It’s been a big week for Dr. Dre. The NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton is officially the surprise hit of the summer, and his new album – the appropriately titled Compton – has met with mostly favorable responses from critics and audiences alike. Unfortunately, not everyone is thrilled with the projects that have cemented Dre’s place as one of hip hop’s most beloved and bankable legends. First, there were complaints about Eminem’s rape reference on Compton – a shocking lyric, even by the standards of an emcee who’s ability to offend is the stuff of legend. Now, Gawker has asked former TV personality Dee Barnes – who was famously assaulted by Dre in 1991 – for her take on the acclaimed film that depicts Dre not only as a musical genius, but as a champion of the downtrodden. “Dr. Dre straddled me and beat me mercilessly on the floor of the women’s restroom at the Po Na Na Souk nightclub in 1991,” Barnes writes. “That event isn’t depicted in Straight Outta Compton, but I don’t think it should have been, either. The truth is too ugly for a general audience. “I didn’t want to see a depiction of me getting beat up, just like I didn’t want to see a depiction of Dre beating up Michel’le, his one-time girlfriend who recently summed up their relationship this way: “I was just a quiet girlfriend who got beat on and told to sit down and shut up.” Yes, it seems Barnes isn’t the only one who suffered horrific violence at the hands of Dr. Dre. Most biopics of famous musicians tend to gloss over some of the uglier parts of their subjects’ pasts. It’s a compromise that comes with obtaining the rights to use their music and securing their endorsement of the project. In Barnes case, however, the incident is well known (Dre protege Eminem even referenced it in the 1999 song “Guilty Conscience.”), and many viewers have expressed shock that it was in no way acknowledged in SOC. As Barnes said, the film could have easily addressed the incident without graphically portraying it. Instead, it made Barnes and Dre’s other victims “casualties of Straight Outta Compton’s revisionist history,” once again reducing them to the level of overpowered victims.
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Dr. Dre: Allegations of Violence Against Women Resurface Following Release of Straight Outta Compton
