Answering the Biggest Question in 'Bodied': DID MEGATON LOSE?

This essay is going to put the movie “Bodied” under the microscope one more time. It is not difficult to talk about this movie because it is not a simple movie. It is full of layers and people with masks who flaunt themselves in the society. And it is full of love for someone who loves to read between the lines.

Alright, I have already written about BODIED before, what exactly are we talking about today? Well, I actually have one question in my mind. It has been there since the first time I watched the movie in its entirety. DID MEGATON REALLY LOSE THE LAST BATTLE AGAINST ADAM?

Yes peeps, we will be answering that question in a very complex manner today. So if you don’t like jumping around from one point to another in a single document, you are going to be lost before I can answer the question.

Lets begin.

I’m gonna make an absurd statement regarding the movie, and you will have the urge to click this article off right now. There is one character in the movie that represents Eminem. You can jump the gun and say its Adam. You can also figure out his similarity to B-Rabbit from 8 Mile. But I have already declared that Adam is an anti-hero. But that fact can also be related to Eminem, right? His album ‘Kamikaze’ went after everybody in the industry this year. He was also cheered by the crowds when he did so. Clearly Adam is the caricature of Eminem.

The answer is NO. Adam and Eminem has one thing in common, and that is that they are both white. 

So what about others?

Behn? He had the wordplay and cleverness like Eminem. Still no.

Prospek? He dealt with racial topics in a comic manner, kinda like Eminem. Still No.

Che Corleone? I don’t even feel comfortable using him as a comparison. So, No.

The correct answer is Megaton. He is the Eminem stand in. Why? Lets go back to Kamikaze.

Eminem dropped his album and he sounded hungry. He came for the throat of the rap game and he couldn’t stand today’s simpleton rappers, so he ripped them to shreds. He had something to prove, even though his legacy speaks for itself.

Now lets counter each of those statements with Megaton: He was pissed at the boy in the LA battle. He goes on to shake him, shouting at him, breaking his glasses, taunting his race, calling him fa**ot, and chasing him away from the stage. First things first, Megaton didn’t have anything to prove there. It was his city, he was paid more than anybody else there. So he had no reason to go all ballistic on the kid.

But he did. You know why? Because he couldn’t stand his presence on the stage. He was a newcomer who was not cut out for the harsh climate of Battle Rap. And going against one of the best with a brittle attitude, Megaton had to teach him a lesson. He told him that *Hip-Hop has always been for minorities*, questioning his credibility. He chased the kid away, so that he doesn’t try to imitate the like Megaton lived everyday. Sounding like Eminem going at all the mumble rappers much?

Megaton made that kid cry, even though he was known to be one of the best in the game. this was confirmed mere moments after this. He has a rich legacy as a character, and Dizaster has stans who appreciate his talent.

All of this comes back to bite him in the last battle. Megaton starts calling names, expanding his territory and making sure he is not another battle rapper one can simple jump in. He thinks freestyle with Adam is easy. He starts calling everybody out for a battle [Keep this point in mind, I’m going to come back to it]. Nobody steps in because everybody knows his aggression with his vocabulary as well as his habit to sucker punch the opponent. Except Adam, who had already lost everything because of battle rap. So he tries to cling on sliver of hope that battle rap will save him.

The battle starts and as expected, Megaton comes in with the bars. Couple of interwoven bars to keep you on the edge of your seats, calling him transgender and Justin Bieber to getting the crowd pop, it is a nitro fueled verse. And then, Adam shuts him up. This moment is very important in the battle, because now Megaton is on the listening end. [you can explicitly see that Megaton puts some distance between them, as nobody has interrupted him before.]

Adam starts rapping and has some dope bars (drive thru one was my favorite/ Angry Bird eyebrows line was hella corny). He talks about his pornstar girlfriend and questions his manhood. He gets in Megaton’s face, and you can clearly see he is shaking, because he is taking steps back. As expected, Adam gets a punch in the face. He gets up, says one lit bar about murdering his friend and ends his verse by claiming he *BEAT MEGATON FOR THE CROWN*.

AGAIN POSING THE BIG QUESTION: DID MEGATON LOSE?

We see Megaton thinking about something, and he raises Adam’s arm. He hugs him, congratulates him and even confesses his love for him. Crowds gathers, confetti in the air, Adam is dumbfounded but clearly happy. Still no answer to the question: DID MEGATON REALLY LOSE?

The answer to the question is NO. Claiming that you beat someone at a game doesn't mean you won. Megaton didn’t lose that match. It was a no rules freestyle. He could have easily gone to round 2. Then why did it seem like it?

Adam had lost all redeeming qualities by the end of the movie. He was stripped down to what he was, a racist bastard. But to end the movie on a positive note, Megaton had to take a hit.

But this raises another question: WHY DID MEGATON TAKE THE HIT?

Remember before the freestyle he was calling names out? He was challenging them so that they can battle him and show their mettle against the best. This ended in a one-sided bloodbath in LA battle against glasses kid. It ended in violence in first battle against Big Zee. Adam was the challenge he was looking for.

Going back to the LA Afterparty, Megaton wanted to settle everything in battle rap. It is clear it meant more to him than anything. Bodying someone with words would be his ecstasy. But bland challenges tend to get boring. He found that ecstasy in Adam. Megaton thought about it, and he didn’t raise the arm of the winner. He rose the arm of his contender, one who can go word to word against him.

Coming back to Eminem, that is what he all wanted too. If in this era, artist like Lil Pump or Lil Xan [Namedropped by Eminem] are mainstream, can you blame him to be pissed at them? He wants hot talent who has something to say. That is why there is a Joyner feature on Kamikaze.

Bringing all of it around, if Adam is the anti hero of the movie, then Behn and Megaton share the duty of protagonist together. they do help develop Adam, but they are not pushovers. And just like B-Rabbit, Megaton is a complex character with million layers and love for hip-hop.

Thank God for Eminem.