On August 14th of this year, the film Straight Outta Compton was released in movie theaters everywhere. In just a few weeks, the film has had people talking everywhere. For those of you who don't know, or haven't seen the film... the film is about the late 80's groundbreaking new rap group, N.W.A, that entered the music industry only to effect and revolutionize the sound of Rap and Hip Hop with their serious and graphic lyrics that related back to the tragedies and hard lives within the city of Compton.Fans and viewers may have been star struck by the realistic and captivating story told of the rap group as well as the personal stories of iconic rappers like Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and many more. But the movie had a little more depth to it than just another rags to riches story.

First of all, the film did a lot right. It shed light on a lot of police brutality that was racially motivated that occurred over 20 years ago, but also are devastatingly similar to today's society. With stories of Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, and the rioting in Ferguson and in Baltimore, and other places around the country...it was hard to see that as a society we seem to be going backward. It was too easy to relate to the police brutality portrayed in the film to the stories in our country and media today. It was important to show, and the film did not hold back. It also didn't tread lightly just in fact how hard it was to live and survive in a city like Compton. It really showed you the hurt that each rapper in the group endured, and how cities around America can relate to their story.

With that, came another brutality shown in the film. The music industry. I mean, wow, talk about ruthless (Do you see what I did there?). I think most people can agree that we really have no idea how hard it is for artists to be taken seriously with their sound and to not be taken advantage of. Young black men from a city like Compton with incredible talent having to work even harder, just to survive in an industry that seemed so willing to screw over whatever came in their path. And the repercussions that came with trusting the wrong people.

However, although the film did a lot of things right and really shed light on the beginnings of rap, police brutality, and the music industry, it also had misogyny embedded within it and it failed to acknowledge the rapper Dr. Dre's past history with violence against women. How disposable women were to the men in the group was beyond overwhelming to me as a viewer. It is clear that this was the culture of rappers and I am hoping that the culture has changed, but it was hard to watch as a woman to see that women, in general, didn't seem to mean much to these men.

The film does portray how each rapper has their own demons and dark pasts. But it was never once mentioned that Dr. Dre had once attacked music journalist Dee Barnes. Brutally. I can say that watching the film, I did not know that at all, being only 19, I wasn't around when that happened and I didn't know about it going into the film. It was only until after I saw the film that I did research and read about Dee Barnes and her insight on the film. After the film was released she came out and spoke out about what was missing from Straight Outta Compton. And to be honest, it is painful to read her story. And, it is even more painful that the film didn't think to acknowledge the incident.

With Dr. Dre and Ice Cube being executive producers of the film, it is no wonder that they didn't want the incident to be shown in the film. Dee Barnes, and I as well, agree that it shouldn't have been shown in the film, I don't think audiences would have been able to handle it. However, it should have been acknowledged... It should've been acknowledged that it was wrong, and it was a dark time for Dr. Dre. Since the release of the film, and since Dee Barnes has spoken out, Dr. Dre has issued a public apology... to all the women he has hurt and urging that he is a changed man. Yet, I can't help but think that publicly acknowledging the incident in the film would've been a more sincere apology and repentance.

Altogether, flaws aside, the film was a monumental step forward for black culture. It is not often that a film with almost an entirely black cast, telling a black lives story, and showing such brutalities, does so phenomenal in the box office. I do acknowledge that the film, did not use their platform to help black women or women in general, and it should've. But, there is no denying that this film broke other kinds of boundaries that haven't been approached in quite a while. If you haven't seen the film, I would definitely take the time to go see it.