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Post by mochakitty on Aug 22, 2015 3:36:06 GMT -4
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Post by Hamatron on Aug 22, 2015 15:55:36 GMT -4
I saw it last weekend. I enjoyed watching it, because I grew up listening to NWA and all kinds of hip hop/rap from that era, and it really took me back. I could really remember some of the interviews and things they recreated in the movie.
That said, you watch this thing through Dre and Ice Cube-colored glasses. They totally gloss over all sorts of things, and they are basically portrayed as saints. The only person they totally shit on is Suge Knight, which... yeah, that piece of crap deserves it (it's also some weird sort of poetic justice in that he's probably going to jail for running over and killing people on the set during filming. How weird is that?).
It's still an interesting movie to watch. Like I said, as someone who was a teen in the '90s, seeing this took me back, and helped me remember how rap music added another layer onto how I viewed class and race issues in America. It also played a part in my growing understanding of misogyny, anti-semitism, and homophobia both overt and more subtle. In some really strange way, '90s rap (and R&B girl groups from the era) paved the way for me getting into alternative music and Riot Grrrls, which often had a pro-feminist and pro-gay inclusiveness, which was so liberating for me at the time. And then I eventually went back to other kinds of R&B and hip-hop and continued to explore things through complex lenses.
But yeah. The bias is an issue. I've been talking about this a lot with friends who are hesitant to see the movie. When I saw it, there were audience members who clearly didn't know the music or the story. So, are they taking this as the word on what happened? In this movie, Dre wasn't an abuser of women. Ice Cube's anti-semitic lyrics are justified because he was mad at his ex-manager. Easy E kinda mysteriously gets HIV (anyone alive at the time knows he was a huge partier/had lots of sex, had major issues). There are some cruel scenes toward women that are plaid for laughs, and the only unsavory/questionable people are the managers, because, you know, money.
So it was interesting, but problematic, I guess? Just like that era of rap itself, hah.
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Post by deeconsistent on Aug 22, 2015 16:35:03 GMT -4
I haven't been able to bring myself to see it. I was conflicted (and, admittedly, excited) leading up to the release, but, fortunately, Ice Cube made up my mind for me when he said this to Rolling Stone: Up until then, I guess I had just assumed they had all matured. Maybe some of them have in some respects, but, ultimately, it's a movie about a bunch of slimeballs sugarcoating their slimiest era. For the first time I can remember, Í'm not even particularly happy that a minority-led film is doing well, even if I'm not supporting it.(There was a minor controversy when one of the casting calls rated girls auditioning for extras based on their skin complexion.  ) There's this weird kind compartmentalization that black women tend to do when consuming pop culture and , I'm glad to say, my hyper-awareness of it has died down a lot in the last decade or so. After reading that quote, I realized it's not a feeling I want to revisit. |
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Post by Hamatron on Aug 22, 2015 17:05:35 GMT -4
Yeah. That's the other thing. These guys are still emotionally teenagers, and the way they frame the movie is juvenile. But the movie touches on police brutality and violence a lot, which is still relevant. I just think if someone else had produced and directed etc it might have been an interesting film on the intersection of politics, art, free speech, and very messy but provocative people.
Misogyny is very much the elephant in the room though. Sort of like it is in the Runaways movie.
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Post by Neurochick on Aug 26, 2015 15:27:39 GMT -4
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Post by Hamatron on Aug 26, 2015 18:08:10 GMT -4
Yeah. I wasn't aware of this casting call until recently. Horrible.
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Post by Baby Fish Mouth on Feb 7, 2016 15:02:29 GMT -4
I rented this last night and have a lot of conflicting feelings, which Hamatron nicely summed up. But it was beautifully directed and I wish it had received an Oscar nod for directing.
I'm interested in knowing more about Jerry Heller. It was difficult to tell if he was intentionally screwing them over, if he was incompetent, or if NWA were just being babies. Maybe a little bit of all three?
Eazy E's initial attempt at rapping was so. funny.
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Post by Neurochick on Jul 21, 2016 14:07:57 GMT -4
I finally saw this movie on HBO, since I was determined not to pay any cash to see this. I don't understand all the praise it got. It was a vulgar, nasty, misogynist movie, that really showed how these men hated women, especially black women.
I thought the movie sucked.
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Post by Ladybug on Jul 22, 2016 16:56:18 GMT -4
Yeah, we watched it on HBO and I was waiting for it to blow me away, but it just didn't. The women were set decorations, that's it. I think the female characters had about 10 lines between them. Seemed like it followed the pretty standard music group biopic - meteoric rise, falling out, redemption and reconciliation.
I liked the end tribute to Easy E and the footage of the actual people better than I liked the movie.
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) There's this weird kind compartmentalization that black women tend to do when consuming pop culture and , I'm glad to say, my hyper-awareness of it has died down a lot in the last decade or so. After reading that quote, I realized it's not a feeling I want to revisit. 
