“What's NWA stand for,
anyway? No Whites Allowed”
To what extent does 'Straight Outta Compton' represent
black people negatively and does it influence its audience?
This critical investigation will focus on the
representations and influence of black people in film, news and
television in general. This essay will also look further into the cause and
root of black stereotypes and how they have developed and changed over time.
Straight Outta’ Compton (SOC) is the main text. SOC is a 2015 American
biographical drama film based on one of the most influential and memorable
hip-hop groups of all time (N.W.A). The film was released on August 14, 2015,
and has been a major success grossing over $200million worldwide; on August 27
2015, Straight Outta Compton became the highest grossing music biopic of all-time
in the US with $120.9 million. An interesting line that is stated in one of the
harassment scenes is: “You can’t come down here and harass my clients because they’re
black!” This is a line by Jerry Heller in the film which sums
up the message that N.W.A attempts to get across about police brutality through
their aggressive music. The line is very direct and tells the story of life in
the 1980’s for many African American men in terms of getting harassed and
interrogated by the police simply because of their skin colour. Another similar
line stated is "Officer Can I ask why you jacking us right now?" These two lines are examples of the harassment that
African American men face and this is shown multiple times throughout the
course of the movie.
The success of SOC instantly challenges the stereotype
and supports the fact that black men are capable of success. NWA were one of
the most influential bands in history and this biography aims to show the
impact they had on their audiences and the whole world. NWA has sold over 10
million units in the United States alone. NWA are also known for their deep
hatred for the police system and they usually express through their tracks such
as one of their biggest tracks named Fuck the police.
The book ‘Black Demons’
states how black stereotypes are constantly reinforced: “Many fulfill white
American’s image of them legitimately by becoming successful gangsta rappers;
others fulfill this image illegitimately by becoming baaad-ass niggers” It is clear that the
black image is almost inevitable to escape even if a black man shows success in
music, this will still reinforce the current stereotypes. Crime is usually linked
to black people in the book ‘Suspicion Nation’ research was carried out and
showed: “That the public
generally associates violent street crime with African Americans.” Meaning the public instantly pair African
Americans with crime due to the on-going stereotype that reinforces this
thought.
‘Black Demons’
is immediately introduced with this line which seems to be a radical and
slightly extreme statement: “I was told that all back men were inherently
aggressive and violent”
.
Evidently, stereotypes like this exist and are often reinforced by movies or
television in general, however: “Similar to
television, news coverage is yet another major source of information on crime
that influences society in defining what crime is and who is a criminal.”
Many critics have stated that SOC is a movie that
seems to reinforce stereotypes about black young men that are already out
there. However, a movie such as SOC can be seen as a moment of black greatness
and huge success with the likes of Ice Cube and also Dr Dre, a black
billionaire. This can be linked to Galtung and Ruge’s theory of news values;
it is clear that ‘negativity’ plays a huge role in the delivery of news. Bad
news seems to overshadow good news in terms of coverage; this is bound to play
a role in black crimes and success due to the biased representation presented
on the news.
SOC reinforces many stereotypes with the violence, sex
and drugs which is heavily involved in the movie. On the other hand, SOC also
shows moments of success such as big hits and records being sold, also the
movie shows the rap group to be very influential during the 80s and 90s. With
SOC showing both aspects of reinforcement of stereotypes but also at times
challenging stereotypes; the audience is left to make their own judgement on
the characters but what creates these stereotypes is: “The
embrace of guns, gangsterism, and ghetto authenticity brought an aura of
celebrity and glamour to the grim yet fabulously hyped portraits of ghetto
life.”
NWA gave people hope at the time and the
artists acted as a voice for many people in expressing the issues with police
brutality. This links to Propp’s narrative theory in terms of NWA being the
‘heroes’ and the police acting as the ‘villains’. This shows that most stories
follow the same internal structure in terms of narrative. This narrative of
character roles played a role in the movie becoming a success because it
created interest in the movie and showed a story throughout the movie. In
regard to character roles, it was up to the audience to assign roles. Whether
or not the audience choose to mark Jerry Heller as the villain or the police as
the villain is interesting and creates a sense of character roles which adds
tension to the movie. Many may regard Jerry Heller as the false hero who
attempts to represent himself in a positive way but NWA are the authentic
heroes.
In one of the clips a black officer states that
"Rap is not an art"
This clearly shows the officer and society in general trying to discredit these
artists from what they do. This then reinforces the stereotype that black males
do nothing with their lives or waste their time however rapping and influencing
many people globally is considered a huge achievement but the officer attempts
to dismiss this fact. He also then continues to say: "These 'rappers' of
yours look like bangers (gang members)"
This also raises the point that black youth are often judged on how they look.
This can be linked to Alvarado’s theory of racial representations
;
this scene links to the element of ‘Dangerous’ because the group look like a
gang outside the studio which has caused the police to attempt to take action. The
props used in the clip such as the caps they were wearing create the idea that
these rappers are trouble makers or ‘unprofessional’. The scene then continues
to the NWA rap group being harassed and told to ‘get their ass on the ground’
while the police interrogate them. This scene shows a powerful medium shot of
the artists on the ground while the police are comfortably standing up. This
gives the sense that the police are on top of these black men both physically
and in society. The scene shows a good example of society levels in this the
police being at a high compared to black men. This can be instantly linked to
Dyer's theory of stereotypes
stating the more powerful often stereotype the less powerful. This is clearly
shown in the scene where the police (a member of law enforcement) instantly
judging these rappers (civilians) just because their occupation gives them
authority in society.
The question is, is it possible to overcome these
stereotypes? “African Americans, no matter how savvy, educated,
or financially privileged, could not completely avoid the
conditioning that resulted from the increasingly sophisticated bombardment
of subtle and not-so-subtle messages created to reinforce how different and
inherently inferior blacks are when compared to whites.”
This line is from the book ‘Brainwashed’
which seems to tackle the many reasons why the black male is inferior to the
white male but also how the stereotypes seems to effect young black men in
today’s society. However with many successful and influential black males
today, it is thought that this stereotype should have been in the past or at
least put to a minimal. Obama, the president of the US and the first black
president is one figure that will play a huge role in challenging the
stereotype. However this can be seen as: “Putting on the white mask” which links to Fanon’s theory and this can
explain Obama’s role in society of being similar to any other white president
such as JFK. However, “Regardless of our individual social, economic, or media
success, it has not affected the black bottom line.” This line from the book brainwashed explains
that regardless of black success, the stereotypes are often very hard to
escape. The black image wasn’t tarnished overnight meaning: “It will take work
from within the African American community to create a new and improved image.”Which may take time due to the fact creating
an image is so hard to do and has to be reinforced constantly in order to be remembered.
Many black rappers such as NWA themselves seem
to objectify women and idolise money and drugs in their music. This is also
shown in some of the SOC scenes where women are sexualised. Linking this to
Mulvey’s theory you can see that the women in scenes such as
‘Bye Felicia’ are clearly there for the purpose of the ‘male gaze’. The women
in the scene walk around the hotel room topless casually which creates the idea
of this being normality. An article from ‘The Mic’ states: “The movie has a
significant woman problem, both in the lack of substantial female perspectives
in the story and in how the main characters treat women.” This looks into the fact that women aren’t
significant in the film as there are no female roles that stand out. The
treatment and representation of women in the movie are stereotypical and
objectify women. Linking this back to the question, interestingly although
black men are stereotyped, they still part take in creating and reinforcing
some stereotypes of their own, such as women being objects and only seen for
sexual purposes. This shows an interesting shift in black men moving from being
the victims of stereotypes but actually the creators of some existing
stereotypes.
Other media texts such as ‘Boyz N the Hood’ which was
produced in 1991 also seems to reinforce stereotypes to an extent due to the
content it displays to the audience. Boyz
n the Hood is a 1991 American teen hood drama film written and directed by John
Singleton in his directorial debut, and starring Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, Jr.,
Morris Chestnut, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long and Angela Bassett, depicting
life in South Central Los Angeles, California. This was the film debut of Ice
Cube and Morris Chestnut.
SOC and ‘Boyz N the Hood’ both represent black males in similar ways this is
likely to be because they were both set at around the same time although SOC
was produced in 2015. Black men are represented as violent and aggressive;
however there are aspects of the movie which challenge stereotypes. Ricky, a
character from Boyz N the Hood is a hard working young man that is studying for
college and is dreaming of playing professional football at the NFL. This
challenges the common stereotype and allows the audience to perceive black males
differently due to a different representation of African American men. One of
the scenes in Boyz N the Hood showed Ricky and trey being stopped and harassed
by both black and white police officers, this links to one of Ice
Cube's lyrics as a NWA member: "Black Police showing out for the
white cop"
.
Considering this is an Ice Cube movie this was likely a demonstration of what
happened in reality and his personal experiences as a
young African American facing police in the 1990’s. Comparing
this historical text to a contemporary text shows
both similarities and differences. The treatment that black
males receive from police is similar and this shows
the continuous on going issue with police brutality. Straight Outta'
Compton shows similar scenes regarding the police and their unfair
treatment.
However we can clearly see that the
representations of the characters differ hugely, Ricky being the hardworking
character shows different character traits to Ice Cube or Eazy-E.
Many believe that hip hop and rap are factors that
give people a chance to create a stereotype with the violent lyrics and its
huge influence on youth; while others believe that they are genres of music
that have brought huge success for black people. ‘The Socialist Journal’ states: “I don’t believe that anyone fell in love because they
listened to a Stevie Wonder song, rather their feelings were reinforced by the
music. Similarly rap music doesn’t make anyone selfish but it does help to
legitimize one’s desires and the efforts to fulfil those desires.” This explains that although many claim
that rap can influence people badly with its lyrics, it is completely down to
the consumer to make their own decisions. However ‘The Impact of Rap and Hip Hop’
states that: “American youth are a target towards the marketers of rap and
hip-hop. They are always influenced by the media and still trying to find their
identity.” This implies that rap and hip hop is
likely to influence youth due to their undeveloped and easily influenced minds.
‘The Black Male
Handbook’ explains how Hip hop has influenced lives, “For sure, hip hop both
saved and changed my life, on so many levels: I have been deeply immersed in
hip hop since I was a preteen”
This highlights the fact that hip hop is a significant aspect of many black men’s
lives. Hip hop has been a factor that has steered many black men from
committing crimes and getting in trouble with the law. SOC shows an example of
this as the group, NWA were involved in drug selling and violence before
discovering their talent and love for rap and hip hop. Rap and hip hop helped
the group become successful in their craft and influence many people which
resulted in the group eventually challenging the stereotype by showing their
capability and talent. “Other observers have asserted that hip hop is the
result of young people’s being locked out of the American economic mainstream.”
The two lines differ hugely and show two different views of hip hop. The line
explains that hip hop is the reason for young people feeling alienated from the
rest of society because they are highlighted when being involved with this
genre of music. “Hip-hop no longer speaks exclusively to the marginalized
populations within the United States. The genre is now not solely about
expressing discontent or serving as a mouthpiece for the powerless.”
Hip hop is seen as a chance to give young black people a ‘voice’ in society
allowing them to express how they feel about important issue such as police
brutality which is still a problem today. SOC write and perform a song called ‘Fuck
the police’ in the movie, this song expresses how they feel about the police
and why they feel that way. However, the track includes a lot of profanity and
shows their feelings in a very aggressive way. This can be seen as a way to
reinforce stereotypes although this is giving them a voice; it is also showing
black people to be aggressive and reckless due to their methods of expression.
With all into consideration the writer of SOC has
written this in a specific way in order to inform, educate and entertain the
audience. Movies usually aim to strictly entertain the audience however this is
a biographical drama film that aims to inform and educate the audience of the
rap group and their rise to fame, money and power. The representations that are
created in the film of black people were made in order to create an almost
identical story of the reality involving NWA.” Some rappers like NWA have used
songs like, “Fuck the Police”, to express police brutality”.
However with songs such as ‘Fuck the police’, it is hard to represent the rap
group in a sophisticated way, many would argue that this was only a way to
express their feelings for police brutality which they have faced individually
but also as a group.
Many say a movie such as SOC misrepresents black
people and doesn’t give a fair representation. SOC gives the audience the
impression that young black men are naturally troubled and constantly involved
in crimes. In comparison, a movie like Coach Carter which is also based on a
true story represents black youth as hard working and determined. Many of the
characters from Coach Carter go to college or become professional basketball
players. Timo who is one of the main characters in Coach Carter is seen
as an intelligent and hardworking black man that faces many obstacles such as
his cousin’s death however Timo shows strength and courage throughout the movie
which represents black men differently.
A character
such as Timo Cruz from Coach Carter can be compared to Ice Cube in SOC and it
is evident that the representations differ significantly. “Our deepest
fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful
beyond measure.”
[29] This
is a line by Timo from the movie which sums up his character to be this
intelligent young black man full of self-belief.
A line from ‘Black
Demons’ states: “It is interesting that, as a group, whites have managed to
escape being associated with crime.”
Evidently white people are not linked with crimes which is surprising
considering many of the big stories have been linked to white crime such as the
mass shooting at the church leaving 9 people dead which was committed by,
Dylann Roof, a white man. “Each year, whites account for almost seventy per
cent of the total arrests, and today they comprise about forty per cent of the
prison population.”
Clearly white people have been underrepresented when it comes to crime, showing
statistics that are surprisingly high. Linking this to SOC, CNN reported a
segment stating that they were shocked that SOC’s release didn’t cause any
shootings at movie theatres. It is evident from this that a movie such as SOC
doesn’t encourage violence of any sort due to no shootings at the theatres. In
comparison a movie such as Batman was previously involved shootings which
highlight the fact that SOC’s reality doesn’t encourage violence but may also
motivate the audience, watching the NWA group become a huge success.
A line from ‘Hip-hop revolution’ states: “The
popular fixation of black people as criminal, lazy, witless miscreants in
American popular culture has been well documented.” Meaning news and film play a big role in
ensuring that the image of black people stays the same and shows them to be
violent criminals. It is often said that
the elite are in control of these stereotypes because of their ability to feed
the audience with misrepresented information or exaggerated news. This links to
the Marxist view because it believes that the elite are responsible for
creating and also reinforcing these stereotypes with what they choose to show
the audience i.e. biased news segments. It can be argued that this is done
deliberately in order for the elite to maintain power and control over the rest
of society, giving them fewer chances to speak out or voice their opinions. An
example of clear misrepresentation is the London riots. The London riots
coverage showed many of the youth being represented poorly and in particular
black youth. Many news articles had headlines such as ‘flaming morons’ and
managed to make the youth seem ignorant however the riots sparked because of a
reason which news institutions lack to provide to their audience.
SOC and other
media texts seem to reinforce stereotypes to an extent however there are other
factors that play a role in the creation of stereotypes such as news.
The audience also however have the ability to make their own judgment depending
on what they consume from distributors in film, news and television. Meaning
that although some films misrepresent black people and create stereotypes, it
is up to the audience in how they perceive this in terms of NWA being a success
for their influence and music or a negative figure that reinforces current
stereotypes. However with SOC’s producers being black men, the question is why
do these black men choose to represent themselves in this way? Many would argue
that this is the common perception of black men in society and in order to make
a successful movie they would have to reinforce some of these existing
stereotypes. On the other hand, it could be said that these common stereotypes
has caused black men to start perceiving themselves in that way due to constant
negative representations of black men in the media.
Words: 2,600
Works Cited
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Moving Image texts:
Coach Carter ‘Our deepest fear’
speech, 2005
(video online) available at:
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Anggraeni,
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CNN
Surprised ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Didn’t Cause Violence, Earned Record Money
Instead. (2015). Retrieved March 09, 2016, from:
‘Straight Outta Compton, film
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‘Straight Outta Compton review:
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Retrieved March 09, 2016
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Outta Compton Review. (2015). Retrieved March 09, 2016, from:
‘STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON: ANOTHER
STEP IN THE LEGACY OF ERASING BLACK WOMEN’-
Dailymail.com, D. B. (2015). EXCLUSIVE: Straight
Outta Compton has it all wrong, says band's manager - film's hero Dr Dre broke
up the 'black Beatles' with death threats against Eazy-E and 's***y' Ice Cube
battered E in rap after rap. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from:
Ice Cube
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Moving Image texts:
