The N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton is hitting theaters, and many have scrutinized its portrayal of the era it depicts.
The Guardian conducted a rigorous fact-check, comparing the film’s major scenes with reality. They used old interviews from Dr. Dre and Ice Cube to provide context.
As with any biopic covering such a dynamic topic, the film contains a few discrepancies—for example, in a scene where Ice Cube chooses not to sign a deal and leaves the group, he’s portrayed as acting on his own. In fact, he consulted heavily with a publicist named Pat Charbonnet, who helped set him up with a solo deal.
“Pat Charbonnet was very instrumental in me recognizing that the situation with Ruthless and Jerry Heller just wasn’t right,” explains Cube, adding, “Just by her being so smart about the business, I ended up naming her my manager, and the first person she went to was [Priority’s] Bryan Turner. She said: ‘Cube’s solo, you want to give him a deal? Or if not we’re going to go get it somewhere else.’ So he stepped up, and I’m glad he did.”
In another example, the movie illustrates the group coming up with the concept of the song “F— Tha Police” during a violent interaction with the cops. According to the Guardian, that interaction did happen, but Dr. Dre had come up with the concept for the song long before that.
For the most part, though, the article finds that the film does a generally accurate job of portraying the events. Read the rest of it here, and check out Straight Outta Compton in theaters.
