The Big Question: And Then What?

As many movies do, ATL ends with a tidy wrap up of the main characters' lives. After a brief fade to black, Rashad returns with a soulful voice over similar to the one that opens the movie. During it, we witness the progression of the main characters' lives.

Esquire is grinning with undisguised joy while jogging at an unnamed Ivy League college. Brooklyn has found a menial job he has kept long enough to get promoted. Teddy has his own grills business. And Rashad has become a cartoonist, a possibility briefly foreshadowed earlier in the movie.

We don't need to ask, "And then what happened?"

But ATL's ending is not like real life.

As we go along, we don't get to find out at the end of 90 minutes whether our choices work out, whether our needs are met, whether our future is bright. We may see changes after a 5-week period, as I inferred from the movie's timing. 5 weeks is a little while or a long time, depending on your situation. A lot can happen during 5 weeks. A whole life can change in that amount of time. Something you do in 5 weeks may affect the rest of your life, or it may be the rest of your life.

Whatever your outlook, be it 5 weeks or a lifetime, every little bit of wisdom you can get helps you navigate through life. And you can get them from anywhere. Take Marcus the drug dealer. He is by no stretch of the imagination a good role model or pillar of the community. But he exhorts gems like, "Say no to drugs. Dare to be different." Sure, he advises this in jest. But you can apply it in any context you want. When was the last time you dared to be different?

When you're feeling a little too proud of yourself, remember Marcus’s other witticism: "Just 'cause your head big doesn't make you smart." A little reminder to check yourself.

ATL has other more upstanding sources of guidance, like Mr. Garnett. It is very often true, as Mr. Garnett tells Esquire, that getting ahead is not always about what you know. "Sometimes it's who you know."

Let's not forget Uncle George. On the morality spectrum, he fits in somewhere between Marcus and Mr. Garnett. And during one of Rashad's most difficult moments, Uncle George gives decent advice. "It's all just feelings," Uncle George tells his troubled nephew. "From females to friends to funerals... It's all about the feelings."

Nothing can help you predict the answer to, "And then what?" But every bit of good advice can help you imagine it and then live it. Maybe some of these ATL wisdoms will help you.

Skating, Dancing, Sexing

Skating is a big part of ATL. It's a pastime, a lifeline, and an art form. For Rashad it's a way to relax, a way to be himself, and a way to show off. Skating reveals a lot about Rashad, as it does about his friends, and about all the other people who frequent the Cascade rink on Sunday nights. The skating in this movie reminds me of dancing in real life.

I've often thought that how a man dances is a glimpse at how he makes love.

Now, I don't mean Michael Jackson moon walking and kicking up his leg. I mean moving to a rhythm, in sync with a partner, present in the moment.

Maybe the salsa music and dancing in my childhood is to blame for this notion. Maybe my own special mania is. Whatever the reason, I've always thought that a man who knows how to move on the dance floor also knows how to move in the bed.

Think about it.

Picture it.

Is he engaged with his partner? Or might he as well be alone? Is he controlled, or frenzied? Is he smooth on the rink? On the dance floor? In the bedroom?

The first time I watched New New tell Teddy that she's seen him skate and that tells her "everything [she needs] to know about a man," I nearly shouted, "Exactly!"

Poor, Teddy. He doesn't understand. He goes on to explain that he is "the quickest one out there... [he] be pumpin' it out there." Again, New New and I are in sync when she says, dismissively, "Exactly. A quick pumper."

I know what you're thinking. "Skating is not dancing." You're right; it's not. And dancing is not lovemaking. But all of these activities require moves and style.

Do you know what you like? You have to know what you like to get what you like. Or like New New, you have to know what you don't like to avoid disappointment.