‘Atlanta’ shows the Black Living Matter Industry Complex

As the episode description promises, tonight Atlanta sure to drive some people crazy, mainly a certain Black Lives Matter activist who is not subtly described as a nonprofit leader who says a word and ironically back. Wear a Baltic life jacket as a fashion accessory.

“White Fashion”, written and directed by Ibra Ake – who also directed Beyonce’s Black is king– results for so many people over the course of 30 minutes, from the fashion industry, obviously, to anti-racist book authors to the whitewashed culinary world. At its most critical moments, the episode highlights the grim symbiosis between social justice holders and corporations while marginalized communities they want to care about are left in the dark. cold. There are also some jokes about the “listen and learn” industrial complex that culminated in the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Still, the episode oddly evokes the concept of lack. understanding of black purchasing power as an effective alternative to enterprise-run measures and not an equally ineffective capitalist ploy. It’s mostly confusing in an episode that ends with a Nigerian restaurateur having his business taken over by whites.

Despite some messy messages, the irony in this volume really works.

Al faced an ethical dilemma when he was contacted by a high-fashion brand called Esco Esco to support their PR efforts following a scandal with one of their products. — a shirt with the number 5 on the back sandwiched between the words “center” and “park . “We also saw marketing featuring a white woman modeling the jersey while lying on a picnic blanket surrounded by Negroes. As a result, the brand’s publicists asked Al to attend a press conference to announce their new diversity advisory board but instruct him not to say anything and imply that his role we are short term. Earn is reasonably concerned that Al’s involvement will resemble the “Uncle Tom” situation. He also said that, if he supports Al, he will have the opportunity to learn about diversity programs and start his own initiative that encourages Blacks to reinvest in their communities. they instead support white businesses.

As I suggested earlier, this episode’s failure to interrogate black consumerism from this angle is disappointing but not necessarily shocking for a show directed by Donald Glover. The whole mantra of “supporting black people’s business” thrown around as a solution to Blacks being shot by police in 2020 is problematic for a number of reasons, including the myth that has been research that blacks could dramatically change their socioeconomic status if they didn’t. don’t buy Nikes — but I digress! Predictably, Al scoffed at his “Martin Luther King Baptist Church” soap box moment and said he just wanted an endless supply of free designer clothes for him and the “ his pickaxe”.

Meanwhile, Darius’s very mundane journey to land some tedious rice in Britain becomes an allegory of cultural appropriation and courtesy after he demands the Nigerian staple. at Esco Esco fashion house. Unsure where to buy, an assistant named Sharon (Tamsin Topolski) accompanies Darius to a restaurant in Nigeria and is fascinated by the food and culture, Shazam listens to music playing from a loudspeaker and asks about the term “Naija.” . Darius doesn’t make her very culturally savvy as a white British woman. But her curiosity is revealed to be much more nefarious towards the end of the episode when she purchases the business and creates a whitewashed Nigerian food truck called the Naija Bowl.

Returning to the racially apologetic press conference, where a Black woman was warming up the crowd with a soulful performance of “Amazing Grace,” Al meets a young, gay black man named Khalil (Fisayo Akinade) is wearing the aforementioned swimsuit over a suit. When he introduced himself to Al, he replied in an exasperated voice that he already knew who he was, hinting at us as Khalil’s famous activist status. Khalil immediately said that helping corporations get out of race controversies was in fact his entire job, boasting that he didn’t pay for a meal in “73 explosions.” police gun”. He then tells Al that if he wants to know what his charity does, he needs to buy his book.

It’s debatable, throughout the episode, whether Ake thinks audiences should hate or respect Khalil’s hustle – especially towards the end – since he rightfully took advantage of the useless sins of white people but also maintains this idea that racism can be erased with conservatives, ultimately with empty gestures of solidarity.

Likewise, as the press conference began, he informed reporters that, with Esco Esco’s new diversification effort, they intend to end apartheid “by 2024.” Earlier, a representative of the brand kicked off the event by telling the press that he was “the least biased person in the room”. Al was clearly disturbed and was trying to honestly answer one of the reporters’ questions before he was cut off by Khalil.

Then, the discovery advisory board, which includes an anti-racism book author and an issue social media influencer about Blackness, in addition to Al and Khalil, met in a boardroom to discuss Discuss the brand’s apology gesture but, first and foremost, what each person wants from it. Khalil asks for a ticket to Golden light in the sun, in which Julia Roberts plays a central role. DeMarco, the influencer, wants Nikes and business class airfare. Sam, the author, wants a thousand copies of her book to be sold for sensitivity training courses. And they all want to connect with Black Panther 2 premiere.

When Al asked how any of that was helping Blacks, DeMarco, a blue-eyed, racially indistinct man with a blemish and a Negro, replied that he I’m Negro and that helps him face a barrage of curious looks. Inevitably, Al ended with Earn’s idea from earlier, suggesting that the company launch a capsule collection along with a “reinvest in your hood” campaign, which everyone everyone participates.

Rob Youngson / FX

Meanwhile, Earn is hanging out in the hotel lobby, where he eventually stumbles across Van reading a book. When he asked her where she had been and why she wasn’t communicating with anyone, she didn’t give him much but a shrug and a smile. Out of nowhere, an angry white woman approached Van and accused her of stealing a wig she bought at a street store. The concierge eventually kicked the woman out of the hotel and offered Sword the best room where the two would spend the night.

So far, these writers don’t beat Manic Pixie Dream Girl’s accusations when it comes to Van’s hollow portrayal, especially in this episode where she only appears to have sex with Earn before disappeared into the night without any explanation of what she was doing when she was not with him. It seems like her mysterious journey/state of mind exists only as a point of curiosity for Earn and an occasional reminder for him to enjoy life’s adventures and not get hurt. forced work. At this point, the gesture towards this highly conspicuous joke in male-directed stories feels odd.

“White Fashion” ends on an expected pessimistic note. When we saw the advertisement for Paper Boi’s “reinvest in your hood” campaign, it was mostly white people of different professions, ages and sexual orientations speaking. with the camera “we” all of from several hoods. When Al confronts Khalil about his campaign of essentially ‘All life matters’, he shrewdly replies that there’s no way a company owned by someone can’t. Caucasians encourage consumers to stop buying from them – something you’d think a skeptical Al would understand from the jump.Khalil also suggests that Al takes advantage of free white people as guilty as he and his head. invest in his own charity if it wants to make any real change.

At this point you feel the show is trying to give #Resistance grinders the benefit of the doubt or at least imagine a scenario where their practice could be either subversive or subversive. even morality. But if the serious controversies surrounding Black Lives Matter’s local and global networks and their use of funds are any proof, they certainly haven’t garnered any generous descriptions. Overall, the episode ends on a tired sigh.