Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Review:

Rap Appreciation 101: A lesson in how to love a very misunderstood music genre.

Straight Outta Compton is everything We Are Your Friends (see my review here) wanted to be but wasn’t. Being far from a rap fan myself, I must admit that I was initially hesitant about seeing this film, but ultimately I found myself realising I was one of the prime audience demographics targeted in order for the film to get its message across, and any initial dread was soon punched out of me by one knockout film.

Directed by F. Gary Gray (whose name turned out to be a bit of a tongue twister for me when I was reviewing this gem on the radio), Straight Outta Compton documents the rise of N.W.A in the late 80s to early 90s; a group generally credited with creating the influential ‘Gangsta Rap’ movement. We are expertly guided through some of their most defining moments, including Dr. Dre and Ice Cube’s turbulent rise to fame: two huge entities in contemporary culture that, even if you’ve been living under a rock all your life, you will have heard of these men.

 A striking aspect of Straight Outta Compton is the relevance it still holds in today’s social climate – during the film we are persistently inundated with distressing scenes of the ongoing race rows in America, where black people are intimidated and thrown to the ground by police, made more profound with all the events happening in Ferguson and elsewhere in America right now. This cleverly enables audiences outside this particular social context to tap into the fascinating story of how and why a band like N.W.A formed when and where they did. These were young men who were sick, tired, and damn angry at the injustice and oppression they were continuously subjected to. Skilfully portraying this anger were the young lead actors Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr. (the freakishly spitting image of his father Ice Cube) and Jason Mitchell, whose gutsy and exuberant performances make this film a compelling piece of storytelling. Stylish and powerful shots of stadium performances of tracks, such as, “Fuck Tha Police” were superb, and it was visibly tough for us cinema-goers to stop ourselves from fist punching the air when those first beats pump into play, defying the cops stalking through the concert crowd. These scenes perfectly juxtapose the gritty handheld shots of some rather harrowing events, giving a stark reminder of the costs of N.W.A’s journey to fame.

A difficult aspect of Straight Outta Compton is the outright misogyny depicted - often with graphic close-ups of how the women in these circles were treated like meat and entertainment for the young, up-and-coming men of the moment. Whilst this most certainly unacceptable behaviour is a challenging watch for any audience member, it must be understood that the film is documenting what happened at a specific time, and presents how these young men learnt how to handle the life they were dealt in 1980s Los Angeles. Omission of Dr. Dre’s violence towards women has been widely reported, and, although this is certainly understandable, one reason for this could be that the film ultimately belongs to Eazy-E; the film’s narrative arc begins and ends with him. One beneficial thing, nevertheless: Straight Outta Compton‘s smart audience members have brought this discussion of violence against women back into mainstream news, despite it not actually being shown on screen.

Conclusively, Straight Outta Compton succeeds in going beyond any previous assumptions you are likely to hold when you enter the cinema. This movie is a slice of cultural history that will educate and hopefully inspire a new generation. Straight Outta Compton - Parental advisory: explicit (but fucking awesome) content.