MovieChat Forums > It Follows (2015) Discussion > the "8 mile" speech

the "8 mile" speech

posted 9 years ago by eugene_stoner
45 replies | jump to latest

i really love this film. but i gotta ask…HUH?

YARA - “when I was a little girl my parents wouldn’t allow me to go south of 8 mile. and i didn’t even know what that meant until i got a little older and i started realizing that that’s where the city started and the suburbs ended. and i used to think about how [awful] and weird that was. i mean, i had to ask permission to go to the state fair with my best friend and her parents only because it was a few blocks past the border.”

i grew up in the metro detroit area, and my parents told me the exact same thing…BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T WANT ME GETTING MY HEAD SLICED OFF! i mean seriously, it’s really bad down there, and at least when i was growing up, the (8 mile rd) division between safe and dangerous was fairly distinct. i guess now the danger is starting to move farther north, and the line isn’t so distinct.

(note - there are pockets of sanity south of 8 mile, like wayne state, new center, casinos, etc, but you often have to drive through the ghetto to get there. better hope you don’t blow a tire.)

a couple times in college (wayne state university) i got drunk and wandered off campus, and both times some very nice black fellas politely urged me to turn around, because if i got murdered it would be bad for me AND bad for them, because the cops would swarm in and have a field day.

in the script version of this film, jay tells a cop she waited outside in the car while hugh/jeff went into his house. jay is from a pretty decent area, and (in real life anyway) if she’d had any sense at all she would have asked him wtf he was doing living in a horrible horrible area. i mean seriously, IT’S THAT BAD. (jay is from one of the many many suburban areas where you could walk around at night with hundred-dollar bills taped to your clothes and nothing bad would happen to you.)

look man, i’m neither a conservative nor a liberal. I’M SENSIBLE! i don’t judge people who live south of 8 mile - I FEEL BAD FOR THEM.

anyway, what is the point of yara's speech? i’d hate for people not from around here to watch this film and think that everyone here who lives north of 8 mile is a racist a-hole and that somehow the detroit area would suddenly be ok if we suburbanites let our kids wander down past the border and get killed…

i should point out, i think having hugh/jeff living in the ghetto was good for the story. but make no mistake, i’ve never known a sane person who actually wants to live there.

EDIT - i’ve worked with african-americans who would never live south of 8 mile…in the minds of most people i know, race ultimately has nothing to do with it. danger is danger whether it’s blacks, whites, australian aborigines or friggin elves. there are awful parts of london england that are white, and i wouldn’t go there either, so wtf

[–] taticat 9 years ago

I'm from SH/RO and had the EXACT SAME SPEECH. I really think anyone getting their knickers in a knot and trying to cry 'racist' could ask abso-fricking-lutely anyone from that general area - I mean ANYONE: Black, White, Red, Green, Indigo... anyone who grew up around there can vouch for the fact that no sane person is going to just go walk around there. It doesn't have a damned thing to do with race.

I honestly think my parents would have left me lying in a puddle of my own blood if I'd ever disobeyed that rule, and I know a bunch of people in my age cohort - from several different races - whose parents also gave the '8 Mile Speech'.

[–] eugene_stoner 9 years ago

SH/RO

sterling heights/royal oak? the slash threw me off, cuz i was thinking you meant two cities close together that are closely associated with each other, like utica/shelby township

since the internet is mostly just retarded people i don’t normally come here unless i’m stoned. so i would humbly ask that next time you take the 0.00006 seconds it takes to actually spell out the entire words so i don’t have to spend so much time wondering about it ☺

[–] nilbog44 8 years ago

Actually it kinda does have to do with race. You are likely to be robbed or killed by a black person in that area

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

This was another moment in the film where I wasn't quite sure how to feel about what I was watching. By that I mean to say that I'm not sure the director was making a very clear point. I'm not from Detroit, but a very similar rust belt city, also in dire straits.

Yara's monologue about eight mile is, I think, supposed to be somehow enlightening about how sad it is to live in Detroit, that the racism is so pervasive that simply the act of crossing a street is seen as an inherently dangerous thing to do, but no one notices--these awful invisible parents don't even care enough to try and change things for the better--except that's not racist, it's true. Anyone who's ever been to Detroit (I have cousins in River Rouge) knows that there are places where you just don't go. It's not only stupid, you're honestly courting *beep* disaster to do it.

It came off like a white director trying to say something profound about the state of racial affairs in Detroit, but not doing a good job of it. I felt like I was sitting in a lecture hall with a teacher who is overly concerned about not offending anyone. I don't need to be told about how *beep* it is in Detroit, I know how *beep* it is. One of my cousins has been robbed at knife and gun point twice now, and it's done a number on her. She's recently gotten way too scared to leave her house anymore and is starting to do strange things, like hoard empty egg boxes or paper towel rolls.

If you don't know the city, I guess Yara's speech sounds sort of tragic in a vaguely 'romantic' sort of way. If you do know the city, you're left sitting there wondering why this white kid is being kind of dumb about personal safety, although I guess I could be generous and say that was one of the themes of the film. Because it kind of is.

But boy, what a lousy analogy or metaphor or simile or whatever the hell that was.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." q Lynch

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

What makes you think it was about Detroit? It didn't have to be about a city, racism, crime etc. Maybe it was simply about growing up.

[–] eugene_stoner 9 years ago

This was another moment in the film where I wasn't quite sure how to feel about what I was watching.

someone (either a real person or a hallucination, i forget) told me once that in addition to all the obvious disadvantages of doing a “low budget” film (no huge stars, no elaborate sets, so-so special effects) there is also the problem of being on a drastically reduced time frame. when you have more time you are able to set things down and come back to them with a fresh mind. this includes changes in the script, etc. guys like spielberg have more time to let things sit and revisit them in a few days or weeks or whatever with that fresh look that often lets you understand that things you thought were ok need a little tweeking/adjusting. maybe that applies to this speech, maybe not, who knows.

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

Yeah, that's definitely a possibility. Low budget doesn't give you the time that big budget does.

As it stands, Yara's speech is a kind of odd moment in this nightmare that doesn't quite work. Especially since they are talking about a real place in a real city, a place that people know is quite messed up. Still like the film, but I do have a lot of issues with certain aspects.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

It's metaphorical, she's not really talking about the city.

[–] eugene_stoner 9 years ago

i got to thinking…when friends from outta town would visit me id always take them to the border between detroit (city of) and the grosse pointes. my friends would always be totally freaked out. it’s probably the most drastic division between poor and rich in the country, or at least it was back when i was a little *beep* it was fun showing my friends something that to me felt really unique to the area. ive always been really defensive about where im from….people from new york and california and other areas that arent total war zones think they’re special, but i think being brought up in an area where the urban center is a total wasteland is a character-builder. you know, people here can’t say “we have hollywood” or “we have the statue of liberty” or whatever. we’re not kidding ourselves here...and living near central park doesn’t mean the universe gives a *beep* about you.

anyway i guess my point is that if i made a movie id probably wanna film it here and make all kinds of references that might actually be meaningless except to people from here.

fyi, i about peed my pants when i saw true romance and they talked about going down to the “party store”.

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

Oh my god, haha! That is definitely *beep* dramatic.

I think the only thing that could compare to Detroit is possibly being in New York City in the eighties or early nineties and then going to the South Bronx. It was that same kind of hey, look, everything is really nice and clean and cool and wait a minute, how weird, there aren't any buildings on this block. Well, okay, there's a half a building, but it's completely burnt out, and now it's basically a field. Everything is gone, except for that one building where the old woman is selling heroin to everybody by lowering a bucket down to you from the ninth floor.

The South Bronx isn't nearly as dramatic because those lines in Detroit are right there, in your face. You have to travel to get to the South Bronx. It's not literally across the damned street.

I would love to make movies in Detroit. It's still a beautiful place in a lot of ways and now it's even stranger. I love how nature has taken over again in a lot of spots and how fast that happened, when you think about it. I wish it would make a comeback, but then it would be flooded with hipsters.

I have some friends who are thinking of buying a building there and making it into a place where everyone can come and hang out and do art or make films or write or whatever, basically live there for free but help them fix it up and then make a sort of artists collective and when they do that I'll be there in a heartbeat--I think it's some kind of old factory or part of a factory? It's going to be fun, but it also seems scary to me because it's kind of outside the area where they're already kind of doing this stuff. It's also hipster, though I'm totally down to be hipster with them. :)

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

[–] eugene_stoner 9 years ago

are you from new york, or do you currently live there? if you don’t want to answer that’s ok. i was just curious because you seem pretty ok and i have this reputation for hating all things nyc. if you’re from there or live there i take back all the negative things ive said over the years unless you actually do wear one of those stupid porkpie hats

I love how nature has taken over again in a lot of spots and how fast that happened

reminds me of that history channel show life after people. i never watched it because i believe the history channel should devote itself to real history (like ancient aliens and the whereabouts of hitler’s brain) but it looked pretty interesting from the ads

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

I lived there, but I lived there in the late eighties, and we didn't wear porkpie hats then. I would never live there now, for any reason. You couldn't pay me to go back. It's a shell of what it used to be, and when I do go to visit friends, I get depressed as hell.

I'm lucky in that I got to see trashy movies in the grindhouses on 42nd st. I also spent some time in Show World and once got a lot of attention from the girls in the Mardi Gras for making out with my boyfriend in one of the booths, which was supposedly a big no-no, but no one seemed to care. "We work all day! You put on a show for US!" Those were fun times, let me tell you.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

[–] eugene_stoner 9 years ago

I also spent some time in Show World and once got a lot of attention from the girls in the Mardi Gras for making out with my boyfriend in one of the booths, which was supposedly a big no-no, but no one seemed to care.

i’ve led a very sheltered innocent life and have no idea what any of this means. i once got as far as dry-humping a huge stuffed snoopy in a hallmark store but this was only because i was trying to impress my friends, not because i have issues!!

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

Haha! What it means is that I took full advantage of the city when it was still a great place to live, and I'm probably more than old enough to be your mom.

And no yiffing! It's bad for you! ;)

[–] eugene_stoner 9 years ago

I'm probably more than old enough to be your mom.

my mom was like 9 when she had me, so this is true of many people

[–] gb321 9 years ago

I don't think it was about race/racism at all. I think it (and the whole film) was about growing up. The characters were doing something they weren't allowed to do when they were younger, and thinking about it made Yara (the least mature/grown up of the lot) feel strange.

I think the reason the director used the 8 mile thing specifically is because he is from Detroit and so he probably just used an anecdote from his childhood. I also don't think the speech is all that tragic or makes Detroit seem that tragic. It's basic suburbs stuff and lots of cities have that street that you dont cross when you are a kid. I think the speech is simply about Yara finally growing up enough to understand what that actually means.

My film blog:
http://gabrielbruskoff.wordpress.com

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

The trouble is that anyone who's from Detroit or has spent time there knows that '8 mile' is a heavily loaded place/idea/thing which is also about race and class and not getting killed.

Her speech works on a number of levels, so it muddies things up a bit. To say that it has no connotations at all to race or to getting seriously hurt isn't exactly fair.

As an aside, I think what the film is really about is not so much growing up, but an awareness of your own mortality, which is something that generally happens around this point in life. You realize you can die at any time. Most kids don't think about this so much, but when you're in your early twenties, it becomes something you're more aware of.

To me, the film is about death, and the sudden, *beep* awareness of death being a thing which can (and will) happen to you. That's the thing I liked best about it and also what made it so scary for me.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

[–] gb321 9 years ago

I'm not from Detroit and have never been to Detroit, so I can not attest to local feelings. But for myself, the speech about crossing 8 mile wasn't about race or racism at all, it was simply about growing up and safety.

My film blog:
http://gabrielbruskoff.wordpress.com

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

That's fair enough. But it does have this sort of connotation, and to rule it out entirely (especially when the director is himself from Detroit and would understand all the social/class/racial elements that anyone talking about '8 mile' conveys; which is to say a lot, it's extremely loaded) would be missing part of the point, I think.

Then again, it is all subjective. :)

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

[–] ryoko_the_spacepirate1 9 years ago

I have to say that as someone who grew up in Detroit I couldn't NOT see Yara's speech as having racial elements in it.

But I guess that is something people around the area in the thick of it...would think.

"I think I liked it better when I thought Sylar ate brains." -Warriorrenegade

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

I don't disagree with you--I think it's the people who did not grow up in Detroit or similar rust belt cities, all of which have a similar line in the sand like eight mile is to Detroit--who are the ones who don't get it, that yes, on some level, Yara is talking about race.

I try to be polite about it when attempting to explain this aspect to people but some still are kind of resistant to the idea.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

[–] KMR 9 years ago

I grew up in Detroit --- yes, in the city, not a suburb -- and I found this thread really interesting. The scene/dialogue in question encompassed everything: growing up & transgressing boundaries (themes that were important to the film), as well as more than a tinge of racial stuff (which folks from Detroit will clearly understand). It made me oddly nostalgic for Detroit, even though it was not an ideal place to come of age.

At any rate, glad to see so many people discussing It Follows, still. It's a fascinating movie, one of my favorites from 2015.

[–] jinx_malone 9 years ago

Hey, hi there!

I thought (just as you did) that the much of the film is specifically about and deals with the transgressing of boundaries. Especially with Yara's speech, I saw it as dealing with personal responsibility and safety, which are two thematic points I see pointed to very directly in the film itself.

I think one of the things I like most about this film is that it's sparked friendly debate, and thoughtful discussion, which is something I truly enjoy seeing at imdb. If only we could see more of this!

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

[–] KMR 9 years ago

Agreeance, jinx_malone!
There's been a lot of people hating on this film as well, but I prefer not to engage in pointless arguments in imdb - esp where personal taste is concerned. All I know is I think It Follows is a great little film, one that will stand the test of time. That it was filmed in the Detroit area is just one more thing to love about it.

[–] non-41 9 years ago

Yeah, a girl from Troy made the mistake of crossing 8 mile by herself on foot last weekend. She's been missing since Sat (4/23/16). http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2016/04/27/troy-woman-missing-hazel-park/83604508/

For whatever reason this movie tries to tell young adults that their parents warnings are just paranoid delusions. They ARE NOT being paranoid. Detroit has almost no police force, the police show up an hour after they're called to be sure to not catch any bullets. There ARE sex dungeons in Detroit where pretty young white girls end up if they don't use common sense. You see, Detroit is filled with abandoned buildings everywhere you go, it's like a post-apocalyptic jungle down there where anything goes. They setup shop in one house's basement and charge people for admission. You DON'T stop at red lights, you slow down and run them, everyone does this. Otherwise you risk getting blocked in or jacked at the light. There are a few safe-ish locations and that's around the casinos and stadiums.

This movie, without this horrible message, I'd give a 6 mostly just for style. With the horrible message I give it a 1. If the creators really knew what it's like and weren't just a bunch of hipster kids who think "Detroit is cool" they would apologize for giving out this message.

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

Do you know what a metaphor is? You're not supposed to take speech literally. That's not the message, the director isn't talking about the city.

Don't give it a 1 because you didn't get it.

[–] non-41 9 years ago

You're a pretentious idiot. Not everything is deep and allegorical. Go back to your ghetto loft and drink your PBR.

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

I think the idiot is the one who misunderstoods what the director tried to say and unfairly gives the movie a rating of 1 because of that.

Don't you think it would be weird that the whole movie deals with themes of mortality etc. but then in that one scene the director decides to comment on the state of Detroit etc.? For no reason, he suddenly feels like doing that.

And who are you to say which scene has deep meaning and which one doesn't? You try to see this one scene one way so you can give the movie a 1 because of "stupid message". Your limited view on things clouds your judgement.

When someone points out that you could be wrong, how that's not the only way to view things, you call them pretentious idiots.

I'm afraid you're the only pretentious person here.

[–] eugene_stoner 9 years ago

from your article - "White, 21, was reported missing Saturday afternoon by her mother, Karen Black"

WHITE? BLACK? DETROIT? NESLON MANDELLA? OMG OMG OMG I'M SO CONFUZED

[–] Jeorj Euler 8 years ago

For whatever reason this movie tries to tell young adults that their parents warnings are just paranoid delusions.

Well, the movie does kind of underplay how dangerous Detroit can be, but the situation also not as simple as whether somebody is present on a given side of the boundaries between the wide city and the narrow cities. There are a number of vacant neighborhoods in the city, meaning that criminals cannot even profit or thrive in those parts, leaving mostly only environmental dangers.

They ARE NOT being paranoid. Detroit has almost no police force, the police show up an hour after they're called to be sure to not catch any bullets. There ARE sex dungeons in Detroit where pretty young white girls end up if they don't use common sense. You see, Detroit is filled with abandoned buildings everywhere you go, it's like a post-apocalyptic jungle down there where anything goes.

True. It's like allegorical "wild west", neighborhoods being run by non-elective tyrants who hold the people beneath a boot until official authorities have not only reason but also incentive to intrude. Of course, there is still much left to be desired among the local politicians. The FBI and state police have been on their arses more times than at which anybody can shake a stick.

You DON'T stop at red lights, you slow down and run them, everyone does this.

It's actually not too common that sensible people won't stop at all, but invariably it's common that people will treat a red light like a stop sign while treating a stop sign like a yield sign. Anyway, some drivers even have an unintentional (i.e. stoners) or intentional jet lag in regards to acknowledging a transition from green to amber, and amber to red, and when they run the light, often the vehicles behind them follow. This means that it's unsafe for drivers at a light that has just turned green to suddenly put the pedal to the metal.

Otherwise you risk getting blocked in or jacked at the light.

Well, a general rule in urban or otherwise high-crime areas (the ones like Los Angeles, Chicago, District of Columbia, Miami, New York City, Cleveland, Detroit etc.), is to be prepared to drive off if a pedestrian approaches your vehicle (while also being mindful of nearby vehicles with passengers who look interested in your vehicle, or pissed off at you or one of your passengers). Basically people try to use the freeways as much a possible.

If the creators really knew what it's like and weren't just a bunch of hipster kids who think "Detroit is cool" they would apologize for giving out this message.

Except the creators do know what it's like, and nowhere presented was the idea that the place is "cool". Although, the coolness of a barren wasteland can be a matter of taste, yet the blight in and of itself isn't the danger, but how the opportunists take advantages of the setting, the lack of police and the fecklessness of unfamiliar visitors.

[–] Obnoxiously-Adorable 9 years ago

I have a question. I've never been to Detroit and while there are rundown areas in my neck of the woods (Houston) they LOOK rundown. Is what they showed in the movie accurate?? What I mean is, they're walking past a neighborhood with a bunch of houses that still looked in relatively decent shape. Places around here like the fifth wars are full of little run down houses with peeling paint and cars on blocks and trash everywhere in the weeds and huge potholes in the streets but no houses that look as good as the ones depicted in the movie. I got a sense of something out of The Stand, something that happened quickly that caused people to leave their houses in droves and in a flash.

I guess what I mean is-what the hell happened up there?? Did the change after the automobile factories shut down happen that quick?? Or was it something else? From an outsider's perspective that's all I know about.

Edit: I think what really struck me was the juxtaposition of the girl's speech about her parents being afraid to let her go past 8 mile while they're walking by houses that look like every day nice middle class houses. I'd likely have thought nothing of it had they looked like run down tenements or tiny ramshackle houses. It was interesting.

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[–] eugene_stoner 9 years ago

In real life, the actual city of Detroit is pretty much a war zone, but most of the suburbs are nice. Where Jay and the gang live was all filmed in the suburbs probably eight or so miles north, and the bad parts were filmed in the actual city of Detroit. In the movie however it’s unclear as far as what’s supposed to be what…. I think the police car in front of their house actually said “Detroit Police” on it, which is not anything that would happen in real life. They do that in movies a lot just to make things less complicated.

I think the actual city of Detroit started to get bad in the late fifties/early sixties, which was when my dad and his family moved away. My aunt (then a little kid) got her head smashed in with a brick or a bottle or something on her way home from school. (Of course some people will tell you white people move out of bad areas because they are racists….) As far as I know it was kind of a slow process, but I wasn’t there so I don’t really know.

[–] Jeorj Euler 8 years ago

In real life, the actual city of Detroit is pretty much a war zone,

Not exactly. It's more of a ghost town remnant of a war zone. However, it is a high-crime area.

In the movie however it’s unclear as far as what’s supposed to be what…. I think the police car in front of their house actually said “Detroit Police” on it, which is not anything that would happen in real life. They do that in movies a lot just to make things less complicated.

Yes, that's creative liberties or artistic license, for the most part, otherwise we'd have to believe: that where Jay & co live is south of Eight Mile Road; that the boundaries of the city extend north of Eight Mile, contrary to Yara's factual explanation; or that the Detroit Police Department had a reason to order a pair of its officers, to put it frankly, visit Clawson (which in another county altogether). The third scenario is plausible but unlikely, especially considering how the Detroit police officers weren't accompanied by Oakland sheriffs' deputies or something. With regards to other fictional material, I remember being curious as to how Gotham City is setup, whenever the city police are portrayed as responding to incidents at Wayne Manor which is depicted as being a quite a ways from the city.

[–] Jeorj Euler 8 years ago

Places around here like the fifth wars are full of little run down houses with peeling paint and cars on blocks and trash everywhere in the weeds and huge potholes in the streets but no houses that look as good as the ones depicted in the movie.

Parts of Detroit also look like that. The movie didn't show them.

I got a sense of something out of The Stand, something that happened quickly that caused people to leave their houses in droves and in a flash.

That's kind of what happened in Detroit, but it wasn't in a flash. The exodus started in 1967, and continued well into the last decade. At first there was the "Great White Flight", but people of all colors (including Black Americans but not as much) were leaving over time, and the only people moving in (and doing so only in the sense of business not residence) were immigrants to the United States, mainly Middle Easterners. What's going on right now is a very slow renovation, and people are slowly coming back, but those people are largely wealthy youthful individuals.

I guess what I mean is-what the hell happened up there?? Did the change after the automobile factories shut down happen that quick?? Or was it something else? From an outsider's perspective that's all I know about.

As I suggested before, it's a long story. All around the whole country (possibly the whole Western bloc), things reached a tipping point in the 1960s, and some cities just never recovered, and drug lords certainly didn't help. You can get a little bit of insight from a drama picture titled Night Catches Us, even more from documentaries, e.g. https://youtu.be/diKKW9I7xeo [1h 22m 8s] "Bankrupt Detroit documentary on Crime Gangs, drug dealers, decline of the economy".

[–] eugene_stoner 8 years ago

i can’t speak for anyone besides my family, but here is their story in a nutshell. when my dad was a little kid in the 50s, they all lived right downtown detroit by the river. it was a safe area. then the blacks started moving in, and for the first few seconds no one thought anything about it because my family pretty much minded their own business and didn’t give a crap what their neighbors were doing or what color they were as long as it didn’t affect them. but of course...immediately there was violence and crime...and when my aunt (who was a little kid too) got her head smashed in they all said screw it, we’re outta here, and they moved (mid to late 1950s).

i’m not saying black people are bad and white people are good. i am simply reporting to you what actually happened. i’m sure in different parts of the world there are tons of bad white people, but in michigan you can pretty much tell you’re in a dangerous area by the people who live there and what they look like. and if you try to be all liberal about it, if you’re worried that you might be a racist, well, that sort of thinking can literally get you killed. it HAS gotten people killed - i know this for a FACT. i could list 100 reasons why conservatives piss me off, but this here is one reason why i can’t stand liberals.

[–] Jeorj Euler 8 years ago

There had been a race riot in 1943 (right in the middle of a war in which Americans were mostly unified) that nobody who was over the age of ten years old back then ever seems to talk about. Unlike the 1943, the riots of 1967 are often not considered race riots but more to do with age old thing of Big Labor versus Big Businesses, even after it had supposedly reached a tipping point back in the anti-trust era. The thing with hippies versus police, also coincided, along with ex military veterans versus police. I don't know. There was lots of civil unrest at various times in American history.

[–] DevilYouKnow 9 years ago

I laughed when I heard that bit of dialogue, then raised my fist, pumped it and shouted MICHIGAN!!!!

Yep, 8 mile was always the divider. That's what I was told growing up. And yes, I got my MBA at Wayne State so I know what you're talking about.

To be fair though, I've been to Detroit loads of times and haven't had any issues. You just have stick to some well known/populated parts of the city.

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[–] eugene_stoner 8 years ago

You just have stick to some well known/populated parts of the city.

i call these parts "the suburbs"!!

[–] Legendary_Badass 8 years ago

That 8 Mile speech was the most random, unconnected attempt I've seen to inject commentary in a film in quite some time. It served no point to the story and exists only for the writer/director to think himself an intellect.

Keep your ears peeled kids. I dropped some out of place preachy message right before the big showdown!

Image if this happened in a movie that was actually good. As Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor enter the factory whilst fleeing the T-800, Sarah turns to Kyle and says, "When I was a kid, I used to hang out with black children. But now I don't and I don't know why."

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[–] svalinanikola 8 years ago

There was no social commentary in that scene. It was part of the movie's themes about death, growing up etc.

It did serve a point in the story.

[–] Kewl_Kat 8 years ago

Yara's little 8 Mile chat was unnecessary because the pool they were frolicking in was actually on 14 Mile!

It was just kind of a dopey thing. The exterior shows some ancient, giant building, riddled with decay, that has a beautifully maintained pool inside. But who would drive 30+ minutes to go to some weird pool in the slums? It wasn't just because they wanted a deserted pool to kill the it, either. They had been going to that same ridiculous pool for years, ever since they were little kids. All of their favorite moments were in that crazy pool... first kisses, funny vomit incidents, and Jay even had a photograph of herself, all smiles, neck-deep in the tranquil waters, stuck to her bedroom mirror.

I'm a real kewl kat.🐈

[–] eugene_stoner 8 years ago

hey kewl_kat you are so kewl. i would like to take you to paris and we could have ice cream at the top of the eiffel tower kewl_kat. that would be like totally KEWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyway the building itself is 10100 E Jefferson Ave, Detroit, but yeah the pool is clawson high school which i hear was recently closed due to ghosts

be kewl kewl_kat!!!

[–] Jeorj Euler 8 years ago

But who would drive 30+ minutes to go to some weird pool in the slums?

To put some distance between them and "it", for one. Also, they were taking advantage of the fact that the police presence being low, and thereby committed trespassing and discharge of a firearm within an urban area, all with a means to get away with it.

[–] Kewl_Kat 8 years ago

I understand that part of it. But they had been going to that weird pool all their lives. Why?

I'm a real kewl kat.🐈

[–] Jeorj Euler 8 years ago

It's a weird movie.