All about that Paper Boi
Anyone that follows me on IG, knows I’m a big fan of the FX series Atlanta. All characters hold my attention and the show is very well written, but the character that stands out to me the most is Paper Boi.
Paper Boi (played by Bryan Tyree Henry) is the talented local rapper who’s currently being managed by his cousin Earn.
As I watch him, I realize he portrays a behavioral pattern that soothes me and actually is very familiar to me. Paper Boi is an anti-social extrovert.
I enjoy my own space and can write/re-write for hours in complete silence, unfortunately, no one has ever knocked on my door and begged me to hand my scripts over.
The same way it seems Paper Boi would like to just record songs, send them out into the world and have a check magically show up for his contribution to society. If this could happen at the exact time as him lighting up a blunt, he would be in heaven.
The first time I laughed out loud at his behavior, was when he tried to fake socialize while being in a totally aggravated state.
His cousin had just informed him they were shortchanged by the club owner and Paper Boi is furious — They run into an acquaintance as they make their way through the club and Earn starts to small talk, instead of following his lead, which is to get their money back.
At that moment I understood him perfectly. It’s hard to be aggravated and keep your cool at the same time.
It reminded me of a time where I asked for directions from a store clerk after being lost for almost an hour. Who then proceeded to move towards me with the speed of a snail, only to inform me she had no clue which way to go. She was dead to me.
Easily annoyed by the world and it’s new found social habits, Paper Boi fights between staying true to himself or being sucked into the madness, with a good chance that it could all propel his career forward.
Can he go out and have a blast with his boys? Sure. Can he re-take a photo so it’s the best angle for the gram? Solid no.
To handle any of these social obstacles at any time, he chooses my favorite form of expression when annoyed— pettiness.
Now Pettiness, of course, comes with its own consequences and I think that’s what makes his character great to me.
Paper Boi gets in his own way, cause he stays stuck in his comfort zones. When out of his comfort, he often becomes very passive aggressive and doesn’t speak his mind until he is beyond the point of decent reasoning.
Still, I root for him because he is also very compassionate. He sticks to his morals & values, is a man of his word and tries to be as fair as possible.
To me, Paper Boi is a good example of wanting more, but not knowing how. He’s a fictional beacon for all the dreamers who wake up in their non-supportive environments, feeling stuck and deep down know they could do better, deserve better, WANT better.
At this point in the series, I don’t think Paper Boi really believes that could ever happen. He wants to, but he’s not able to picture the full reality of his success, as he sits on his dingy couch and lights up another blunt. It’s all a big fantasy and if someone caught him fantasizing and he failed, that would be too big of a social suicide to bear. Paper Boi doesn’t rock with vulnerability.
Can he make it with this level of effort and his given talent? I hope we watch him overcome all the fears and mental blocks that keep him from being the best version of himself.
So how do you move? What is the next move? According to Paper Boi, it has to be his best one (a mental trap that keeps most of us from moving in the first place). Whenever he lights up and inhales deeply, I vicariously brainstorm with him. Go ahead, think it all through, dude. We out here rooting for you.
