Eminem's "BODIED", "8 MILE" and "DEATH NOTE": Movie Essay

Eminem’s ‘Bodied’, ‘8 Mile’ and Death Note: Movie review

Last night, I had an epiphany. If I bought Youtube Premium, I can watch Eminem produced ‘BODIED’. So I went into my wallet, dug out my card and got access to the movie. I watched it in the night with no pauses in between. For those of you who don’t know what the movie is all about, it is about battle rap. It’s not rap battles, its more than that.

But why would I draw parallels with 8 Mile, a movie starring Eminem himself, and Death Note, a standout anime series about murder and mystery? Lets tackle one at a time shall we?

BODIED AND 8 MILE

Now there are a lot of parallels I could draw even before watching this movie. Another scrawny white kid learning how to stand out in the crowd of black people. If you think that was incomplete or vague, that’s as far as the similarities go.

BODIED is about the concept of battle rapping, whereas 8 mile is the movie of one character as he grows and finds his place in the society. They are totally opposite movies if you think about it. In Bodied, Adam starts falling the deeper he goes into battling, whereas Rabbit comes out on the top at the end of 8 Mile. Another example is that Rabbit is already a complex character who has either lost a lot in his life, or is not able to recognize what is presented to him. His friends are his boon, his talent is his weapon. But his girlfriend cheating and his life outside of hip-hop is kind of not good.

On the other hand, Adam from Bodied is a well off kid with a stuck up girlfriend, an ego driven dad, and phony friends. When he starts hanging out with Prospek, Devine and Che, he has a freedom of expression, because that is very important for battle raps. He starts treading into territories he thought he’d never step into. The first example is of the racial jokes he spits against Prospek. The second example is Adam vs Behn when he goes too personal on him.

Bodied also makes a point of how me, a lifelong Stan, would be seen from the inside. The moment Adam mentions Eminem as the greatest Battle Rapper, 40 Mag and Bluntz as well as Behn mock him for it. They go as far as to mock his character in 8 mile. Now, this moment solidified the suspicions I had in the beginning, and I’m going to join the points that may seem redundant.

In the beginning after Behn’s battle, Adam’s girlfriend Maya askes him about who won between him and X-Tract. Adam goes on to say that judged battles aren’t a thing anymore. This proved my point that this was not an 8 Mile wannabe, as it was clearly mocking the whole concept of that era’s battle rap. It was a very bold thing to declare in an Eminem produced movie, who has not been happy about state of hip-hop today. Now to me, this makes a point that if the mainstream rap is crap, there is still hope lying in battle rap. And to me, THAT WAS AWESOME.

BODIED AND DEATH NOTE

Now I have explained how BODIED a subversion of what 8 Mile is, but what about the characters. A concept can be brilliant, but its execution depends on its characters.

Let’s drive direct comparisons between Adam and Rabbit from 8 mile once again. Rabbit is a confused character with one goal in mind. He works hard, tries to handle everything thrown at him and more or less goes with it as much as he could. in the end, he has another goal in his head, and instead of reaping all the sweet glory he got from beating Papa Doc, he goes back to work. He finds something worth fighting for and doesn’t let the chance go by.

Meanwhile in Bodied, Adam is a well-off kid with reputed father, a girlfriend with some issues, and pretentious douchebags as his friends. At the end of the movie, he’s homeless, disowned, has no scholarship, is single, and his mentor has severed ties with him. What he has is battle rap. He took a chance that cost him everything, and he was left with nothing. You know who else was in Adam’s shoes?

Light Yagami of Death Note was a bright kid with a bright future, and he relished it for a while too, but in the end, his choices left him with nothing. He got his death note and started murdering people, losing his sanity. He did it according to his own definition of justice, but what it was, was a murder. After his sanity, he became paranoid. Justified, because why would you let a murder weapon reach another person. Now, if the justice is fair, everybody is liable to die, which started a long road for Light to become a douche. He used elaborate plans to guarantee his safety, manipulated god to do his bidding, and enjoyed peace without an adversary before Near came  around. In the end, his death felt like slaying  a Titan. But to carefully examine, nobody except Misa would cry for him because of all the atrocities he had committed.

Light and Adam both were portrayed as protagonists of their respective series, but they were anti-heroes at best. You can draw comparisons between Adam and Tanya from Youjo Senki and it would still make sense to a point. It is a well crafted concept movie which takes you on the ride for the whole time you watch it.

FOCUS POINTS

CONCEPT REFLECTION: In a movie about rap battle, you better have some bars. And man oh man does this movie delivers. From complexities Behn spits to the ruthlessness of Megaton to the suave of 40 and Bluntz, this movie is packed with talent. The characters always have something to say, and it is meaningful most of the times.

For example, Devine’s conversation with Prospek about crowd expectation is gold. That exposition feels smooth and has a genuine reason behind it. One can reason why battle rappers usually stick to stereotypes and clichés with this theory.

Going back to Adam’s dialogue about judged battles not being a thing anymore, I’m glad I watched this movie after listening to Eminem’s “Kick Off Freestyle”. Everybody who panned it had a same point, Eminem isn’t saying anything with it. Well, now you got the answer: you don’t have to say something prolific to champion a battle rap. In the last battle between Megaton and Adam, Adam drops a name Ivan Karamazov and nobody cheers for him. It makes sense because you’re here to disrespect your opponent, not to give an arts lecture. Thus, I am very happy that everybody who disliked Em’s freestyle on the basis that he had nothing to say, has been put into place.

EDITING AND DIRECTING: this movie is edited exceptionally well. With the fictional folders coming up around Adam’s head during rap battles, to camera movements and shakes which enhance the visual experience of the whole thing, it was a treat for the eyes. The sound effects zoomed in on your ears to make sure you’re hearing what the director intended. The dimming of volume when Adam puts on headphones, cutting of background music whenever the scene changes and the panning of camera to focus on the perspective of a character are masterstrokes of direction. It’s clear lot of love has been poured into this project, and it makes it damn hardest to make it clear that this movie is not playing around.

EVERYTHING IS A+, BUT…

Now I know perfection isn’t possible, and this movie gets hit on small prospects. The one who suffers the most is Megaton, who goes from gatling gun of rhymes to a white kid puncher. I know I’m misrepresenting him, but this is my article. All his rhymes are ruthless and enjoyable to the max, but his change is so sudden, I felt I got punched in the gut instead of Adam. There is only one excuse I could thin of: if somebody trumps him in rap battle, he’d bend over backwards for them.

I mean he turned around to love Adam in one punch. That’s at least four punches early. I guess words really are weapons when they can turn pure muscle hunks like Megaton to your ally in single verse. 

Does that mean that words hurt Megaton? Bloody hell!

FINALLY:

Bodied was a out-of-body experience (GET IT?!). it was enjoyable to the max. But, but, if you’re a fluffy snowflake who gets hurt by strong language like Megaton, give it a pass. If you can bear the bare bones profanity and curses aimed at Whites, Blacks, Koreans and Arabic people without any ill will, give it a go. Hip-Hop is a culture with no bounds, and me as a hip- hop fan would always appreciate an individual, a group, a race, or even another culture who can respect my believes. You don’t have to agree to anything the movie has to say, you just have to open your eyes and respect the art form that is Battle Rap.