I picked this movie out because I’m the only person in the group that had previously seen this movie and some of the issues discussed in this movie still need to be discussed today.  Also I’ve decided I’m only going to be doing “Black” movies from now on.
 
The first thing we need to talk about is the opening credits of the movie.  One thing I believe that no one ever really talks about is the opening credits of movies and Spike has the best with ‘Do the Right Thing’ and he has one of the worst with ‘Chi-Raq’.  These opening credits fall right behind ‘Do the Right Thing’.  The credits show African-Americans through the years, from slave times all the way through to modern times all while the old Negro spiritual ‘Buildin’ Me A Home’ is playing.  The pictures focus mostly the struggles black people went through to be treated equally and the education that they received and the way they united to achieve them. All of this composes the opening credits to a movie that starts out with a demonstration against a school to divest in Apartheid laden South Africa, and later shows the divides within the black community on an all-black campus even after these struggles.

In the 1980s, Paul Reubens brought us the character Pee-wee Herman. From the Tim Burton-directed Pee-wee’s Big Adventure to the Saturday morning hit Pee-wee’s Playhouse, he delighted us when we were younger. There were the colorful Playhouse characters: Chairry, Conky 2000, Jambi, Laurence Fishburne as Cowboy Curtis. We screamed when the secret word was spoken. We all wanted his bicycle. We remember the bar top dance to Tequila and are well aware that the Alamo has no basement (I’ve been there, it really doesn’t).

And then we got Big Top Pee-wee and the infamous adult theater arrest. Was Pee-wee Herman gone for good? Fast forward to 2010 when we saw the release of a new Pee-wee Herman Show, a stage version of the Playhouse show, and now in 2016, a new original film on Netflix, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.

The birth of N.W.A. is a fascinating story and is undoubtedly powerful and relevant today.  Straight Outta Compton opens with the lyrics, "You are now about to witness the power of street knowledge," spoken by Dr. Dre in N.W.A's rap, "Straight Outta Compton."  This line and their lyrics inspire outrage, the desire to reveal the truth, and to educate others about the realities of "street" life.  After watching, I even went to ye old Facebook to ask, "Who are your favorite artists speaking truth today?" ​