Review: ‘Straight Outta Compton’

“Straight Outta Compton” is the kind of movie that manages to serve multiple purposes. On the surface it is a normal biopic, the stereotypical rise and fall (and sometimes rise again) story of a musician or group of musicians, but it also gets into deeper societal issues that unfortunately still resonate today. Racial tensions, unfair policing, government censorship, the power of The Truth, it is all here in this tale of a group of rappers who tapped into a raw nerve in this country and became one of the biggest things going on in all of pop culture.

The opening scene of “Straight Outta Compton” is a grabber, as Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell) is involved in what appears to be a gun deal going south, and just as the tension becomes unbearable, here comes a fully militarized police squad knocking down the door of this drug house in the hood, and Eazy has to ghetto parkour his way out of that house before the police catch him, and as he gets away, the title card SLAMS on to the screen in huge letters, saying “Straight Outta Compton,” immediately telling you that this shit is serious.

This is what makes this movie really work because they take the time to really establish their neighborhood and the nature of their lives, the poverty, the struggle, the self doubt, the crime, this is all important to understand, so that when Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) and O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) start talking about “reality rap,” we know what reality they are talking about. When we see them get harassed and almost arrested by the police foe the umpteenth time for literally standing while black, and then the very next scene is Ice Cube showing everyone his lyrics for “Fuck the Police,” we totally get why he would go that route, we all know what has compelled him to express himself in such a manner.

We also understand then why N.W.A. became such a big deal in the late 1980’s because they arrived at a time when relations between the police and the impoverished minorities were at a low point (sound familiar?) and N.W.A. was speaking a truth that wasn’t being heard elsewhere. The media had wholeheartedly bought the law and order rhetoric that started with Nixon in the 70’s and was reinforced by Reagan throughout the 80’s, continuing the narrative of the dangerous black man, this time stoned to the gills on “super addictive” crack and armed with assault weapons, so to then have a voice break through that noise as an actual representative of that community, letting around know how it really is, that dropped like a bomb. It is the bullshit of all bullshits to have white America sell weapons and drugs to the black and brown communities in this country, and then turn around and accuse all of those people of being criminals and drug addicts. This might be as good a time as any to bring up that you need to read “The New Jim Crow” to REALLY understand how all of this shit went down and how N.W.A. really came to be.*

The group arrived at what appeared to be a culturally opportune moment, as people were finally ready to hear what they had to say – well, young people did, as older people were more angered to see their status quo challenged, and the police and FBI did what they could to shut it all down – and it feels like now is the right time for this movie to come out, because it is impossible to watch all the stuff in this movie about the Rodney King beating and subsequent acquittal of the four police officers put on trial for this crime and not see parallels to the NUMEROUS instances of unarmed black men and women being killed by police in this country in the last few years. When they cut to footage of L.A. burning as the residents lashed out in anger, you can almost hear the pundits on CNN and FOX News calling people “thugs” and “criminals” in the aftermath of the Freddie Gray murder in Baltimore earlier this year, unable to fathom what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. already eloquently explained fifty years ago, that “a riot is the language of the unheard.”

With all of these social issues front of mind, it provides for a powerful and explosive backdrop for this otherwise fairly typical story of a musical group. We got the secret mastermind of the group and the fortuitous circumstances that resulted in almost accidental masterpieces, fights between members of the group, every other scene is the exact moment in which a now legendary song was initially conceived, it’s just like “Ray” or “Walk the Line,” presenting us with the “greatest hits” of these musical careers, just jumping from big moment to big moment. I’m not saying this is bad, this formula has worked for a while for a reason, but in “Straight Outta Compton” it helps that this story is also servicing these macro points about society’s ills.

And since N.W.A. involved so many different people who all had their own massive careers immediately after N.W.A. broke up, this movie gets epic in scope, as we see these characters start out as (mostly) teenagers living hard lives in the hood, trying to find a way out for themselves and their families, and we watch them grow as artists and as people, the ups and downs, their mistakes and triumphs, it all just feels real because these character beats and emotions have actual truth behind them, they are based on realities, even if exaggerated or distorted for artistic effect, and the universal truths of friendship and betrayal and trust and dishonesty all come together to give this movie a real sense of vitality and meaning, while the social stuff gives the movie actual importance and weight, and it all comes together beautifully to make one helluva good movie.

It also helps that all the music is awesome.

“Straight Outta Compton” is great and will go down as one of the best music biopics ever. Expertly made and acted, honest, raw and real, this is something that everyone should see regardless of personal affinities for this particular style of music.

*and if you want to see how the destructive force of American Imperialism extends beyond our own nation’s ghettos, check out “War Against All Puerto Ricans” for a real history lesson (you know, the kind they purposefully leave out of our schools’ textbooks).