I found this great review of
Tupac: Resurrection, the new film that is a hypocritical and shameless ploy by MTV Films to make money off the murdered artist. The movie portrays TuPac as an enlightened leader of the poor community, and ignoring his criminal past. His mother directed the film, somehow justifying his criminal lifestyle by saying that he was some sort of hero fighting for the poor, and oppressed. [
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I included some of the most interesting parts
Imagine if your mother was in charge of producing a film about your life. Would she leave out a few things that make you look bad, and do everything she could to put your best face forward? Of course she would. Now consider the fact that Tupac: Resurrection's executive producer is slain gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur's own mother. Is the result a bit biased? You bet.
For instance, on the night of April 11, 1992, state trooper Bill Davidson was shot and killed by 19-year-old Ronald Ray Howard after Davidson pulled the teen over for a routine traffic violation. Although conceding their client's guilt, Howard's legal defense team argued that the cop-killing lyrics of Tupac Shakur motivated him-an assertion that Davidson's widow, Linda Sue Davidson, echoes. Similarly, on Sept. 7, 1994, two bored 17-year-olds called for a policeman to handle a nonexistent disturbance in their Milwaukee, Wis., neighborhood for the sole purpose of killing a cop. Officer William Robertson had the misfortune of being dispatched to the site where he was fatally shot with a high-power rifle. As with Ronald Ray Howard, one of the boys later admitted he was inspired by lyrics from a recording by Shakur that depict cop-killing as glamorous and heroic. Moviegoers watching Tupac: Resurrection don't get this view of the controversial rapper. It's not that Tupac's mom completely ignores her son's troubled past and long rap sheet. It's just that by film's end, the overall impression is that Shakur isn't really a negative societal influence and criminal, but rather a falsely accused victim, misunderstood wise guy and even a positive role model.
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Tupac: Resurrection isn't a movie as much as it is a VH-1 Behind the Music-style documentary. It opens on the corner of Flamingo and Koval in Las Vegas, where Tupac was fatally shot. Then, before introducing the details of his murder, it travels back in time to his mother's Black Panther involvement and pregnancy ("My mother was pregnant with me in prison; I was cultivated in prison, my embryo was in prison"), and proceeds to move forward from there. Using only the words of Tupac himself, Tupac tells the story of the rapper breaking the chains of poverty to achieve the pinnacle of commercial success.
Do we really want to hold up Tupac Shakur as an example of a life well lived? As a role model for young people? Apparently so. MTV Films and Afeni Shakur certainly think so. Glossing over the deeply troubling aspects of Tupac's life and personality, what is left is a documentary depicting this rapper as a Martin Luther King Jr.-type, fighting for greater freedom for the oppressed. The movie closes with Tupac uttering what may have been his life's primary philosophy, "Keep your head up-do what you gotta do!" Deep stuff, huh?
With better narration and some major editing of profanity and distorted philosophy, Tupac: Resurrection could have been a cautionary tale of what not to do with one's life. As it is, this one-sided and skewed "historical" account assaults moviegoers with undeserved praise for a thug lifestyle that proved shallow even for Tupac himself. What young people need to see is a man who lived a bankrupt life based on bankrupt principles. Instead, what they get is a man put on a pedestal for selling 33 million albums and starring in several movies-as if these "accomplishments" are more important than personal integrity and character.