Straight Outta Compton tells the story of the notorious rap group N.W.A. The movie follows the different members of the rap group from their humble beginning, to their peak, and beyond. This film embodies the true essence of any American story for a few reasons.
One reason is that the film is based on the real lives of each of the members. The film tried to take very few liberties when it came to each member’s backstory. The filmmakers weren’t afraid to show any details of the rap group’s lives to get the truest depictions.
Another reason is the minimal amount of exaggeration. The filmmakers wanted to be sure that they represented N.W.A. in a very accurate way. They also wanted to properly display the trials and tribulations each member of the group had to go through in order to get to the top. Overcoming challenges to achieve our goals are a big part of the American identity, and Straight Outta Compton reveals this beautifully. This was shown best in the scenes between Dr. Dre and Suge Knight. Dr. Dre had climbed all the way to the top with N.W.A. but after Ice Cube left the group because he felt he wasn’t given adequate payment, Dr. Dre soon followed him. Starting his own label with Suge Knight, Dre climbed back to the top of the charts. Suge Knight’s “off the record” actions made Dre very uncomfortable therefore Dr. Dre had to leave another multi million dollar label to create his own label, Aftermath. After all these challenges Dr. Dre still was able to become the first rap billionaire by selling his headphone company to Apple.
The Final reason Straight Outta Compton is a true American story is because there are still millions of Americans who see this film and can really connect to the situations in it. Police brutality, racial profiling, poverty, and the Rodney King story are a few situations in this film that can instantly trigger emotions in almost anyone who was alive for the 80s and 90s.
Straight Outta Compton is a true film that was able to connect and entertain millions of people.
Great analysis of the film. I have yet to see to see the movie but I plan to. It was very informative to read (I did not know that Dre sold Beats to Apple). I also liked how you connected the struggles of N.W.A. (police brutality racial profiling etc.) to struggles faced by many people in todays society.
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