Movie Discussion: Straight Outta Compton

Scott Hardie | August 26, 2015
Does this movie's controversial lack of any mention of the women that Dr. Dre assaulted affect your interest in seeing it? Dee Barnes herself acknowledges in that article that it's unfit for portrayal to a mass audience, and yet the movie ultimately celebrates Dre and his collaborators without once mentioning these darker incidents in his life.

Me, I'm not fond of the frequent accusations of "historical revisionism" or "factual inaccuracies" that crop up in Hollywood, especially during Oscar season when one film studio is trying to damage a competitor's reputation. Nobody expects movies not to take artistic license in the telling of the story, so why should claims of factual errors gain any traction? The time when they're appropriate to question is on an occasion like this, when someone closely involved with the film is portrayed better than the film would prefer to admit. It doesn't make me less interested in seeing the film, but I'm glad to see that the Internet debate over Barnes's article has done more to raise public awareness of Dre's violence than any scene in the movie could have.

Evie Totty | September 1, 2015
I saw it. Loved it. I had no idea about Dre's violent past and still did not after the film. I got the feeling he never raised his hands against anyone from his portrayal in the film actually.

The only chars to exhibit violent tendencies were Cube and Shug Knight. You cheered Cube in his instance. You were terrified of Knight.

Overall though GREAT film. It was cool sitting there watching going 'I remember when that happened'... Though it also shows my age lol.

Fully expect this to be nomated for best pic/screenplay/supporting actor (Giamatti). And if nothing better comes along - and no blatent discrimination is exhibited - it should easily win.

Scott Hardie | September 5, 2015
I'm terrified of Suge Knight just from the stories that I've heard about him. If he had never gotten into the music business, he would be in prison for murder or some other violent crime. He's a sociopath.

I don't know about its Oscar chances. The Academy does not typically look fondly on rap and street culture. But it loves movies about the entertainment industry and Los Angeles. :-)

Evie Totty | September 5, 2015
Yeah I had turned to Laura and was like 'I bet the only reason they are getting away with showing this is because he's in prison right now and can't do anything about it' haha

Well I hope the Academy does look at it like they did 8 Mile. It's very well done IMO.