
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The subplot of him emerging as victorious is brought up again by one of his African American friends and entourage members, Future. Future encourages him to battle again and says “once they hear you, it won 't matter what color you are.” He reiterates the issue of race, but states it will disappear after Rabbit becomes victorious among the black rappers he battles against. Also within this scene, a gender issue emerges. For instance, Rabbit tells Future how his mother is dating Greg who is a man they went to high school with. It bothers Rabbit and makes him feel emasculated because him and Greg are close in age, he is having sex with his mother and there is not anything he could to prevent
The opening sequence of the Rabbit Proof Fence introduces you to the Aboriginal people. The scene begins with white writing on a black background which informs us of the situation in Australia in 1931 and the effects it has had in Australia. This is followed by an aerial shot of Australia?s desert which is hot, vast, desolate and has no vegetation showing the audience the difficulty someone would have trying to travel across this desert. Subsequently Molly?s voice over begins, she tells us in simple sentences her story. There are subtitles because she talks in her native tongue to represent Phillip Noyce?s respect for the Aboriginals. The screen, after tilting across the land stops at the small rabbit proof fence, which gives the effect that there are only a few white people compared to the number of Aboriginals.
...e important events in Eminem’s life that had a great impact or effect in his successful career. So yeah Eminem had to deal with poverty and many other problems, but showed that you can do anything you want if you are determined and do not give up even if you are in the most messed up situation.
Richard Adams novel, Watership Down, is the account of a group of rabbits trip to search out a new location to inhabit. After escaping the Sandleford Warren because of one rabbit’s instincts, nearly a dozen rabbits cross virgin country. Along the way, they run across a few other warrens. These places exhibit a completely different way of living to the fleeing group. What they learn is vital when they develop their own warren. From these places they manage to collect some rabbits to increase their size once they reach a resting point at their final destination. Each of the places they encounter is set up differently. These warrens contain a distinct and unique social system, belief and leadership role.
Although both these films have very different protagonist from one another, both protagonist have a similar mission. In Rabbit Proof Fence, the girls Molly, Daisy and Gracie are running for their lives having escaped the camp forcing the whites to use all their resources to get them back. While in
She takes a job in a white lady named Ms. Cullinan’s home as a maid, who calls her Mary for her own convenience and lack of respect. This enrages Maya and in order to get away she smashes the finest china to get her fired. At her eighth-grade graduation, a white man comes to speak in front of everyone and he states that black students can only become athletes or servants which makes Maya furious. Later, when Maya develops a nasty toothache, Momma decides to take her to a white dentist who refuses to work on her. Momma claims that she lent him money during the Great Depression so he owes her a favor but he says he’d rather stick his hands in a dogs’ mouth. Lastly, one day while Bailey is walking home he sees a dead black man rotting in a river and a white man present at the scene says he will put both the dead man and Bailey in his truck. This terrifies Bailey and Momma wants to get them out of Staples so she sends them to Vivian’s again in San Francisco. There they live with Vivian and her husband Daddy Clidell who is a nice man to Maya, and has a lot of money from his businesses. One summer Maya goes to live with her father Big Bailey and his girlfriend Dolores, who are poor and live in a trailer. Maya and Dolores do not get along and constantly fight, so Maya runs away and lives with a group of homeless teens
In the movie “Boyz in the Hood” director John Singleton, paints a clear image of the problems that happen very often in the African American communities. The movie deals with issues such as: the importance of a father in a young man’s life, the ongoing violence of black on black crime, and how black people are put in situations where they are put to fail and not succeed in life.
The movie Friday is a comedy drama released in 1995 starring Ice Cube (Craig) and Chris Tucker (Smokey) in the lead roles. (CITE) The film takes place in South Central Los Angeles during a 16 hour time period in the eventful lives of friends Craig and Smokey. After just being fired from his job, Craig decides to hang out with his friend Smokey, smoking marijuana and drinking on the front porch of his parents house. Things get interesting when Smokey brings Craig into a “little”, or rather not so little problem of his. Smokey owes local drug dealer Big Worm $200 on that Friday night by ten o'clock p.m. for smoking, rather than selling the marijuana that Big Worm gave to him, or else they'd both be killed. The movie details all the of the events in the 16 hour time period which led up to them eventually getting the $200 that they owe to Big Worm, and in turn saving their own lives. The film is full laughs brought on by comedic scenes throughout, especially due to the fact that African American characters are portrayed in a very stereotypical manner. It was evident that the common stereotypes of African American people in the early to mid 90's were fully supported by the film.
The beginning of the music video it begins to show the viewers the streets of Detroit and it focuses in on the poverty of Detroit due to the economic problems it faced and how violence took over the streets where shootouts and robberies took place in neighborhoods. In the video it’s mostly dark outside or looks like a huge storm has just finished which represents tough times. Viewers are introduced to street signs of 8 mile, which is a huge a part of Eminem’s life. 8 miles is more than a street that marks the
4. Foreman, (2002). The Hood Comes First: Race, Space, and Place in Rap and Hip hop. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press.
Even with Big Walter and Mama’s joint efforts, they are not able to save their children from a life similar to their own. Here the concept of the American Dream is rejected because even with hard work, the Youngers aren’t able to reach economic prosperity due to the low status jobs limited to African-Americans. Big Walter and Mama’s dreams only become possible after the death of Big Walter; the insurance money that the Younger’s receive has the power to change their lives. But what does this say about the American Dream? In the play, Asagai states, “Then isn’t there something wrong in a house-- in a world--where all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the death” (Hansberry 135; Act 3, Sc. 1). Even now, the American Dream is still largely determined by race, and while the Youngers have the determination to fight and to prosper economically, they aren’t able to do so because of the strict limitations that are set in the form of racism and discrimination in order to keep African-Americans in a lower socioeconomic
His position in life can be regarded as symbolic of every black male struggling to provide for his family by any means necessary. Although Walter has a job, it seems inadequate for his survival. As a result, he has become frustrated and lacks good judgement. Throughout this play, Walter searches for the key ingredient that will make his life blissful. His frustrations stem from him not being able to act as a man and provide for his family and grasp hold of his ideals to watch them manifest into a positive situation.
The culture in America has changed dramatically since the 1970s. As time goes on different events occur that will change the American culture forever. If people never stand up for what they believe in, the American culture may have never changed. Woman were not treated with the same respect in the 1970 's like they are treated today. Just before the 70s, the Civil Rights Movement supporters stood up and made history. The country was in the Vietnam War until the middle of the decade. There are great examples of the culture differences in the film The Longest Yard in 1974 compared to the remake in 2005. The United States of America 's culture is better today because of all the history that Americans made.
In the beginning of the book, George and Lennie are talking about the future and what’s to come someday if they continue working hard. The idea of the rabbits keeps coming up everytime Lennie hears George talk about the future. When George is about to cook supper, Lennie begs him to tell stories about the future because he is feeling down. “George. How I get to tend the rabbits." "Well," said George, "we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch” (pg.7). Lennie loves listening to George tell about the imaginary future because it makes him happy and takes his mind off the present situation. Throughout the story, Lennie continuously revels in these imaginary stories George has to tell.
These six words in many ways defined the late 1980s and 1990s, encapsulating the rise of hip-hop, NIKE, Michael Jordan, and the racial-class narratives embedded in each of them. The problem of such ethos are highlighted in a music video from Seattle’s very own Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
Our story centres around Donnie Darko a troubled teen previously diagnosed with schizophrenia and a history of violence who at 12 o’clock Sunday the 2nd of October 1988 is awoken by a mysterious voice following the voice he is confronted by an otherworldly 6 foot tall bunny rabbit named