I'm not a fan of rap music, nor am I really a fan of Donald Glover (Childish Gambino, though I sometimes mix him up with the elderly Lethal Weapon actor Danny Glover). So, I don't listen to his music, and I think the most exposure I have had to him has been from watching a little bit of the fun show Community, that I never actually finished watching. Atlanta has been a show I've heard great things about over the years, but I never really heard enough for me to get interested. I'd just see it mentioned here and there and that it was good, never really anything more about the story or its characters. I had no idea what it was about prior to watching it. And I would never have finally decided to watch it had I not seen it on Disney+ earlier today; though I am scouting for new shows to download and watch during my flight in a few days, and this ended up being a contender. While I'm not a fan of his music, I do think Donald Glover is a talented creative. And Atlanta definitely is a sign of this.
Atlanta mixes the two things that Donald Glover seems to know the best: music and comedy. Him being the creator, there's a clear combination of his Inspirations and influences in telling a meaningful story while still generating laughs and being a bit of fun. Perhaps a little more deadpan than Community's humour, which had more comedic moments and dialogue, though still tried to be a little emotional here and there with the episode themes and messaging. Atlanta feels more different in that regard. More grounded, but in a way that makes it actually a bit dramatic and gives you reason to really care for the characters it's displaying. So far, it has been a very strong show to dive into, and I suspect this will continue as things progress. And yes, I know I'm late to the party here, but come on, this isn't anything new for me!
This post may feature a few spoilers as always. So keep that in mind before reading on. As this is a first impressions post, nothing beyond the first season will be mentioned.
Atlanta
Created by Donald Glover, Atlanta seems to tell the story of Earn, coincidentally a young man that really does not earn much at all. Living in Atlanta in tough economic situations, he's struggling to juggle the responsibilities of being a father to his daughter while in some broken relationship with the mother. To which she doesn't see a future with him and is already dating other people while he's still living under the same household. It's a highly dysfunctional setup, but one that introduces Earn as a man that has good intentions, but just can't seem to catch a break. He's employed, earning very little though. Barely scraping by with each paycheck he receives at a $5 per hour wage. Earn is a calm, smarter individual that's more or less just tired. Looking for a way out to improve things but never catching a break. It's only once people bring up a rapper called Paper Boi that he realises there's opportunity here, given this rapper is actually his cousin and slowly managing to get some local recognition.
The desperation for better finances leads to a character that seems a bit manipulative, ready to fight for his way to a better chance, convincing his cousin he hasn't talked to in a while to let him manage his rap career. So far, this is mostly what Atlanta is about. But each episode focuses on a different day in the life of Earn. As he struggles to keep his life together in the pursuit of any and all opportunity he can get his hands on. For the most part you may think this is a pretty serious and depressing show, and to some degree it is. But there's comedy in how Earn and other characters interact with each other, the absurdity of situations they find themselves getting into. This is where some of that Community character comes out, Glover utilising serious moments while using empty reactions to play out how odd they are. Him getting arrested and surrounded by true criminals, the panic of trying to take his not-girlfriend on a budget date with just $62 in his account to which he then, at the end of the night, reports the card stolen.
The drama and the comedy aren't alone in being the show's strengths, it seems. One of the first things I noticed was how beautiful of a production this is. The cinematography is very visually appealing, with a very filmic look to it. Generally darker tones that look as if the show was shot on 35mm film stock, though I suspect it's digital and shot with vintage lenses which give that more grainy look. Either way, I love this style. Anything that looks similar to film should win me over. And this shy has plenty of it, next to the nice lighting and camera movements that add to the scenes. The way the camera will slowly pan and zoom around characters, the adding to depth in the scenes as more of the environment is revealed. This show impressed from the first episode alone, to which the opening scene features a sudden top-down perspective of an event after building tension from the ground level.
I'm curious as to where the story can go from here. Part of me hopes to see the character suffer more, rather than see immediate success. The best part of the show's narrative so far really is just seeing that desperation leaking out over time. The struggle to get something going and failing. The snippets of seemingly positive events that actually just lead to more problems. How Earn deals with it all so far seems like it'll only get more frantic. More out of control in the attempt to make money. And as mentioned before, Earn as a character seems like he has good intentions, which will be interesting to see put to the test as more questionable acts come to play, and his morals are replaced with a thirst to have a normal life. There's a lot of room for his character to grow in either direction.
I'm sure it won't take me long to binge through the first couple of seasons in the next few days, and I'm actually looking forward to it. With short episode runtimes, it's very easy to throw on and get into. And so far it's definitely off to a great start.
