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Essay on “Serve and Protect”

Updated August 12, 2022
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Essay on “Serve and Protect” essay

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The events that make up my life often relate to other events of my life, such as to pieces of literature that I have read or to themes that I have experienced. I recently went to a showing of the movie “Straight Outta Compton.” When attending this event, I noticed how closely it aligned with the theme of Social Justice, while also paralleling “The Story of X” that I examined in my First Year Seminar class. The event I attended was one of the First Year Seminar movies that are shown each week  in the bottom floor of the Standish library. This film, “Straight Outta Compton,” was about a group of individuals who overcame all odds to become famous rappers fighting oppression. I chose to go to this event, because I wanted to learn more about the harsh reality that many people face when forced to live in impoverished neighborhoods. I learned of the horrors of police brutality mixed with racism against the African American community.

The theme of Social Justice was present throughout “Straight Outta Compton,” especially within the conflict that the group, NWA, had with law enforcement. The movie starts off with police from the Los Angeles Police Department attacking a house and almost killing E with a battery ram. In the first three minutes of the film, I had already began to realize that social justice played a major role in the plot. The lack of social justice is depicted most by police brutality and racism. Cube was forcefully searched by police while he was just walking. It was apparent that Walker 2 the police searched him because of his race, which demonstrates both police brutality and racism. Cube’s right to be protected from unwarranted search and seizure was violated by those who were supposed to protect it. When recording a song in the studio, the group takes a step outside where the police threaten them and force them onto the ground. Jerry, the group’s manager, walks out and becomes furious. He was shocked to see police brutality in person. NWA then writes the song “Fuck the Police,” which becomes a big hit.

The FBI soon threatens NWA to not play the song. In effect, the government attempted to restrict the group’s freedom of speech, which is in direct violation of the first amendment, human rights, and social justice. This violation was taken to the extreme when the police violently arrested NWA at a concert when they played the song. The direct violation of free speech due to their race demonstrates the lack of social justice that results from police brutality and racism in modern society. Late in the movie, video footage of the police beating a man was released, yet the LAPD was determined to be innocent in court, which shows how the lack of social justice exposed a lack of justice as a whole.

Social justice is also evident is shown by the acceptance of poverty in the African American community. When the group started becoming popular, a reporter asked them what people like them do with real money. This comment was quite demeaning and possibly racist. It shows how people of color being of a lower income was normalized. This scene demonstrates how people generally “look down” on those of lesser privilege, which represents a lack of social justice.

I noticed how analogous “Straight Outta Compton” was with the “Story of X” by Lois Gould.​ ​The Story portrays the upbringing of a child without revealing the gender to anyone, Walker 3 including the child itself. Baby X symbolizes the group of rappers, NWA. When X went to school, the other children began to hate X. Similarly, when NWA started trying to rap, they were hated on. The group tried rapping in the club, but their boss, the owner of the club, was furious. Dre’s mother scolded Dre for not giving up music and pursuing a higher-paying job. Dre’s mother and the owner represent the children who hated X at first. X soon received the advice “All you have to do is be yourself” (Gould 3). This approach to hate is exactly what NWA did. They expressed themselves, and their feelings through rap. As a result, their music was great, and they gained popularity. This represents how X starting making friends and gaining followers. But soon, X got into trouble with the authorities, other children’s parents. They said “X should be forced to behave like whichever it was” (Gould 3).

This represents NWA’s constant struggle with law enforcement. Law enforcement wants to force NWA to act like everybody else by not questioning authority, just like how the parents in “The Story of X” want X to act like everybody else by not questioning gender norms. The school examined X in order to determine its gender. They results claimed that X was the least mixed-up child they had ever examined. This represents how NWA could not stay arrested, because they had not broken any laws. The showing of “Straight Outta Compton” was an exceptionally enjoyable event to attend. It related to the theme of Social Justice through NWA’s struggle with police brutality, racism, and economic discrimination. The event connected to “The Story of X” through the similar conflictions of the main characters, which both involved problems with societal norms and authority figures. Not only was the movie entertaining, but it also contained important messages and life lessons that are needed now more than ever.

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Essay on “Serve and Protect”. (2022, Aug 12). Retrieved from https://sunnypapers.com/essay-on-serve-and-protect/