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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8_mile_poster.jpg]]
2
3->''"Look... if you had... one shot... or one opportunity... to seize everything you ever wanted... in one moment... would you capture it... or just let it slip?"''
4-->-- Opening words of '''"Lose Yourself"'''
5
6''8 Mile'' is a 2002 American hip-hop drama film directed by Creator/CurtisHanson and starring Music/{{Eminem}} in his film debut, with Creator/KimBasinger, Creator/BrittanyMurphy, Creator/MekhiPhifer and Creator/MichaelShannon in supporting roles. Creator/AnthonyMackie also makes his film debut as Clarence / "Papa Doc".
7
8The film is a semi-autobiographical account of Eminem's early years in Detroit, struggling to make ends meet and get his career off the ground. As such, he stars as white rapper Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. (based upon a younger version of him) as he struggles for respect among his black peers in the underground Detroit hip hop scene in 1995.
9
10One of the film's main claims to fame is that "Lose Yourself", a song by Eminem that he recorded as the lead single for its soundtrack, is the first hip-hop song to receive an MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestOriginalSong. (Em skipped the ceremony, believing so firmly that he wouldn't win that he decided to stay in and sleep instead.)
11
12Not to be confused with ''[[Film/EightMM 8 mm]]''.
13
14----
15!!'''His tropes are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy...''':
16* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The film released in 2002 and is set in 1995, the year before Eminem released his debut album.
17* TheNineties: The film is set in 1995. Moreover, rap artists such as [[{{Music/WuTangClan}} Wu-Tang]], Music/MobbDeep, [[Music/TheNotoriousBIG Biggie Smalls,]] and several others are heard playing throughout the film.
18* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Even Wink cracks up when Jimmy drops the line "How can six dicks be pussies?" during his climactic freestyle. In turn, you can see Rabbit crack a smile at Lotto's ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'' line. He even admits to Sol George that the line was so good it almost got him.
19* AdHominem: A powerful tactic among rappers. This is how Jimmy [[spoiler:wins the rap duel at the end, preempting Papa Doc's AdHominem rap by [[SelfDeprecation acknowledging he's white trash]] before revealing that Papa Doc is actually Clarence, a well-off lad from the upscale suburbs with a good education at Cranbrook and happily-married parents -- a total alien from such a neighborhood as downtown Detroit.]]
20* TheAlcoholic: Stephanie, Jimmy's mother.
21* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Stephanie becomes this to Jimmy when Wink and Alex drop by at his trailer.
22* AnAesop: There's dignity in owning your flaws, misfortunes and what makes you different rather than trying to hide it or be ashamed of it. Jimmy wins the final rap battle by loudly and proudly declaring that he is white, poor and has friends who've done dumb stuff and pointing out everything Papa Doc has been hiding, [[spoiler: that he is really an affluent suburban kid whose tough image is entirely a facade. By the end, everyone has gained new respect for Jimmy and sees Doc as nothing but a preening wannabe.]]
23* AtLeastIAdmitIt: [[spoiler: This is what wins Rabbit the battle against Papa Doc in the film's climax. He basically owns up to all his flaws before Papa Doc even has a chance to use it against him, something the latter didn't have the guts to do himself]].
24* AudienceParticipation:
25** Lil' Tic battling Rabbit in the intro:
26---> "Rip the rabbit head off, toss it to Hugh Hefner, 'cause I don't play boy, now tell me who's fresher?" \
27'''"YOU ARE!"'''
28** Rabbit pulls it off twice in the final battle, spurring the crowd to raise their hands, and getting a response with this line from the chorus of ''Shook Ones, Pt. II'':
29---> "This guy don't wanna battle, he shook, 'cause ain't no such things as..." \
30'''"HALFWAY CROOKS!"'''
31* AutobiographicalRole: This movie basically tells Eminem's life story... [[ForWantOfANail if he never got a record deal]].
32* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Jimmy and his mother may snark one and other, but in the end they genuinely care for each other. This is proven twice, when Jimmy fights Greg for hitting his mom and [[spoiler:when near the end when his mom won bingo, the first thing she does is offer to make him pancakes. As well as support him when he says he plans to do his rap career on his own.]]
33* BattleRapping: The major driving force in the movie are the rap battles that take place.
34* BerserkButton: Never ever make fun of Jimmy when he freezes up at the chance to rap.
35* BigBadWannabe: Despite his reputation and his icy, intimidating aura, Papa Doc is ultimately little more than a wealthy, privileged EntitledBastard using the tough band he rolls with and his skill as a rapper for ''entirely'' undeserved cred.
36* BigBrotherInstinct: Jimmy loves his sister Lily, and his only thought when about to be confronted with the Free World is getting her out of harm's way. He even helps burn down an abandoned house where a girl was raped after one of his friends asks him to imagine if the same thing happened to her.
37* BlackDudeDiesFirst: This trope is referenced InUniverse by Lotto in his rap battle against Jimmy.
38-->"The shit is a horror flick, but the black guy doesn't die in this movie"
39* {{Bookends}}: The film begins with Rabbit trying to battle against Papa Doc and getting tongue-tied and being unable to rap. It ends with another battle, where Papa Doc gets tongue-tied and being unable to rap.
40* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Jimmy wins the battle but he goes back to his crappy life, compounded by the sad piano piece in "Lose Yourself" playing in the background. Though thanks to his mother winning at Bingo, at least he doesn't have to worry about being evicted for now and he has gained the confidence gto start working towards a better future.]]
41* BruiserWithASoftCenter: All of Jimmy's anger and aggression melts away whenever he's with his little sister.
42* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Jimmy's supervisor at the auto plant won't tolerate him taking any time off from his work - even if it's because ''[[FictionIsNotFair someone else has come by and started talking to him without his wanting it]]''.
43* CentralTheme: Firstly, that you can succeed as long as [[GuileHero you're smart about it]] and [[TheDeterminator you're willing to give it your all even in the face of overwhelming odds]]. Secondly, that class is just as much an issue as race.[[note]]Jimmy might be white, but he's white ''trash'', and as poor as the black folk he lives with, which contrasts Papa Doc being a wealthy black man who just pretends to be a cool tough gangster.[[/note]]
44* ChekhovsGun:
45** [[spoiler:"Papa Doc? You mean Clarence? He went to Cranbrook..."]]
46** The bingo games Stephanie goes to [[spoiler:end up working out when she finally wins just in time to save the family from eviction.]]
47* ChekhovsGunman: Moderately early in the film, Jimmy defends his gay co-worker Paul from a homophobic asshole. Much later in the film, Jimmy is given extra shifts to work the night of the rap battle. After realizing he ''does'' want to battle, Jimmy gets Paul to cover for him at the factory so he can go. Before, after, and between these scenes, Paul is basically completely absent.
48* CoDragons: Lotto and Lyckety-Splyt to Papa Doc.
49* CompositeCharacter: Lily Smith seems to be a composite of Eminem's younger brother Nathan and his daughter Hailie.
50* {{Corpsing}}: [[invoked]] InUniverse -- Lotto's ''Leave It To Beaver'' bars result in Rabbit struggling to keep a straight face (which would have potentially lost him the battle). He remarks to his friends later that the line 'almost got me'.
51* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Jimmy dishes one out to Papa Doc in the end, when he goes first in the battle and turns every humiliating experience and insult that the Free World is about to dish out to him into a freestyle, completely catching him off-guard.]]
52* DirtyCoward: Wink for sending the Free World crew to jump Jimmy rather than fight his own battles. The Free World crew themselves for ganging up to jump him, especially Papa Doc, who even pulls out a gun whenever a physical altercation breaks loose.
53* DisappearedDad: Jimmy's father left a while ago, leaving his mother stranded.
54* DownerBeginning: The film starts out with Jimmy puking all over his clothes, nearly getting kicked out of The Shelter by a bouncer, and choking during his rap battle with Lil Tic, leading him to gaining a reputation as a choke artist.
55* EmasculatedCuckold: Subverted. Jimmy Smith (Music/{{Eminem}}) walks in on his LoveInterest (portrayed by the late Creator/BrittanyMurphy), having sex with Wink, one of his friends. After Jimmy beats him up, Wink makes a FaceHeelTurn and joins the Leaders of the Free World, who later go on to beat up Jimmy. During the rap battle at the finale, the fact that he was cuckolded is used to attempt to humiliate Jimmy. Jimmy comes out on top, anyway.
56* EurekaMoment: Right before the final battle, Rabbit is visibly nervous about taking on Papa Doc, wondering what he's going to say to beat him. Cheddar Bob asks Rabbit if he's worried about all the things Papa Doc is going to use against him, especially since they're all true. You can see the gears working in Rabbit's head as he realizes that's exactly what he needs to do- admit all these things about himself up front, while stressing their irrelevance, giving Papa Doc literally no ammunition against him.
57* EvenEvilHasStandards: After Wink joins the Free World and they beat Jimmy up, Papa Doc pulls out a gun and points it to Jimmy's head. Wink ''immediately'' steps in and gets the guy to back off, though at the end, he still leaves with them.
58* FaceDeathWithDignity: Jimmy doesn't bat an eyelash when Papa Doc presses a presumably loaded pistol to his head.
59* FaceHeelTurn: Wink.
60* FakePregnancy: Near the beginning of the film Rabbit says his girlfriend might be pregnant. She later says she just said that in an effort to make him stay.
61* FunnyBackgroundEvent: [[spoiler:Jimmy discovering Wink having sex with Alex is a serious scene, but cutting away to seeing them fight through a window in the background as a rapper is casually being interviewed for a radio show is hilarious.]]
62* HardWorkFallacy: The main character [[SarcasmMode (who is in no way an]] AuthorAvatar of Eminem himself) seeks to prove himself a great rapper, despite poverty, relationship troubles, and racial issues.
63* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the final rap battle, Papa Doc lets B-Rabbit go first. With all the ammunition he had against B, it seemed logical to let Rabbit go first and get his round out of the way so Doc could drop the bombs. However, B-Rabbit used this as an opportunity to bring up and counter EVERYTHING Doc was going to use against him. He loses in the worst way (choking) as a result. Had Papa gone first, B-Rabbit trying the same stuff might have been seen as flailing.
64* IdiotBall: Cheddar Bob is always holding it. From yelling "Fuck the Free World" right in the crew's face to setting the abandoned house on fire while everyone was still in it. Oh, and he shot himself in the [[GroinAttack groin]] with his own handgun.
65* IronicEcho: As a kind of BookEnds, the film starts with B. Rabbit choking during a rap battle in front of a large crowd; not saying a single word. [[spoiler: The film ends with Papa Doc being rendered speechless on his turn at a rap battle after Rabbit brilliantly disarms him of any disses he can point out about Rabbit and loses his street cred in the process]].
66* {{Jerkass}}: Greg, Stephanie's live-in boyfriend, and, of course, the members of the Free World rap group.
67* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Papa Doc was well close to this after he and the rest of the Free World members jumped Jimmy by pulling out a handgun to put the already-beatened protagonist out of his misery, which would have been accomplished had Wink not intervened and convinced him not to go for it.
68* LaserGuidedKarma: Papa Doc spends the entire film humiliating Rabbit for being a white rapper. Then Rabbit reveals to the whole club that Papa Doc [[spoiler:is really named Clarence, comes from a wealthy family and his tough persona is an act.]] Watching him as he realizes he has permanently lost any respect or fear he once inspired in people and that he can never regain it is a wonderful sight to behold.
69* LoserProtagonist: Jimmy starts the film having to live at home in a trailer with his mother, has a dead-end job at a plant, has no girlfriend and is humiliated after choking during a rap battle.
70* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: [[spoiler: During the final rap battle, Alex can be seen far off in the room applauding and cheering for Jimmy.]] She is very easy to spot with the red shirt and blonde hair.
71* MicDrop: Not actually, but the same idea - [[spoiler: Rabbit]] nonchalantly tosses the microphone to Future after he's done raking [[spoiler: Papa Doc]] over hot coals in [[spoiler: the final battle]].
72* MightyWhitey: This is a common criticism of the film, in that the white rapper Rabbit is a uniquely gifted rapper whose friends are virtually all black, and that the climax of the movie shows him beating a succession of black rappers. However, the movie addresses this by making Rabbit reluctant to battle out of anxiety that he is seen as a tourist or [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy appropriator]]. The final battle also ends with Rabbit winning against a violent black bully by pointing out that his opponent comes from a middle class family, goes to a private school, and likes to slum it in the hood to feel like a gangster - indicating that despite Rabbit's race, he is still part of an oppressed working class through which he can authentically connect with hip-hop culture. Also, Rabbit is played by Music/{{Eminem}}, who ''is'' a uniquely gifted battle rapper, and the film is inspired by his own background.
73* MilesGloriosus: Papa Doc pretends to be a tough, street wise gangster who grew up in the same rough lifestyle as Rabbit. Then its revealed he is actually [[spoiler:from a wealthy family and his entire persona is a facade that is smashed in front of everyone.]]
74* MistakenForRomance: Jimmy sees Alex acting overly familiar with a guy at the club and feels hurt. She follows him and explains that it was her brother whose car she's borrowing.
75* {{Mooning}}: Jimmy does this during his last lines of his battle against Lyckety-Splyt.
76* ModelScam: Wink's MO seems to be a non-sexual version of this, as he uses the fact he has some unspecified role in a recording studio/radio station to get people to give him attention and respect. Future calls him out on it, but Jimmy buys it for some time and the Leaders of the Free World seem to let him hang out with them despite him being a nobody. It graduates to a typical version of this with Alex, as he tells her he can get her a photographer for her modelling, and next we see is the two having sex, in what's clearly a case of this.
77* MoralityPet: The only way Jimmy can calm down whenever he goes on berserk mode is when Lilly pops up and observes his behavior. He doesn't want to be an anti-role model for her, which is why whenever he catches eye of Lilly watching what he does he regains his composure.
78* MrsRobinson: Jimmy's mother is dating a guy who went to school with her son, though it's mostly so she can benefit from his settlement money. [[spoiler:Unsurprisingly, he ends up dumping her when it actually rolls in.]]
79* MultipleChoicePast: Two origin stories are given for Jimmy's nickname of "Rabbit." One is that his mother started calling him that because he had buck teeth as a baby. Another is that it's because "he's fast and he likes to fuck." Given the context in which both origins were told, the former is likely the true one.
80* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Jimmy's initial reaction when he realized Lily was watching when he was fighting with their mom's boyfriend. It's definitely one of Jimmy's more heartwarming characteristics.
81* MyNewGiftIsLame: Stephanie gives Jimmy a new car for his birthday. But then the next day Jimmy tries driving it and his vehicle is [[TheAllegedCar too outdated to get him anywhere]], serving as an inspiration for his next song.
82* NoRomanticResolution: Jimmy doesn't talk with Alex again after their conversation before the rap battle, and she presumably leaves for New York shortly after.
83* OhCrap: Jimmy and his friends' reaction to the police sounding their sirens right after Jimmy uses a paintball gun on a parked police car.
84** Papa Doc when [[spoiler: Rabbit starts shredding his credibility on-stage in the final rap battle.]]
85* ParalysisByAnalysis: Rabbit chokes the first time he goes on stage.
86* PretenderDiss: In the final rap battle, Jimmy reveals [[spoiler:that Papa Doc is a well-off guy named Clarence from a stable family and went to a private school. Jimmy, despite being white trash, has far more in common with the poor black community in downtown Detroit because he's actually from there and went through the same things they did.]]
87* PyrrhicVictory: Inverted. [[spoiler:Rabbit defeats Papa Doc by revealing every humiliating detail about himself and throwing the rap battle.]]
88* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The horrified look in Rabbit’s eyes says it all when Cheddar brings up the story behind the abandoned house. We don’t see him this shocked until when he’s held at gunpoint by Papa Doc when the latter’s gang jumps him.
89* RealIsBrown: Well, except that in this particular film, Real Is ''Green''.
90* RecklessGunUsage: Jimmy's friend, Cheddar Bob, shoots himself in the leg as [[PantsPositiveSafety he puts a gun in his waistband]].
91* SecretlyWealthy: Papa Doc is [[spoiler: really a well-off suburban kid named Clarence from an affluent background and with happily married parents. Jimmy revealing this to everyone destroys his image and leaves him speechless.]]
92* SelfDeprecation: [[spoiler:Alongside the subsequent pretender dis against Papa Doc, this is the main reason for Jimmy's win in the final rap battle. Employing tactics that Eminem himself used in real life, he pre-empts Papa Doc by acknowledging every possible diss he can use against him, but that despite all that he's still fighting on. The crowd admires his honesty, and Papa Doc is left without any material.]]
93* ShownTheirWork: The film feels as authentically Detroit as its protagonist is. SceneryGorn, [=WJLB=], The Shelter (a real music venue in Detroit, though different from the venue shown in the film), Gratiot Avenue, and the fact that Jimmy is one of the few white characters in the whole film.
94* SlummingIt: [[spoiler: “Papa Doc” is actually a well-off private school student named Clarence who pretends to be a tough guy gangster for the thrill of it. Rabbit revealing this onstage in their climactic rap battle after [[SelfDeprecation raking himself over the coals]] is the final nail in the coffin for any street cred Papa Doc had.]]
95* StaredownFaceoff: When it's time for their final rap battle (before they decide who goes first), Jimmy and Papa Doc do this onstage.
96* TokenWhite: Jimmy himself, being basically the only white in an area full of black guys, and ''definitely'' the only white ''rapper''. Cheddar serves as this among his friends, being the only other white guy around.
97* TooMuchInformation: Rabbit's mom tells him things he doesn't want to know, such as that her boyfriend won't go down on her.
98* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The rap battles in the movie are these but in musical form. In fact, the point of winning is that you need to give a ''better'' speech than your opponent. Jimmy then turns this on its head in the final rap battle and delivers a "Reason ''I'' Suck" speech toward Papa Doc, specifically so that he couldn't give one of these back at Jimmy. [[spoiler:It worked.]]
99-->'''Jimmy''': [[spoiler: I'm a piece of fucking white trash and I say it proudly. Fuck this battle, I don't wanna win; I'm outie. Here, tell these people something they don't know about me.]]
100* TrashyTrailerHome: Rabbit is frequently mocked for his family living in a trailer. He manages to turn what would be a source of shame into a PretenderDiss by revealing that his final rap battle opponent lives affluently with his parents.
101* {{Troll}}: By the end of the movie, Rabbit has fully fallen into Eminem's actual smug, irreverent stage persona, rapping his way through every member of the Free World by turning their disses against him into punchlines and making them look like losers. For instance: Lotto comparing him to [[Series/LeaveItToBeaver "that guy from Leave it to Beaver"]] gets both Lotto and his entire posse turned into the cast of the show.
102-->'''Rabbit:''' [[CatchPhrase Ward, I think you were a little hard on the Beaver.]] ''[points at the Free World in the audience]'' So was Eddie Haskell, Wally, and Miss Cleaver.
103* UnstoppableRage: Rabbit gets ''really'' pissed off at a few points in the story. Just ask Greg for abusing his mom or Wink when he had sex with Jimmy's supposed girlfriend.
104* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Jimmy catches his about-to-be -former BlackBestFriend Wink and his girlfriend Alex having sex at one point.
105----
106-->''"You could do anything you set your mind to, man."''

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