STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON is a fine example of how experiencing art can be deepened and expanded with context.
When songs like "Fuck the Police" and "Cop Killer" stoked media controversy in the late 80s and early 90s, much of America was unfamiliar with the harassment young men from areas like LA/Compton, or Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York et. al. truly faced on a regular basis.
With the recent and ongoing increase in (reported) incidents of police brutality and overreach of authority in recent years, it becomes increasingly understandable, from events leading up to the Rodney King riots to the lyrics of said songs to see why these artists felt the way they did at that time and in that place.
In the last seven+ years living with my girlfriend, who grew up in a small Midwestern town and who has told me about some very traumatic events in her youth which are quite similar to a number of run-ins with the police depicted in this film, it becomes clear that whether it's a big city or a small, semi-rural town, there is a thread of systemic racism skewed against black people across many levels in American institutions.
I say this not to stoke an argument or to bring politics into an artistic discussion (although the socio-political landscape is a necessary element of this biopic). I don't think racial relations in America is something that should be political. I don't even like to think of people as being separated by race. We're all humans, all of one race. Yes, there are ethnic groups that have important traditions and history. It is indeed vital that we celebrate all those differences, just as it is important to come together in the realization that we all share this world and we all want to live free.
There is a saying, "Universal law is for lackeys, context is for kings." It basically means that those who serve only need to be given and subsequently follow directions, while only those who lead need to know the reasons for those directions. It is a principle that much of society appears to be based upon. For instance, when the police are executing a traffic stop, it is socially expected that one complies with all directions - even those that are illegal or contradictory. That if there is an illegal act on the part of the police, one will report it and prosecute later.
The problem with this is, it flies in the face of principles the country was built upon, as well as the lessons of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. As Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his Letter from an Alabama Jail, explaining the ideology behind the civil disobedience campaign, "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
When the masses begin to gain context, there is a distinct possibility that civil unrest will follow and that the "lackeys" will try to rise up against the king(s).
This is why music like the hip-hop songs and albums of the N.W.A. are relevant, even today. N.W.A. received threats from the FBI that songs like "Fuck the Police" might spark discontent and violence against law enforcement. From the beginning, the media (comprised of older white men - respected in their field though they may be - who either didn't have proper context or purposely withheld it to spin the story to middle-American sensibilities) was against them, selling a disingenuous narrative that the music was violent and dangerous.
Are the words of Easy-E and Ice Cube any more dangerous than the writings of Thomas Jefferson which sparked the American Revolution, or the plethora of folk, Soul, R&B, and rock bands of the 1960s whose music was the backdrop of and context for the Civil Rights and Viet Nam war protests?
I came of age in the 1990s and from my perspective in a small-town predominantly white American community I felt that things were getting better from economics to politics, to so-called "race relations" in America. From what my girlfriend tells me, it was a much different story in her part of the world. Context matters.
When one gets past the title, the lyrics of the song "Fuck the Police" tell a story of a youth beset by institutional racism, where they can't stand on the corner outside their recording studio in Torrance without being harassed (by a black police officer, no less) because they look like gangsters:
Fuck the police comin' straight from the underground
A Young nigga got it bad 'cause I'm brown
And not the other color so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority
Fuck that shit, 'cause I ain't the one
For a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun
To be beatin' on, and thrown in jail
We can go toe-to-toe in the middle of a cell
Fuckin with me 'cause I'm a teenager
With a little bit of gold and a pager
Searchin' my car, lookin' for the product
Thinkin' every nigga is sellin' narcotics
You'd rather see me in the pen
Than me and Lorenzo rollin' in the Benzo
This part is the set-up, like in a movie where you have the first act which provides context for the character and a situation where their everyday life is interrupted by the circumstances conflict being introduced into the story. Another section, which I'm guessing is what the law enforcement community took umbrage to, reads:
Beat a police outta shape
And when I'm finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still getting swole off bread and water
This is artistic expression, pure and simple. It is a fantasy of tearing down the system which they see as keeping them down. It is not advocating for people to kill police officers, because even the last line warns of the consequences for following through with that desire, as "getting swole off bread and water" is a reference to the jail time you get. These are the words they use but the subtext is a yearning for change and acceptance. Change can be a scary concept to those for whom the status quo works. But the status quo should not leave a segment of society behind and what they want is a new system that works for all, not just for some.
It is a common principle of criticism to base one's opinion on the piece of work as-is, without explanation or contextualization, that a work of art should speak for itself. I, too, believe that art should stand on its own and that the first mistake any artist makes is to explain their work.
That being said, I often find that when I see a director lay out their vision or goal for a movie in an interview, that deepens my appreciation of that work.
There is a lot going on in this movie. There are a lot of little personal dramas and the film forms a picture of a group of friends who fall apart because "business" got in the way.
But at the heart of it all is the creation of art. Each main character is developed well as they split off into three factions and spin off new worlds in the burgeoning hip-hop era, giving voice to such talents as Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and beyond. Each of them remain in the game, able to create their art despite the interpersonal troubles and hardships. Such that a theme of the film can be seen as persevering in the face of adversity.
Many will say hardcore rap isn't art. That it's not really music. I once felt that beats were just created on a computer for the rapper to spit lyrics. This picture has opened my eyes, showing the true artistry present in the process of producing a hip-hop record. It's given me context.
Context is important for many things in this life. It allows us to reach an understanding between friends even when they stand on opposite sides of an issue. It allows us to understand why large segments of the black community still feel held back within society even today. It enhances one's experience of and interaction with art when one knows what went on behind the scenes, and STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON is all about context.