Critical investigation proposal

Investigation Proposal

Working title

• To what extent does 'Straight Outta Compton' represent black people negatively and does it encourage violence?

Angle

• What judgements can audiences make on black people after watching 'Straight Outta Compton'? 
• Does this movie reinforce people previous judgements of black people or does it create new assumptions and judgements from the audience?

Hypothesis

• A movie that involves guns, money and sex and stars black actors reinforces stereotypes of black people instead of challenging it.
• A movie like 'Straight Outta Compton'(SOC) influences audiences to an extent to mimic the behaviour they see in these movies.

Linked Production Piece

"Hip-hop film had long lines, no violence"

• This was a CNN segment that was reported which looked at the link between violent black movies and it's effect/influence on its audience
• This segment looks specifically at how there was no violence before and after SOC was screened in America. This was a surprise to the reporters seeing as they expected a violent movie such as SOC to influence the audience into acting like these characters from the movie.

SHEP

Apply the Wider Contexts (Social, Historical, Economic, Political) to your text/topic, including at least three bullet points on each one.

Coach Carter which is a movie that is similar to SOC but gives different representations of the characters and black people in general. Coach carter is a 2005 movie that I can compare to SOC. This is because Coach Carter represents the black characters as smart men that eventually with the right push are able to turn around and become successful hard working black men that go on to college and get scholarships. This a good movie to compare to SOC because not only do they both show a variety of different black representations but also they are both based on true stories which gives the movies more significance and allows me to compare this to real life representations.

Media Representations 

• How black people but specifically black males are represented badly in movies, TV shows and the media in general which creates a reinforcement of stereotypes in society.

Media Languages and Forms 

• Does the language used in Straight Outta Compton effect peoples views and judgement on the characters and does this play a role in supporting the stereotype that black people are rude or disrespectful.

Narrative 

• Narrative structure equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium and this is the classic story of rags to riches. SOC presents this narrative well and shows how these stars develop from practically nothing to becoming these big successful black males. 
• narratives roles Heroes and Villains. In this case the NWA crew are presented as the people heroes and this is shown in the movie. Also Jerry Heller is presented as the Villain in the movie that attempts to give bad contracts and split the group up. 

Genre 

• Urban drama 
• Based on a true story of NWA the 'most dangerous rap group' that ever lived which created history in the music industry.

Media Institutions 

• Hollywood universal pictures
• director Gray Gray

• Production companies	Legendary Pictures New Line Cinema Cube Vision Crucial Films Broken Chair Flickz
  Distributed by	Universal Pictures
  Release dates	August 11, 2015 (Los Angeles premiere) August 14, 2015(United States)
  Running time	147 MINUTES
  Country	United States
  Language	English
  Budget	$28 million
  Box office	$193.8 million

Media Values and Ideology 

• this film  has positive value to educate and inform how the police used to treat black people at that period of time 1980's-mid 1990's. The movie includes NWA's problems and issues with the police and shows how they would be harassed by the police for no apparent reason. 

Media Audiences 

• This movie was aimed at a 15+ audience. However this movies was specifically aimed at music fans but rap and hi-hop in particular. This movie gained more male viewers than female viewers and this is what they aimed for because of the content that was included i.e. money, violence, sex and drugs.
• SOC was mainly aimed at the younger generation because they seem to be interested and up to date with their modern music and will show interest in the bands story.

Issues/Debates

• Representation and stereotyping

My study revolves mainly around the issue of representation and stereotypes of black people in the media. The stereotype of black people but mainly black males is that they are troubled uneducated unsuccessful people. However my study of  the Straight Outta Compton text challenges and reinforces this representation depending on how the audience consumes the movie. The movie reinforces the stereotypes at the beginning of the movie showing the characters to be troubled and involved with drugs and violence. However this stereotype is then changed as the movie progresses because the characters then become successful entrepreneurs and business men i.e. Dr Dre with his million dollar headphone company (Beats). The representation was down to the consumer because they are able to create their own judgements on the character on whether to see these characters violent people or successful influential characters in history. 

• News Values

"Bad news has priority over good news". This quote sums up news values. News values plays a big role in my study because the news plays a big part in black representations. The news are probably the main reason for the stereotypes and have represented black people in such a way the allows society to continue this representation and generalise it to all black males. The fact that bad news has priority over good news makes this issue of stereotypes rises because instead of black successes being celebrated in the media, black crimes are being published as head cover news stories for the public. Linking this to my study the newspapers would rather place a story about the troubled NWA causing violence than the influential NWA giving people a voice and the chance to express themselves. 

• Moral Panics

When NWA released their debut album, Straight Outta Compton, they immediately became lightning rods for a full-scale moral panic: Their profane, belligerent lyrics to songs with such titles as 'F — tha Police' and 'Gangsta Gangsta', critics contended, fomented violence and antisocial behaviour and were dangerously influential with young fans. NWA records were banned in some venues, this clearly shows moral panic in that period of time 1980-1990 because society were worried that these artists will influence people in the wrong way. This shows how moral panic is such a big part of my study because gangster gangster rap lyrics have been criticised for an increase in gun crime however there is no real evidence to prove this which shows the moral panic of it all and the overreaction or panic of society. 

• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century

The development of technology has affected black representations massively over the years but especially in the 21st century. The internet but social media in specific has allowed black people to have a voice against stereotypes and allows them to speak up against it. A social media site such as Twitter brings great significance to black people because they are able to express their views against the generalisation that society has created involving past events. New and digital media has allowed black success to be promoted because linking to news values bad news is prioritised over good news so if news sites don't show success then sites such as Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites give people the chance to celebrate their own success and post it for the public.

• Media effects

Media effects plays a big role in Straight Outta Compton because the media has a job in giving people the chance to express themselves. There were many critics of SOC and there were also supporters of the movie. SOC as a media text can be criticised for reinforcing stereotypes. 

Theories

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using keywords/specific theorists' names from the Media A-Z:

• Gender and ethnicity

Gender and ethnicity plays a huge role in my study because my study links to stereotypes of ethnicities. My text straight outta Compton concentrates on black people as a race being stereotyped and generalised for the minority. Linking this to Richard dyer's theory of stereotypes and you can see this by the powerful stereotyping the weak in society. This shows that in the period of NWA the white race stereotyped the black race because they were powerful and valued in society. 

• Marxism and hegemony

This theory links to my study heavily because you can clearly see the Marxist theory coming into place from the movie. Society at the period was dominated by the capitalists structures. This meant the lower class would be overruled by the more powerful capitalist structure. This was the main concern for NWA causing this kind of protest to gain equal rights.

• Audience theories

Audience theories is important in my study because it looks at how the audience judges these characters from the movie and also how these characters are represented to the audience themselves. The audience is a big aspect of my study because my question links to how the audience sees these characters and if the movie causes the audience to be violent or aggressive after watching this influential movie.

• Genre theories

The genre of my study is an urban drama so this effects my audience because the movie genre will attract a certain type of audience. In this case my study SOC my attract the younger generation or maybe hip-hop fans. This all links to the theory because the audience is dependent on the theory of the movie. The movie relies heavily on the theory to create and bring the audience to watch the movie. 

Explain how your study fits into this.

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media text

Main focus- Straight Outta Compton(2015) the NWA movie but other movies link to this and show different representations.

Other media texts

Pride(2007) Based on a true story
Coach Carter(2005) Based on a true story

Baby boy(2001)
Boyz N the hood (1995)
Next Friday (2000)
Above the rim(1994)
Menace to society(1993)

Academic texts/books

White supremacy- George M.Fredrickson

Racial fault lines -Tomas Almaguer

Black resistance & White law- Mary Frances Berry

Internet Links
Media Guardian or Guardian Culture or another newspaper website.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3209565/Straight-Outta-Compton-wrong-says-man-created-NWA-band-s-manager-says-film-s-hero-Dr-Dre-broke-black-Beatles-Ice-Cube-joined-Suge-Knight-used-death-threats-help.html

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/08/ice-cube-straight-outta-compton-critics-dr-dre-nwa-movie

http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2015/08/17/3692315/cnn-straight-outta-compton/

Research controversy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3209565/Straight-Outta-Compton-wrong-says-man-created-NWA-band-s-manager-says-film-s-hero-Dr-Dre-broke-black-Beatles-Ice-Cube-joined-Suge-Knight-used-death-threats-help.html

EXCLUSIVE: Straight Outta Compton has it all wrong, says band's manager

This an article that was done by the daily mail talking about a controversial story told by Jerry Heller who was the NWA's manager in the 80's this was bound to be an interesting article due to how the stars and the managers relationship ended. Jerry Heller states in the article that this isn't a true reflection of the NWA story and this wasn't the way it all happened.

Jerry Heller in the movie is portrayed as a selfish money orientated person. This is shown because he attempts to give the band contracts that aren't suitable for their hard work. This is shown in the movie and makes Jerry look like a very bad evil person. This may have been the reason why Jerry reported this to the news. However this article brings to my interest that not only is the story miss told but also he isn't the one to blame for the bands tragic ending and backstabbing.

The movie tells the story about how the bands success was extremely high and then eventually started declining as time went on and this was due to Jerry Heller giving them bad contracts. In the movie itself Ice Cube is shown as a educated young man who refused to sign the contract due to his knowledge in realising that this contract isn't good and is planned to make the band lose money. This is potentially how the groups ending began. Ice cube left the band because of Jerry Heller's attempt to trap the stars into bad contracts and a commitment. 

"He says that Cube 'had a chip on his shoulder' and had an 'adolescent attitude' but admits: 'S***y human beings sometimes make great art'."

This is a quote from Jerry Heller in the daily mail article. Jerry Heller states that he and Ice Cube never really got along from the beginning and this was an issue that continued and only got worse over time. However, I personally believe that Ice Cube's intelligence was able to spot out Jerry Heller's sneakiness to try and trick the group into bad contracts. Ice Cube was clearly the most educated star out of the group and I think that this may have annoyed Jerry because this gave Cube the advantage of not falling into his trap. Jerry says that Ice Cube had an attitude from the beginning which didn't allow them to work together in good conditions and this was what caused the group to eventually fall apart. However,  he admits that Cube was a great artist and writer but describes him as a 'Shity human being' this is part of the quote above describing how Jerry viewed Cube as a person.

"Not the villain: Jerry Heller has defended himself against claims he was on the negative side of the NWA narrative, saying that it was Dr Dre's fault for betraying Eazy-E"

Overall, this article from Jerry Heller attempts to tell Jerry's story and his side. Jerry attempts to defend himself against the claims of the movie and how he was represented in the NWA hit movie. He says the he isn't the villain which links to theories of a hero, villain etc. This gives an amazing narrative. He also says that it was Dr Dre's fault for betraying Eazy-E and that it wasn't down to his contract system. Jerry explains that his and E's relationships was extremely good and this was true because you were able to see a clear reflection of this from the movie. 

Summer Research

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/08/ice-cube-straight-outta-compton-critics-dr-dre-nwa-movie

Ice Cube says Straight Outta Compton critics should make their own NWA movie

This is an article by the Guardian on how Straight Outta Compton (SOC) critics should 'make their own NWA movie'. This is an article that speaks about some parts of the NWA story wasn't included in the movie and critics say this is unfair or untrue. However Ice Cube responds simply saying that this is their movie and they told the story how it happened. 

The part that wasn't included in the movie was of Dr Dre's previous history of abusing women. Critics believe that this was an important part of the movie. However I personally agree with Ice Cube in terms of not including this. This is because instead of bringing success to the movie and showing these characters as successful role models it will instead show a bad image on them. This may cause fans to react on this and mimic this behaviour although it is wrong. Not including this was a good idea especially because of the current stereotype on black men this will only reinforce this.

http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2015/08/17/3692315/cnn-straight-outta-compton/

CNN Surprised ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Didn’t Cause Violence, Earned Record Money Instead

This was a segment done by CNN which spoke about how there were long lines before and after the screening of SOC but there was no violence. This shocked them because in previous films such as Batman there was extreme violence. This was surprising for the reporters because SOC seems to be a more influential and violent than batman because it includes guns sex etc. 

CNN report this with shock which really seems bad because it shows and highlights the stereotypes that are already in place. The fact that this is a black movie starring black characters with black producers CNN predicted there would be shoot outs and violence at cinemas. However, there was no violence and the movie was very successful in revenues and its overall publicity and success sky rocketed.