Racial Discourse in the Film 8 Mile Directed by Curtis Hanson

Black pathologies include characteristics such as rising rates of poverty and crime, selling of drugs, and being unemployed. It appears that some elements of Jay Z’s biography fit this “tangle of black pathology” stereotype. Jay Z was born into poverty, and his father left his family when Jay Z was younger; the idea of poverty and of the father figure leaving are black stereotypes. Jay Z would also go on to become a hustler, selling drugs to others in his community. Some might argue that the actions blacks undertake result in characteristics such as unemployment. However, there are also several aspects of Jay Z’s biography that do not fit the “tangle of black pathology” stereotypes. Today, Jay Z is a very successful man who escaped poverty.

As soon as I read the prompt for this journal, the recent movie Get Out immediately popped into my head. As an avid cinephile, I was quick anxiously awaiting the release of the film. The wait was well worth it, as Jordan Peele’s Get Out exceeded all of my expectations and is certainly one of my favorite movies for the time being. What makes this movie so tremendous is the portrayal of race. Media is extremely influential in our beliefs, and film is no exception. Get Out approaches the sensitive topic of racism in current society, but with an extremely unique twist that provokes thoughtfulness. It is difficult to fully explain without completely spoiling the film, but the way the struggle between race and class is portrayed is both horrifying and eye-opening.

Eminem was one of the first single white rappers to stand out and started to complete tear down that wall that was separating whites and blacks in the Hip-Hop and rap genre. However, it wasn’t just a walk in the park for Marshall Mathers. As a young child, he spent a lot of his underprivileged childhood going back and forth from his rural hometown to the urban area of Detroit. He had an early dip into the Rap culture where he was assembling his own lyrics at the age of 14. At such of a young age, he dealt with many family troubles mostly being a drug abusing parent and

This paper analyzes Tupac Shakur's best Hits (1998) to reveal: 1) Shakur's talk utilizes three african american social qualities (the oral tradition, An diunital orientation, Furthermore spirituality), which further characterizes the exceptional aspects that contain african american discourse; 2) The point when translating Shakur's message through the lens for african american social values, as much best Hits works Concerning illustration An musical personal history that constructs character What's more gives a voice for the dark young society. Provided for these two findings, Shakur extends the social qualities that underlie african american talk will develop a message that is additional complex, enlightened, Also reflective over what has

In this film they depict the melting pot in the United States. The movie itself was filled with racism it clearly discriminated against whites and African-Americans in a different perspective showing that all whites and African Americans have a simulate basis to all anti-immigrants and Hispanics. Most American citizens are against illegals immigration and most of the Americans don't approve of illegal immigrants jumping over to their country illegally being rewarded for their “criminal behavior” with jobs, medicare, and food stamps. In the film they try to imply that Mexico is not a poor country, who supposedly has the fifth richest economy in the world. Americans wonder why taxpayers should be even helping out Mexicans.

Whiteness as the modus operandi becomes a central place of questioning that music and specifically Hip Hop and Rap help put into question. Questioning of Whiteness through these genres of music help reveal the co-constitutive nature of music and ideology. My goals within this paper are not an attempt to explore musicality or the power of music; rather, I am interested in how ideology becomes constituted within lyrics and what they reveal about the intersections of identity, authenticity, Whiteness, and race. Within these intersections is where we are able to see meaning be negotiated, and through communication we are able to explore how different meanings get constituted as hegemonic. Nakayama and Krizek offer us a starting point for

This paper will open by first and foremost, explaining the different sociological meanings of the term power, so as the reader has an understanding of the arguments being made. This will allow anybody reading this paper to follow the arguments being made. Music can provide a means of resistance for challenging the power relations of racism, class and gender in a number of ways. The first way that this paper will approach this is the racial aspect and as a means of doing this, the main focus point will be Eminem and his break-through in to the Rap/ Hip-hop genre. This is relevant because he was the first white person to ever successfully break into this specific genre of predominantly Black artists. This will lead neatly onto the next element to answering the question of music providing a means of resistance for challenging power relations, It will move on to look at the class element of resisting and challenging power. This section will start off by continuing with regard to Eminem and how he used his “underclass” background as a means of connecting with his black counterparts, But still gaining acceptance from his peers and even forming a working relationship with an already massively established artist that aided him in his entrance to the hip-hop music industry and his credibility their after. Whilst still staying with subject matter of class, this

Since its inception, hip-hop has depended heavily on the talent of black pioneers and white artist who respected the art form and the rules of engagement. Unlike G-Eazy and Mike Stud, Eminem was introduced into the hip-hop scene by one of hip-hop’s pioneers, Dr. Dre. Eminem and his team understood that it was necessary to have the approval, or the street credit to step into the rap game. Hence he was accepted into the hip-hop culture. We must understand that the hip hop culture does not exclude people based on ethnicity. This is because the main ideology of hip hop is one of solidarity and equality for all.

After watching this movie I am quite proud of how far we have come with racial prejudice and segregation. In the film, I noticed many times that the African Americans were treated differently than the whites and that is not okay. Some examples of this included the coffee container that Katherine had to pour her coffee out of, the water fountain only blacks used, the library that Dorothy was kicked out of for being black, the bathroom she Katharine always ran to, and that the whole NASA campus was segregated. How unjust for Katherine to have to run half a mile just to go to the bathroom! This was portrayed especially well by adding rain to add to the “torrent” of emotion that this scene produced. However, where there is darkness this film sheds

> The sociological perspective is described as seeing the general in the particular. In this essay I will attempt to apply the sociological perspective to analyze song lyrics from the first verse of the song My Block by Tupac Shakur (see appendix for lyrics). Tupac (1971-1996) is the most famous gangster rap artist of all times. He was well known for his lyrics and their ability to express the grief of the Black community. He was an advocate for Black rights and very much against the societal system and class societies. Many say he exaggerated the conditions under which the Black community and the lower class were in because he was a wealthy man rapping about suppression. To other’s he was part of the

The pivotal scene that will be thoroughly represented and analyzed is from the movie 8 Mile, directed by Curtis Hanson, and released in 2002. 8 Mile is a semiautobiographical film based on the life story of the iconic rapper Marshal Mathers, or better known by his stage name Eminem, and how he began his journey into the hip-hop industry. In this film, Eminem plays himself, as the main character named Jimmy Smith Jr.; however, throughout the course of the movie, he is referred to as Rabbit more than anything else. Rabbit lives in a very rough part of Detroit known as 8 Mile, in a mobile home with his single alcoholic of a mother. Their financial situation is dire and Rabbit decides he needs to find a different occupation. Rabbit works at a factory to barely make ends meet; however, the amount he makes is abysmal compared to what he needs. Rabbit has a passion for music, specifically rap. However, this is a challenge because at the time the rap genre was predominantly occupied by African-Americans. Despite this, Rabbit continues on in his pursuit of making a name for himself in the rap industry. He enters rap battle competitions in hopes of getting noticed. He runs into a group of local amateur rappers known as “Leadaz of tha Free World”. The leader of this group is named Papa Doc and he is portrayed to be Rabbits greatest adversary. Rabbit and Papa Doc both make it to the final round of the rap battle competition and that’s when the pivotal scene

In this song, Eminem not only uses his power as an artist to make his audience know what’s happening in the US, but he also makes sure that people understand what it might feel like for someone who’s different. Eminem touched on white supremacist and how it causes impacts on minority groups especially African Americans.

Through prism performance, poetry, music and art, Race Is The Place, underlie the different ways to look at one of the most social issues in American, which is known as racism. During the film, my heart was aching because racial and racist stereotype was displayed or promoted through the media. It opens my heart and mind of how racism is perpetuated in our society. I find that the way the performers, artist and comedians discussed racial identity made it easier for me to think about racism because each performer, artist and comedian express themselves by speaking the truth of how racism is still an issue in America. What make it easier for me to think about racism and stereotype was the use of poetry, hilarious comic and humor through the

Eminem complains that, “Every interview I do is like, your lyrics are deadly, man, they’re violent and misogynistic; or black this, white that” (Wiener 61). Eminem’s construction of authenticity is clearly portended through appraisal of race and, or violent misogyny as thematic features. Most of his work is seemingly directed towards his dominant white hip-hop audience. Some of this work includes his announcements of his being white and his view of violence and conflict against women. Eminem is clearly an authentic gangsta rapper due to his heightened hatred that is more seriously acclaimed than the rappers before

Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, is recognized for his work as a rap artist who is able to connect with his audience through humor and rhythmically dicey lyrics. Eminem’s “My Name Is” music video is able signify whiteness and rearticulate race with the use intertextual editing techniques that parody common representations of whiteness. Eminem is using his “My Name Is” video as an approach to solidify his style of rapping and thus create new political and cultural authenticities that entice questions of race representation in the 1990’s and beyond. (Kajikawa).