I think by now and after the super bowl everyone knows about Beyoncé’s new single, Formation. It is a powerful new song accompanied by a powerful video where Beyoncé publicly puts herself behind the black lives matter movement. Sadly the responses to the video have been very controversial. People are for some reason upset that she has announced her support for the movement. They have even brought up things like white lives matter too, which in my opinion is an ignorant statement. This video is incredible because it perfectly illustrates the power of pop culture in things as important as social movements. The best part is that there was a follow up SNL video.
The Day Beyoncé Turned Black is an incredible satire about the public reaction to Beyoncé’s video. It was as if the public did not know she was black. The fact that she took a stand to represent herself for some reason shocked people. This video illustrates how silly it is that people were confused by Beyoncé. It also shows how important SNL as a media publication is in bringing social issues to a public audience. By making this controversy comedic it is more captivating for a large audience to view. Twitter blew up with posts and comments reacting to the video. What do you guys think about the video, the responses and SNL’s satire?
This is really interesting because modern hip hop occupies a weird space in our society. For one, it appears as mainstream and it is heavily commercialized, however some of the messages in hip hop are very critical about society as it exist. This Beyonce video specifically contains subliminal and clear racial messages (for example the opening scene where Beyonce is sitting on a New Orleans cop car, a reference to the government’s role in providing relief during Hurricane Katrina during 2005). However, hip hop music has had a history of delivering political message. For example, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly (2016 Hip Hop Album of the Year) had a lead single called The Blacker The Berry which received some of the same criticism for it’s racially charged message. Personally, I believe that music’s value is it’s ability to bring to focus the ideas of a marginalized community. While the SNL skit is intended to be satirical, it also has a bit of truth to it. Hip Hop artists are legendary figures in the minority community but they must have a commercial presence. In order to that, they must balance these competing objectives.
I think that “Formation” is an example of how uncomfortable people tend to get when presented with something foreign. In one of my other rhetoric courses, we are focusing on communication as a symbolic process whereby social reality can be produced, maintained, repaired and transformed. One aspect of communication not outlined in that definition is the concept of breaks in social reality. Beyonce’s latest single stands as a break from her popularized image and the social norms typically associated with her and her music. Formation boasts a language and ideology that stands in contrast to dominant, white heteronormative values in America, which is not typical of an artist that has achieved the success Ms. Knowles has. Formation, and Beyonce’s halftime performance of the single, imbues a certain pride with being Black during a time of heightened racial tensions in a nation finally addressing its racist roots and privileged hegemony. Meanwhile, most critics can only see the Formation of Black pride as a threat to white security in America, which leads to the bemoaning of anti-police messages being promoted and the audacious remarks claiming Formation to be racist…
I’ll just leave the discussion here with what I think is a very relevant article:
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/02/10/466178725/in-beyonc-s-formation-a-song-for-the-bama
I love how Beyonce is using her fame and pop culture as a platform to spread a political message. As stated, black hip hop artists have a history of spreading these messages in their videos, which is great because it causes the public to think but it also will leave many (unfortunately) confused or angry because of their limited understanding of the black lives matter movement. I think a lot of white people are threatened by the video because at the end of the day they don’t understand their privilege in society. I agree with you Bal, and your last sentence is 100% true. This video below is an example of the inverted mindset many people have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2O5MGpfKTc