‘Bodied’ review — Woke culture put on blast through battle rap

Bodied is a sharp and hilarious satire that tackles the complexities of woke culture by exploring the world of battle rap.

bod·ied

/ˈbädēd/

verb

      1. to destroy or kill

Used in a sentence: “The movie Bodied bodied toxic liberalism, performative progressiveness, and woke culture.”

Music video director Joseph Kahn’s third feature pulls no punches as it tackles the very sensitive topics of white liberalism, cultural appropriation, and how free should free speech be before it becomes destructive. It follows in the footsteps of other films that satirize our current social and political climate, mostly from the black perspective. From Jordan Peele’s horror-comedy Get Out to Spike Lee’s 60s biopic BlacKkKlansman to Boots Riley’s nightmarish comedy Sorry to Bother You, film has become the outlet for the culture wars our country is experiencing.

However, instead of a house in Upstate New York or an alternative reality of Oakland, Bodied battles with these ideas in the world of underground rap battles. These battles are violent. One character compares them to a physical altercation—some of them escalate to that point—as opponents attempt to destroy each other by hurling insults at each other that range from comments on their race and appearance to straight personal attacks. However, they’re all done in sharp and poetic bars that would rank with any other serious writers. It’s part of the reason that graduate student Adam (Calum Worthy) made them the subject of his thesis.

Adam, a nerdy white guy from Brooklyn, and his progressive liberal vegan girlfriend Maya (Rory Uphold) attend a battle at the beginning of the film between X-Tract and Behn Grym (Jackie Long). While Adam is enraptured by the wordplay and impressive setups and punchlines, Maya is offended by the supposed homophobia and misogyny in the lyrics. However, Adam is quick to point out that it is all performative. If there is any theme that the movie sees through among the many things on its mind—perhaps too many things—it is its indictment of the performative aspect of woke culture and political correctness. Maya, a caricature of the progressive white Brooklyn hipster, doesn’t quite get it.

When Bodied plays in the field of how political correctness could be regressive—at one point a character literally yells, “get woke, cocksucker”—it is electric, compelling, and frankly, chillingly realistic. Even though its portrayal of Maya and her “woke” friends is sometimes over-the-top, you can’t help but think that Kahn has a point.

After that opening battle, Adam approaches Behn to praise his performance. As the two discuss his thesis and specifically the use of the n-word, which Behn assumes Adam just wants a pass to use, a young white rapper approaches Behn in the parking lot and challenges him to a battle. Instead, Behn lets Adam take it and he bodies his opponent. Worthy’s switch from the awkward Mark Zuckerberg-esque academic to aggressive insult-hurling battle rapper is a delight to watch on screen. He convincingly takes on the persona of a battle rapper to the point that it looks like another force is taking over his body.

In the movie, Behn takes notice and takes Adam under his wing as his protege. Of course, Maya is not happy about it. The exploration of battle rap takes us from venue to venue as Adam meets new rappers that eventually become a unit that become the center of our story including Prospekt (Jonathan “Dumbfoundead” Park), an Asian rapper that goes up against Adam early in the film (Adam’s bar “Just ‘cuz you look like Kim Jong-il doesn’t make you ill, son,” should win the movie a Pulitzer”) and Devine Write (Shoniqua Shandai), one of the only female battle rappers we see in the film—both actors are standouts in their roles.

As Adam navigates the worlds of “woke” academia and battle rap, he is met with resistance on both sides to his rise as a battle rapper bringing up the question of whether he is appropriating culture. It’s an intriguing exploration until the movie chooses its side. The fact that Eminem is a producer should tell you which it is. The more interesting subject the movie interrogates is the performative aspects of political correctness. As I said before, Maya and her friends are indicted with being ultimately racist. The movie hints at their underlying privilege and how their outward facing progressiveness is just masking their internal prejudices.

But that’s the easy target. Adam is far more complex of a character than his college friends. His admiration of battle rap stems from the rappers’ ability to stitch together bars that are not only clever and are structurally complex, but that they target their opponents with precision. Ahead of his first battle with Prospekt, Adam does extensive research to construct bars. However, the movie eventually turns its sights on battle rap intself and litigates the consequences of something that is all about tearing someone apart using increasingly offensive language.

Joseph Kahn’s kinetic style which includes on-screen effects like muzzle flashes and lyrics flying through the air is engaging, perhaps used too much, but something that gives Bodied some identity. The narrative and themes get muddled towards the end—though an interlude with Debra Wilson as the dean of Adam’s university is a high point—and not every point its trying to make lands, but the battle sequences are energetic thanks to the performances by the entire cast of battle rappers—a special shoutout has to go to Long’s performance here as he balances his rapper and at-home persona. Bodied has a lot on its mind. So much that it doesn’t always know how to balance it, but watching it try to is entertaining and eye-opening. 

Bodied is in theaters on November 2nd and will be available on YouTube Premium on November 28th.