Straight Outta Compton

I watched Straight Outta Compton last week. It was really good.
I know hardly anything about NWA. I'd heard of them, and more specifically Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. That's it. So I learned a lot from watching this film.
Gangster rap is definitely a music genre that I know very little about and I haven't not listened to. The lyrics of the songs are shocking, not necessarily for the content, but for the language (I blame my day job - I actually cringe when I hear someone swearing). The content, I find fascinating. I can't imagine growing up in that kind of context. A lot of the issues described in the film have come up in recent conversations and events in my life, so it's really made me think even more about race, culture, and discrimination. These are issues that many people don't like to talk about, and I'm still trying to figure out where I stand, what I think, and how I want to act (and maybe be a role model and/or make a difference). It's complicated.
Because I can't help myself, I started thinking about whether or not the portrayal of various characters and stories in this film were skewed. The widow of Easy-E, Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre were directly involved with this film. I started trying to dissect how those particular characters, and those closest to them were portrayed. 
Anyway, I left the film feeling wanting to learn more about various themes/topics/people from the film. I do wish that the film went into a little bit more depth about the characters, where they came from, who they're families are, that sort of thing, but I guess you can only do so much in a feature film. I mean, all of a sudden the characters had significant others...I wanted to know more. I mean, there's been some critique about the portrayal (or lack thereof) of women in the film, but I think the critique has to do more with something else than what I was looking for. I'm interested in people, character development, and how people's experiences/contexts shapes who they are so I'm always looking for that.

Also, I had a moment after the first scene where I got that glowing feeling. The opening scene is great...really amps you up for the rest of the film. And I felt that glow that I get when I'm perfectly happy and content. I haven't gotten that feeling in awhile, I think. But in this moment, I was encouraged to continue to keep at it, continue to live my life and do everything that I'm curious to do and live my awesome life. It was a nice feeling.

- picture courtesy of www.imdb.com