Video parody declares Batman villains are “Straight Outta Gotham”

By Caroline Siede  |  August 17, 2015 | 8:46pm
Aux Features Film
Video parody declares Batman villains are “Straight Outta Gotham”

Now that Straight Outta Compton has hit theaters, it’ll likely only be a week or so until the “Straight Outta” meme finally fades away to live out its last remaining days on your aunt’s Facebook page. But before that happy day, there’s at least one more N.W.A parody that’s worth checking out. In its music video “Straight Outta Gotham,” the creative services agency Castanet Creative lets Batman’s biggest enemies express its villainy through the medium of gangsta rap.

Written and directed by Matthew Schwartz, the video is a pretty faithful recreation of the original N.W.A music video, only here it’s Two-Face, Riddler, and Joker standing in for Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Eazy-E. As Batman and Robin try to hunt them down, the men rap about their exploits and get their friends Bane and Harley Quinn to back them up. It’s a simple concept that’s helped along by high production values and some clever lyrics like Two-Face bragging, “Pay your bill for services rendered. / Harvey gonna dent your ass like a fender.”

All that being said, compared to the original video, it’s also a reminder that Batman’s world—though ostensibly a stand-in for multicultural New York City—is very, very white.

 
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