Donald Glover, or Childish Gambino, is known for his diverse careers in entertainment and proves that he can thrive in them by being a successful producer, singer, actor, writer, rapper, and songwriter. But recently, the 32 year old's newest project is his show Atlanta. You might have seen some of the show's promos featuring music from Tame Impala's Currents album.
The show follows Glover's Character, Earnest, and his attempt to manage the rap career of his cousin who makes music under the moniker of Paper Boi. They also have a weird friend named Darius. Earnest also struggles financially trying to support his daughter and save his relationship with her mother.
The show really represents a lot in showing that black television shows can do more than be sitcoms or be a hood drama about a main character trying to make it out of the ghetto. Atlanta succeeds in showing a wider spectrum in black people than the average show presents in showing that a black character is either a troubled thug, average high schooler maybe a college student, or wealthy. In just the first two episodes of the show we see the show put Earnest in scenarios involving homophobia, transphobia, mental illness, racism, police brutality, fractured justice system, young parents, and music's influence on the youth all in the black community. Yeah shows like The Proud Family, Fresh Prince, and Everybody Hates Chris were great, but there's more to black actors than voice acting and being in shows that use a laugh box whenever somebody tells a joke.
We need more diversity in television plain and simple. It's great to see another show with a black main cast performing roles that can be taken seriously, related to, and make us laugh. The token black guy or girl game has gotten really old really fast. There are too many talented actors and actresses of color for them to be that one friend who only gets under 10 minutes of screen time every episode just to make a comment for a quick laugh then fade back into the background.
The first episode of Atlanta is available to watch on Youtube for free and new episodes air every Tuesday.
