“Compton was the American Dream. Sunny California with a palm tree in the front yard, the camper, the boat. Temptingly close to the Los Angeles Ghetto in the 50s and 60s, it became ‘The Black American Dream.’ Open housing paved the way as middle-class blacks flooded into the city. Whites don’t buy houses in Compton anymore.”
The opening lines of Dr. Dre’s new album was released in line with the movie “Straight Outta Compton.” These lines seek to give the listener a peek into the history of Compton and ghettoization caused by housing markets in the early half of the 20th Century.
This movie is a must see, whether you are a fan of NWA, Hip-Hop in general or just a fan of movies. The movie does not back down from giving an extremely honest portrayal of life in Compton in the 1980’s.
It is this honesty about police brutality, drugs and the objectification of women, that illustrates the picture of the struggle of black artists. The movie still shows terrible situations that the American culture influenced them with.
Despite this apparent honesty, the bias from producers Dr. Dre and Ice Cube can be seen in the movie.
There are multiple occasions of incidents being left out of the movie, as it would most likely hurt the reputation of the two producers.
There is a negative portrayal of Jerry Heller, the group’s original manager.
Heller coerced Easy-E and the rest of the group, screwing them over. Along with the portrayal of obvious antagonist, Suge Knight, who’s sadistic and gang leader-like demeanor may have been mostly accurate, is still seen as the obvious villain. The actors in this film were phenomenal.
O’Shea Jackson Jr, Ice Cube’s son, who plays his father and the actors who played Dr. Dre and Easy-E were remarkable.
Overall, “Straight Outta Compton” is a great movie that is well acted and honestly given. The presences of the music and police brutality were both given as a statement against racial injustice in the movie.
This movie is a must see.
Score 8.5/10.
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