Cruisin down the street in my 64’…

“We’re not disrespecting women, we’re disrespecting bitches. A woman is a woman. A bitch is someone who carries herself in a stuck-up way. A bitch is someone who fucks everybody except me.”

I couldn’t find the source so don’t take this as gospel but Eazy E may have said this as it relates to the use of the word bitch.  It’s sad but that is still how a lot of men and women think. “Stuck-up” could simply mean she doesn’t wish to talk to you , what is so wrong with that? She a bitch because she ain’t with you? I see.

Now i’m not going to rant but while watching Straight Outta Compton I couldn’t help but noticing a few things . N.W.A. created a legacy and completed changed the game.  I love rap music and can’t see a time when I won’t. Rap to me is poetry and it’s an art form for which my appreciation has grown over the years  but I quite fortunately have the ability to love something and still see how it can be problematic.

Firstly , it’s sad how no matter how many stories are told people still side with the oppressor. The systemic oppression of black people is not just about racism but also about patriarchy and how black people need to redefine their idea of success. We can’t keep aspiring to the white man’s goals. The system has already set us up for failure. People look at the symptoms of  oppression but refuse to focus on the system and society that created it. The events we saw in Compton in the early 90’s are being repeated all over the the US in 2015 and it is disheartening because the media and the society immediately begin to pick apart the victims lives when some are harassed simply for existing.

Also , The white saviour narrative was alive and kicking through the movie and presented itself in Jerry Heller. No matter how much Cube and Dre warned Eazy E he was blinded by the greed and the money that Jerry had helped him to acquire. I always find it painful when people don’t believe their day 1 niggas because of what they see as jealousy. I think it’s a narrative that we need to do away with. Black people need to stick together and stop letting other people tear us apart. Trust your brothers.

Why is it that the women in these films were little more than props? They were literally picked up , fucked and discarded. Bye Felicia. They really didn’t speak with the exception of Dre’s mother and the occasional words by Cube’s and Easy E’s wives. Yes I know this is the story of N.W.A but some meaningful dialogue wouldn’t have hurt. I appreciate the few instances of affection that we were able to see displayed between the main characters and their wives but why couldn’t we see some of that before? With other women? There were more than enough of them in the movie.

Last thing , where  the hell did Dre’s baby momma go? Why didn’t Dre reach out to her and his daughter? Come on..you are making money , yes you have moved on but where was the concern for your child? I didn’t even see a phone call or some money sent through Western Union. Not cool.

Despite all my critiques I loved the movie and I plan to watch it again. . The issues I have with the movie are the issues I have with society and take no shine from the movie whatsoever but as Cube said ” my art is a reflection of my reality” and sometimes I really wish that these issues didn’t plague my reality.

Love and light,
Rushell