Charles - As always, you make an eloquent argument about honesty and responsibility in the making of art.
In addition to the issues you point out, this well-made film (read: Dre and Ice Cube) also spinelessly ignores key incidents in N.W.A history -- such as the group's severe misogyny and the beatings Dre inflicted on women including hip-hop artist and journalist Dee Barnes. Any of us reporting on hip-hop in L.A. during that period well remember these inconvenient truths. I agree with you that hip-hop took an unfortunate turn after N.W.A, even if musically a lot of great stuff followed. In leaving out the really ugly stuff, this film deprives younger fans of the opportunity for honest discussion of how we got to where we are today.
Here's Dee's story:
http://gawker.com/heres-whats-missing-from…
Fantastic, Charles! It's so heartening to still be reading the insightful words of CL writers like you and others who have continued to get better and better over the years. Your voice is hugely important in Charlotte, NC.
You can always be sure of one thing: If the situation is Black, Ol' Bigot Bill is against it. He's in the upper echelon of racist southern politicians. And he's proud of it. He apparently thinks it's really cool. The scary thing is: So do enough others that he continues to be reelected.
Well done, y'all! Excellent, funny and entertaining take on the show, Alison, and great opening photo, Jeff.
And this column is why Ailen Arreaza is one of my favorite columnists, bar none. Love you, Ailen. I'm so glad you started writing for Creative Loafing. Your voice is powerful and crucial.
Excellent piece, Desiree! This is cultural criticism at its best. We don't see enough of it in alternative media these days. Thanks, Desiree and CL. Keep this up!
Book-banning initiatives are among the most selfish of acts. If you don't want your child exposed to literature or science, all you have to do is let school administrators know that you don't approve of a certain book, and they will accommodate you -- more radically, you can take your child out of public education and teach them whatever fairy tales you want to teach them. But to have great pieces of literature or science books banned deprives all young minds of intellectual growth. Thanks for an excellent column, Charles!