The rap on Straight Outta Compton: Compelling film misconstrues redemption

Straight Outta Compton, although one-sided and vainglorious, is a finely crafted, vigorously musical docudrama that exposes the vices plaguing the hearts of cities and men. The timing of its release, coinciding with the latest cycle of police shootings and community upheavals, adds relevance to its insight and might have helped draw audiences: It topped the weekend’s box office returns by a wide margin, pulling in $60 million.

But if gangsta rap is not your cup of profanity, then you likely won’t want to drink up what the film pours out. (The R rating is well-earned, for language throughout, strong sexuality/nudity, and drug use.) Still, Straight Outta Compton may help some moviegoers better understand a community searching for salvation in the most dangerous place—from within.

The 2.5-hour film chronicles the trajectory of seminal hardcore rap group Niggaz With Attitude. NWA rose to prominence during an era of racial turmoil that culminated in the riots following the acquittal of four police officers a year after their March 1991 videotaped beating of Rodney King. Supporters claim NWA “gave the people a voice.” Critics insist NWA’s chart-topping, ire-raising songs brought the people even more trouble.

The film portrays young Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr., son of the real Ice Cube), and two friends as ordinary teens who generally avoid the crime and violence afflicting their hometown, Compton, a city just south of Los Angeles. But big dreams collide with reality. The friends endure several run-ins with police, who, as one officer in the film states, are “the only gangsters out here.” Cube channels his experiences into poetry and lyrics, Dre assembles beats and musical riffs on a pair of turntables, and E runs the business and doubles as one of the group’s lead rappers.

Straight Outta Compton depicts NWA as the first group to deliver hardcore lyrics to mainstream music. But major record labels resist the group’s early work. Black radio stations and clubs also initially turn NWA away, advising the quintet to “get back on the slow jam.”

Nevertheless, NWA persists with its message. The group shrugs off warnings from law enforcement agencies, uniformly characterized in the film as the bad guys, to avoid public profanity and police-taunting lyrics at concerts. Tapping into the rebellious impulses (and wallets) of black and white youth, NWA reaches superstardom. The friends voraciously consume the illicit fruits of wealth and fame but also face unpleasant business realities—a shady manager (Paul Giamatti) and intra-group rivalries.

Straight Outta Compton only faintly suggests NWA was part of the problem. In one brief scene, Eazy-E sits in uncomfortable silence when a reporter questions NWA’s legitimacy after contracts, cash, and acclaim roll in. And the film juxtaposes Dr. Dre’s Death Row Records co-founder, Suge Knight, beating down a man who took his parking place with a clip of a sprawling Rodney King vainly warding of baton blows. But Eazy-E’s AIDS-related death at age 31 is portrayed as a sad but unlucky event, like a bystander accidentally hit during a drive-by shooting, rather than the foreseeable consequence of a decade’s worth of unrestrained sexual romping.

Of course, the film’s characters don’t admit the unmistakable role of sin—the pride of police officers who abuse their power and citizens who fail to obey lawful orders. Straight Outta Compton is a stark reminder that outside of Jesus Christ there is only hopelessness.