The 2013 film 'Straight Outta Compton' is a depiction of the rise to fame of the members of the band N.W.A (or Niggaz Wit Attitudes), Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella and MC Ren, as well as the difficulties the band, and each member individually, went through in order to achieve fame and fortune.
For starters, the film is set predominantly in the Compton area of Los Angeles, which as many know was infamous for the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which are seen in the film. In the 90s, Los Angeles had a significantly larger black population than many other American cities, and Compton had a large concentration of blacks living there, to the point where the term 'white flight' was coined to describe the amount of white people decided to leave for fear of their own safety. Police brutality and anti-law enforcement resentment among blacks was also common in this time, the presence of which probably helped some of N.W.A's tracks to become more popular. Crime was also prevalent in the area, with a high degree of murders (up to 49 per 100,000 between the 60s the late 90s) and crimes involving crack cocaine, which experienced a rise in popularity during the 80s, especially in black communities.
In the film itself, we see a lot of the struggles of being black in the tumultuous 90s. Many of the residents of Compton, the soon-to-be members of N.W.A included, struggle with money, finding jobs to make money, and relations with the local police. It is Ice Cube (played by his son O'Shea Jackson Jr.) who initially paves the way for N.W.A with his rap songs which drive home the realities of police brutality, crime and gang violence African Americans are exposed to. However, as the film goes on, and the N.W.A grow in popularity (or infamy, depending on which side of the fence you are on), the threats against them begin to grow too.
One of these threats comes in the form of effective censorship by the F.B.I. They demand that the song 'Fuk Da Police' be left out of their concert tour of 1989, as it provokes violence against law enforcement, even if the song itself is a result of police harassment against the members of N.W.A. Here, N.W.A refuses to bow down, and instead plays the song in their concerts. This is a major show of rebellion against the authorities, and definitely highlights the theme of separatism in this film; Dr Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E aren't going to assimilate with the rest of America, they're going to forge their own identity, controversial as it may be.
The theme of separatism is strong throughout the whole film, as despite the presence of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, police brutality and even the dissolution of N.W.A itself, the band members carry on forging their own identities and standing on their own two feet, saying what they will about society, and its inherent flaws and racism against blacks. The titanic amount of controversy surrounding the members of N.W.A, particularly Ice Cube due to his links with Nation of Islam and his violent temperament, all comes from their attempts to make a name for themselves, and this follows the ideals of Malcolm X, who advocated separatism, and to a degree, violence.
For starters, the film is set predominantly in the Compton area of Los Angeles, which as many know was infamous for the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which are seen in the film. In the 90s, Los Angeles had a significantly larger black population than many other American cities, and Compton had a large concentration of blacks living there, to the point where the term 'white flight' was coined to describe the amount of white people decided to leave for fear of their own safety. Police brutality and anti-law enforcement resentment among blacks was also common in this time, the presence of which probably helped some of N.W.A's tracks to become more popular. Crime was also prevalent in the area, with a high degree of murders (up to 49 per 100,000 between the 60s the late 90s) and crimes involving crack cocaine, which experienced a rise in popularity during the 80s, especially in black communities.
In the film itself, we see a lot of the struggles of being black in the tumultuous 90s. Many of the residents of Compton, the soon-to-be members of N.W.A included, struggle with money, finding jobs to make money, and relations with the local police. It is Ice Cube (played by his son O'Shea Jackson Jr.) who initially paves the way for N.W.A with his rap songs which drive home the realities of police brutality, crime and gang violence African Americans are exposed to. However, as the film goes on, and the N.W.A grow in popularity (or infamy, depending on which side of the fence you are on), the threats against them begin to grow too.
One of these threats comes in the form of effective censorship by the F.B.I. They demand that the song 'Fuk Da Police' be left out of their concert tour of 1989, as it provokes violence against law enforcement, even if the song itself is a result of police harassment against the members of N.W.A. Here, N.W.A refuses to bow down, and instead plays the song in their concerts. This is a major show of rebellion against the authorities, and definitely highlights the theme of separatism in this film; Dr Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E aren't going to assimilate with the rest of America, they're going to forge their own identity, controversial as it may be.
The theme of separatism is strong throughout the whole film, as despite the presence of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, police brutality and even the dissolution of N.W.A itself, the band members carry on forging their own identities and standing on their own two feet, saying what they will about society, and its inherent flaws and racism against blacks. The titanic amount of controversy surrounding the members of N.W.A, particularly Ice Cube due to his links with Nation of Islam and his violent temperament, all comes from their attempts to make a name for themselves, and this follows the ideals of Malcolm X, who advocated separatism, and to a degree, violence.
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