Chris Forte discusses personal truth within Straight Outta Compton.
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For over 20 years I’ve been reading books about spirituality, personal development and inspiring biographies as part of my spiritual fitness practice. Once in a great while I’ll watch a movie that fits this criteria and this one hit it big time. Last night I watched the movie “Straight Outta Compton.”
Now for myself and my personal experiences I write this from a spiritual point of view. Even though the lyrics of some of the songs and scenes in the movie degrade women and the police, the judgment of that or conclusion about that is a matter of public opinion. For me, they are speaking their truth–that what’s I get out of it. They are sharing their personal experiences and bringing into the world. For Dre & Cube and the rest of N.W.A., this was their experience.
The main connection with these two and me is the journey–two opposites sides of the spectrum perhaps, but the central core of a mantra I live by: Follow Your Heart, Live Brave. That is the purpose of this blog. The movie hit home because I could see that both Dr. Dre and Ice Cube were listening to their heart.
First, we see the scene with Dr. Dre and his mom when she is kicking him out of the house. He was brutally honest with his mom in what he wanted and what he was going after. With Ice Cube we see him writing in the school bus. (I love this one as writing is part of the spiritual fitness movement.) Writing brings out the creativity in us, the artist in us–we are all artists. To me, Ice Cube shows in this movie that he is an artist first, and everything else falls in after that priority. I can also relate to these two with early success, betrayal in business, and leaving people in business that were not good for you. We are shown how Dr. Dre and Ice Cube’s characters channeled anger in the movie: Dr. Dre speeding in his sports car and Ice Cube taking a baseball bat to an Executive’s office. No judgment here–I relate to those feelings. Back then myself, I channeled it through hitting the boxing bag as hard as I could, or swimming (which I’ve now learned over the years that water calms me down).
A very touching scene is Dr. Dre showing vulnerability with the death of his brother, as well as the scene in the hospital bed with Eazy-E. Following Your Heart and Living Brave has nothing to do with music (maybe a little), me being white, Dre & Cube being black, the neighborhoods we grew up in, or how we were raised. It’s all about LOVE. We are equal and we are all connected. The movie was dedicated in loving memory of Eazy-E. Both Dr. Dre and Ice Cube show us living examples of LOVE–LOVE for themselves by following their hearts.
Live Brave & Follow Your Heart,
Chris
Source: 30dB.com – %23StraightOuttaCompton
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This article originally appeared on Chris Forte
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