'Straight Outta Compton' Recut as Oscar Bait Is Mostly About a White Dude

There's no question about it: Straight Outta Compton was snubbed by the Academy. Despite becoming the highest-grossing film by a black director, the movie wasn't nominated for a single Oscar—in fact, its cast wasn't even invited to the ceremony. Even producer Will Packer has spoken out about the Academy's decision to exclude the film, saying "Those of us in the industry who labor to make the best content we can are especially sensitive to a perceived systemic bias against a group of people or type of film."

Perhaps Packer—and Compton director F. Gary Gray—would've had more luck with YouTube user Super Deluxe's version of the film. To make Straight Outta Compton more, well, Oscar-esque, Super Deluxe cuts and re-frames the whole film to center on Paul Giamatti's Jerry Heller, a.k.a. a white dude. Instead of a story about five friends from Compton banding together to form N.W.A., a rap group that ignites the world and brings decades of simmering racial injustice to the forefront, Compton becomes the story of "hip-hop pioneer and N.W.A. creator Jerry Heller, a courageous man who risked it all and sparked a music revolution. He wasn't afraid to take a chance, and became the most important figure in hip-hop history."

Complete with triumphant orchestral music, dramatic scenes of Jerry yelling, close-ups of Jerry's anxious face, and panorama shots of Jerry sitting alone in a dimly lit room, this version of Compton embodies what the Academy loves most: stories about white guys.