In the age of Hollywood whitewashing and an all-too-often general failure to represent minorities realistically in film and television, Donald Glover’s Atlanta is a breath of fresh air. Glover combines his experiences growing up in Stone Mountain, Georgia with his skills as a writer, actor, and rapper to showrun the new FX series that is entirely worth the hype.
Atlanta centers around Earn (Donald Glover), a young man taking time off of college for unexplained reasons. He’s broke, working a job he hates, and living with his ex-girlfriend Van (Zazie Beets) with whom he has a daughter. In an attempt to get his life back together he reaches out to his cousin Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry), a local rapper known as Paper Boi, and asks to manage him. Alfred is always accompanied by his right hand man Darius (Keith Stanfield) whose perpetually high persona helps him craft stellar one liners. Throughout the rest of the episode, we witness the dynamics of Earn’s relationships with his parents, old friends, and coworkers as well as a look into his day-to-day life setting up a solid foundation for the upcoming episodes.
Equipped with a group of talented black writers, the authenticity of the characters and their stories shines through right off the bat. Glover strives to make the audience feel the experiences of African Americans rather than explicitly state it through exhaustive dialogue, and he does so with a seamless balance of drama and comedy perfectly paced within a twenty-five-minute episode. The comedic moments never leave you laughing out loud, but are instead subtly inserted with flawless timing - you can’t help but let a chuckle escape you. Also, the lack of exposition during dramatic moments is crucial in making a point when the episode addresses serious issues such as gun violence and unstable family life. The series opener never felt preachy or melodramatic, just simply a slice of life. These more serious moments didn’t need to be tragic and heartbreaking to still leave an impact. It shows maturity in its writing, something often lacking in pilot episodes.
Visually, the show doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary or groundbreaking. There are no crazy special effects, unnecessary camera movements, or anything jarring and distracting. Instead, the moody tones (shout out to the colorist), the simple yet powerful cinematography, and the clean editing allow for full focus on the characters and the story. Everything from the drone shots of Atlanta to the wardrobe of each individual character creates an incredible sense of setting adding to the show’s genuineness.
Glover and his writers create a realistic portrayal of what its like to be black in America in a way in which, if written by anything less, would leave these characters, their conversations, and their experiences culminating in a show inauthentic and loaded with empty stereotypes. In a time where Atlanta is increasingly hitting a cultural stride, Atlanta gets its representation just right.