Was the famous rapper Eminem an "at-risk" child?

Was the famous rapper Eminem an "at-risk" child? 

The movie 8 Mile featuring the famous rapper Eminem is not only a remarkable true story of how the rapper became so successful but the movie surprisingly covers a number of social issues. 

One way to view it is in the perspective that Rabbit (Eminem/ Marshall Mathers) and his little sister Lily can appear to be labeled as “at-risk children”.

You may be wondering what exactly an “at-risk child” is? Generally, it can be described as someone who is less likely to have a steady transition into adulthood and not reach their full potential for success.

While watching the movie there are four main factors seen that we can associate with the formation of an at risk child;

1.    Poverty

2.    Abuse

3.    Family makeup

4.    Social Isolation

All of these factors effect the life and development of the main character Rabbit and his little sister, Lily.

In this movie we see Rabbit and his family living in a run-down trailer barely affording to live day to day. Rabbit works many long hours in a factory trying to support his family, in particular his little sister. We see his mom not be able to provide decent meals for her family. This is an example of living in Poverty in western culture. Children who live in poverty are exposed to poor health, lack of education and can also be at a high risk for teen pregnancy. At the beginning of the movie Rabbit goes through a tough breakup with his girlfriend after finding out she is pregnant. The social groups of people who live in poverty tend to be people living in similar situations.

Another issue seen in this movie is Abuse. Rabbit’s mother is in a bad relationship with a man who is closer in age to Rabbit than his own mother. He is constantly drunk and rude to not only Rabbit’s mother but to Rabbit as well and shows no care for Lily. We see multiple clips in the movie where he physically abuses Rabbit’s mother for many reasons but majority for the fact that she can’t afford to pay the rent. The ironic part is that Rabbit’s mother and her boyfriend both are unemployed. Rabbit sticks up for his mother in these situations which causes a lot of distress for his little sister who witnesses it all. We also notice the issue of verbal abuse between Rabbit and his mother throughout the movie, as Rabbit is made to feel unwelcomed to his mother’s home and is constantly yelled at for, “not going anywhere in life.”

 Movie Clip - We're Being Evicted

In this movie it is made quite obvious that Rabbit’s father is not in the picture nor has a relationship with him. We are also made unaware if Rabbit and Lily have the same father but with the drastic age difference between them, we are under the impression that they don’t. This is a good example of a broken family and further shows the influence Family Makeup had on children. Children with broken families who experience unhealthy relationships with family are much more at risk in comparison to other children. A death of a parent, a parent with poor health, or instability of parent’s relationships can all be examples of family makeup resulting in a child becoming labeled “at risk”. Children look towards their parents for stability and support and when the parents are unable to provide it, it has a lasting effect on a child’s life and future relationships.

We see the issue of Social Isolation as Rabbit clearly does not fit in with his peers and experiences a number of social conflicts being a white male in a predominantly black male area of Detroit. Because of his skin colour, he is discriminated against and often pushed around as he’s seen as an easy target. Rabbit is a very talented rapper but competes against only black males throughout the entirety of the movie. Rap is seen as something that white men aren’t supposed to be good at so it’s more challenging for Rabbit to prove himself when he is surrounded by this racialized idea. Wherever Rabbit goes he constantly has to watch his back in fear of getting tormented by other guys in the neighbourhood. He is seen as a threat to a gang and as a result experiences being beat up on a number of occasions. When children do not fit in socially they feel isolated, lonely, and are more likely to suffer from mental illness.

It's clear to see how the movie 8 Mile explores a variety of social issues not only "at-risk" children but we also see the issue of race and social class play a big role as well. This movie brought myself a lot of awareness of how some children live and are raised. I think taking future steps we should be more aware of how we can help at-risk children by creating safe environments outside of the home that allow them to succeed both socially and developmentally.