“Atlanta” Continues Donald Glover’s Multi-Media Journey of Self-Discovery

Take a look at his musical career overall and itamp8217s easy to see that Gloveramp8217s been on a journey of selfdiscovery constantly shedding the previous conceptions of himself with every iteration of his work Like many artists he yearns for the world to understand him and see things from his unique point of view while at the same time maintaining the somber understanding that not everyoneamp8217s going to get it amp8211 or himamp160 His work doubles as a commentary on life as he sees it and has had to live it and in doing so has become a diary of sorts amp8230 his thoughts fears and desires all lying naked on the page That39s what listening to a Childish Gambino album is like and Atlanta achieves a similar feeling Itamp8217s not a microcosm of the amp8220black experienceamp8221 anymore than Friendsamp160wasamp160designed to show what itamp8217s like to be white Itamp8217s his experience filtered through the lives and eyes of his characters Itamp8217s a story about what could be real people in what is definitely a real place and how they deal with the real circumstances the universe saw fit to drop in their laps all with a very Gambino spinThe tone of the show vaguely resembles Gloveramp8217s 2013 short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons In just under 25 minutes the film takes you through what couldamp8217ve arguably been a day in Donaldamp8217s real life Initially it paints a picture of a surreal and relaxing existence surrounded by friends in an opulent West Coast home There is music making game playing and herb smoking with Gloveramp8217s biggest concern being the mysterious identity of the girl who woke him up The nearserenity of it all is abruptly interrupted when we suddenly see him in the bathroom pulling a foreign object from his bloody nostril amp8211 a string inexplicably tied to what appears to be a gold tooth This unnerving moment is immediately followed by a conversation during which a friend tells Glover a story about buying gun at the age of 17 because of death threats he received and is perfectly summed up by a quote from that same conversation amp8220You just get that point like just amp8216How did I get hereamp8217 Sometimes you just canamp8217t explain why things happenamp8221 Watch the video belowamp160I believe this is the underlying philosophical structure behind all of Gloveramp8217s work whether it be his stand up his music or Atlantaamp160 The idea that life can be random poetic and beautiful as well as weird disturbing and dangerous seems to permeate it allThis is further reinforced by Gloveramp8217s most recent album Because the Internet Coupled with the website becausetheinternet it created a movie that you amp8220watchedamp8221 in your mind amp160You would read an online screenplay embedded with very short subtitled videos depicting key scenes and play corresponding tracks from the album when instructed The album itself which originally seemed like a dissonant and slightly confusing departure from Gloveramp8217s usual stuff made total sense when coupled with the website The cd was actually the soundtrack to his film each song representing the tone of a certain scene and it damn near blew my mindThis amp8220movieamp8221 had a story and that story had all the same elements of Atlanta It followed the main character referenced only as The Boy through a series of seemingly everyday events like waiting to get into a club fighting with his girl eating with his boys and falling in love These amp8220normalamp8221 moments were interrupted regularly by instances of weirdness existentialism and danger The Boy dealt with the death of his father and the idea of his own mortality after seeing someone get shot as well as the consequences of kicking around with unsavory charactersAll of these ideas pulse through Atlanta Sure the characters are different and conceptually a lot less is left to personal perceptionamp160 We see Earn deal with the confusing nature of his relationship with Van the mother of his daughter as well as his newfound independence after having been cut off financially by his folks He deals with the realities of a flawed justice system after watching an obviously mentally unhealthy man be assaulted by a police officer He also has a number of interactions that can only be described as odd The sandwich guy on the bus the case of mistaken identity by the scorned agent at the industry party the racially insensitive gettogether thrown by Vanamp8217s rich stepfather and much more There are even elements of mortal danger starting with the first episode that return throughout reminding us that sudden death is always a possibilityHeavy stuff aside the showamp8217s pretty fun amp160It chooses not to take itself too seriously understanding that with a certain level of drama and tension there should also be laugh or two to break things up Alfred aka rapper Paper Boi and his right hand man Darius tend to be the comic catalysts with Earn and Van shouldering most of the weight in the drama department The show also uses pretty creative methods to comment on culture and popculture topics alike amp160One entire episode parodied the channel BET while also tackling how a black man from the hood perceived transgender people Then there was the episode in which Justin Bieber was black amp160Seeing the Biebs the way he probably sees himself was in a word marvelousCertain questions remained answered at the seasonamp8217s end Why no legal ramifications for anything Paper Boi does He commits at least two felonies during the season and is an active drug dealer with an increasingly large spot in the limelight And exactly how famous is this dude anyway Heamp8217s got a mixtape and no album and hasnamp8217t been signed but does interviews on major networks and plays charity basketball games with Urkel and Black BieberI realize that the beauty of a Donald GloverChildish Gambino album or short film or whatever isnamp8217t that when the experience is over something particularly meaningful has happened Yes a certain story is told whether it be a semifictional day in the life of himself as a new rapper the story of The Boy and the perils surrounding his life or the story of Earn using his cousinamp8217s newfound fame to make a name for himself as a man a manager and a friend Things have been taught to us Questions have been asked of us We laughed a bit cried a bit and lamented over the destinies of our new amp8220friendsamp8221 Their lives are scary and weird and dangerous and funny and awesome and beautiful and so are oursThe goal of Atlanta was to build that vibe the same vibe that informed Because the Internet and Clapping for the Wrong Reasons That goal was accomplished with a season instead of a record and episodes instead of tracks and like most great albums from dope artists I seriously canamp8217t wait for the next oneClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160amp160

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“Atlanta” Continues Donald Glover’s Multi-Media Journey of Self-Discovery

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Ainsley Andrade

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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“Atlanta” Continues Donald Glover’s Multi-Media Journey of Self-Discovery

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Ainsley Andrade

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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