Director and Compton Girl Ava DuVernay Talks Straight Outta Compton in Emotional Twitter Essay

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Powerhouse director, Ava DuVernay, grew up in Compton in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was there at the dawn of N.W.A as they began a journey that would change and define hip-hop. Now, she’s directed an Academy Award-nominated film in Selma, and N.W.A. is the subject of a biopic directed by F. Gary Gray called Straight Outta Compton, which dominated the box office this weekend, breaking $60 Million.

DuVernay was among those watching the film this weekend and, in an impassioned series of tweets that practically qualify as an essay, praised the film’s accuracy and quality while also commenting on the more problematic elements of hip-hop culture. Here are those tweets in their entirety. Bask in the hip-hop love:

I’m glad that DuVernay brought up the weirdness involved in being a woman who loves hip-hop. I, too, grew up with hip-hop, and love it – even as I can see its flaws. But that’s the thing with anything you love, right? That’s what love is – loving something or someone completely. Knowing its flaws as well as its strengths. It’s easy to love something perfect. Loving something flawed, as we all are, is a much more difficult task. I’m looking forward to seeing this love-letter to N.W.A, and I’m thrilled that there are talented filmmakers like DuVernay and like F. Gary Gray out there telling the stories of the important contributions of black people to our history. There need to be more filmmakers like this.

And personally, I’d LOVE to see a DuVernay film set during the same time as Straight Outta Compton, but told from a female perspective. Maybe the story of a DuVernay-like young hip-hop fan watching this unfold in her hometown? Just sayin’. I’d pay money for that.

(via Vulture)

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Teresa Jusino
Teresa Jusino (she/her) is a native New Yorker and a proud Puerto Rican, Jewish, bisexual woman with ADHD. She's been writing professionally since 2010 and was a former TMS assistant editor from 2015-18. Now, she's back as a contributing writer. When not writing about pop culture, she's writing screenplays and is the creator of your future favorite genre show. Teresa lives in L.A. with her brilliant wife. Her other great loves include: Star Trek, The Last of Us, anything by Brian K. Vaughan, and her Level 5 android Paladin named Lal.