Sunday Read: 'This Is America' video a breakthrough for its Asian American director

FX

Hiro Murai has directed most of the hit series 'Atlanta.'

LAST WEEK, Childish Gambino's new music video "This Is America"  exploded into America's Internet consciousness prompting discussions about race and violence.
Some of the scenes have people gasping in its shocking imagery and the matter-of-fact reaction to violence from the performer, AKA actor Donald Glover.

It has also brought an avalanche of attention to its director, Japanese/American Hiro Murai. FX, the network that airs Glover's creation Atlanta, has contracted with Murai guaranteeing that it gets first look at any development ideas of the Japanese-born director.

What the video boils down to, Murai explained in a New York Times interview, is "a really crazy confluence of tone changes — that’s the premise of the whole video and the song, in a way." The "harrowing" yet "cartoony" violence also plays a huge role: "There’s Looney Tunes logic in there somewhere. Obviously we’re dealing with very provocative images, so it’s a total tightrope walk."

In other words, in today's America, we've become numb to the violence around us. We're no longer horrified, aghast or shocked. Violence has become normal; yet, the show must go on.

How does a Japanese/American director interpret, reflect or depict the black experience in the video and in Atlanta? (He's directed seven of the 11 episodes of the surprise hit.)

“I’m an immigrant and I think being an outsider in your home is something that I really relate to,” Murai explained to Indiewire. “I was like, 10 [when I immigrated].

Atlanta's writers are all black. Murai doesn’t pretend to know what their lived experience is like. He told MTV News he “wasn’t about to go in there and tell stories about what it’s like to be black in Atlanta.”

But he was able to use his experience as a first-generation immigrant -- as a perpetual outsider. "So when Donald was saying how strange it is to be black in America, and how you’re kind of outside of the main conversation in a way, I really related to that in a lot of ways.”

Murai also understands that as an Asian/American in the entertainment industry, the “outsider” feeling is all the more prevalent.

“When we were in the room for the Golden Globes, I look around and it’s just me and Alan Yang,” he told GQ. “And obviously that’s very odd. It’s ... weird to even grow around not that many people that look like you.”

There are only a handful of Asian/Americans out there making a living as a director. According to the Director’s Guild of America, Asian/Americans directed 5 percent of all TV episodes. White directors, on the other hand, directed 78 percent of all episodes.

So the attention Murai has gained through the music videos he's directed for big-name artists, his work for Atlanta and now the controversial "This Is America," has given him strong street cred in the business.

“Hiro has excelled as a director and a creative force in commercials, music videos and episodic television, and we welcome the chance to see him develop his own series through FX Productions,” said Nick Grad, original programming president for FX Networks and FX Productions. “He helped make Atlanta the most acclaimed comedy series on television, greatly contributing to its signature style and tone and becoming an integral part of the creative team led by Donald Glover. With his boundless artistry, Hiro is poised to take the next step as a television creator.”

It's only a metter of time that he directs a feature film. You can bet that Murai makes it unlike anything else we've seen.

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