The Key to Success

In 8 Mile, we are introduced to a youth who believes that his ticket to success in life is through a rap career. He plans to achieve this by participating in battle raps. He has setbacks that involve his own securities and dealing with racial expectations. Throughout the film he begins to see that the better path in life would be to set more realistic goals in order to be successful.

The message of the film is two fold. While an individual can succeed by setting those goals and compromising on their dreams from childhood; a community can also prosper when it's citizens pull together and focus on what needs to be done. This message is not lost on the director of this film. The setting of this film is in the city of Detroit. A city that has fallen on hard times with the how the economy has come out over the last decade. Several times throughout the film there are instances that show the apathy and regression of the city of Detroit while the characters stagnate.

It is only by experiencing where his life is heading and what decisions have the most value can our main character able to move past his stagnation and begin to grow. This tends to be true in reality as it is easy to have a perfect idea of what someone wants their life to turn out as but it is harder to accept that that always can't be the case. Sometimes a person has to find their niche in order to find some success in life. This doesn't always bring about instant happiness but the acceptance of this fact always the growth to happen to earn your own happiness.

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