Surviving Compton: Is Michel’le Bigger Than Getting Hit?

Like most people, I eagerly rushed to the television set to watch “Surviving Compton,” the Lifetime biopic about singer Michel’le. Though I knew the film would likely highlight Michel’le’s relationship with exes Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, I hoped that we would learn more about the singer’s career, possibly teach the unfamiliar about her stints with Ruthless Records and Death Row.  Unfortunately, I learned about as much about Michel’le’s career in her own biopic as I did the one time they mentioned her in “Straight Outta Compton.” In fact, the entire film is focused on her abuse. So I ask, is Michel’le bigger than getting hit?

The film starts off with a young Michel’le walking the streets of South Central with her grandmother. She witnesses a neighbor being abused by a boyfriend and vows to her grandmother that when she grows up, she’ll never let a man hit her. Her grandmother quickly justifies why men abuse women and says that all women get hit. “When a man hits a woman it’s because his hands are working faster than his brain. And a woman might be smarter, but she’s still going to get hit.”

This is within the first 2 minutes of the movie. The opening credits are still rolling. It sets the premise of what the entire biopic will be about.

When Michel’le meets Dr. Dre for the first time, he’s initially rude to her. He eventually warms up to here after hearing how great she sings. Michel’le admits that Dre wasn’t her type, but he was sweet to her. The two date, move in together, and though things started off well, like most things, it didn’t stay that way for long. Dre cheated on Michel’le, became emotionally unstable and drank increasingly. When Dre physically abused Michel’le for simply being present, it was a clear sign that she should have left. But she stayed. She took it as a sign of love because that is what she was taught to believe by her grandmother.

Throughout the film I counted 6 times that Dr. Dre physically abused Michel’le and one time that she was abused by Suge Knight.  I counted Michel’le in the studio recording music 4 times, 2 were solo. The film itself focused mainly on the mental and physical abuse Michel’le endured from both Dre and Suge. It showed her choosing men she knew were no good for her, but being suckered by their “niceness.” What it doesn’t show is who Michel’le the artist is.

If you were born in the 90’s, or didn’t grow up around the Ruthless or Deathrow era, I wouldn’t expect this film to educate you much about Michel’le as an artist. It barely scratches the surface of her tour, certified gold album, or the many songs she was featured on.  As a battered woman with two children who eventually finds her strength to leave toxic relationships, we learn a little, but even then it took a very long time for that climax to come to play. In fact, we don’t see much of the gold at the end of the rainbow or frankly any of her post-abuse life.

I think this film had the potential to go the “What’s Love Got To Do With It” route, in which it touches on the music aspect, the tragedy, the triumph and the abuse (without the abuse overpowering the entire story). Unfortunately, as it is, the abuse appears to be bigger than Michel’le.

Your thoughts after watching?