Watching these films today, in the wake of the killings in Ferguson, Baltimore, Staten Island, I’m struck by the distances that we have and have not traveled, and by the urgency and inadequacy of expressing outrage. I’m willing to accept the authenticity of Straight Outta Compton, even in Marvel-universe form, and readily acknowledge that NWA’s music has felt liberating for millions of people; but I also think it’s significant that the movie devolves so thoroughly from superhero exploits to a story about business. As the closing montage makes clear with its testimonials to NWA, the movie’s subject ultimately isn’t freedom, or even free expression, but success.
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is a deeper and better-made film, and consequently more challenging. While acknowledging that the Panthers tapped a vein of anger with very mixed results, sometimes failing to channel either the rage or themselves, Nelson shows you what a mass-based radical politics can feel like, and reminds you that you haven’t seen its like for a while. Judging from the evidence, I’d say our era is post-NWA more than post-Panther, and that Black Lives Matter is still not so much a movement as a social-media campaign.
Straight Outta Compton has been playing in theaters “everywhere,” which is also the general location where you can hear NWA’s music. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution goes into theatrical release in September, beginning with a run at Film Forum in New York.