Beyoncé - Formation
Beyoncé is one of the most notorious popstars across the globe. She is renowned for her strong views and movements, as well as her influential songs about equality and helping those below her. Beyoncé's videos usually consist of moving lyrics with great choreography.
Formation revolves mainly around equality and countering the strong acts of racism and sexism in today’s society. Specifically, Beyoncé speaks about the New Orleans flood.
Beyoncé's video "Formation" begins with an image Beyoncé on top of a police car. The police car is surrounded by water, showing the devastation around her regarding the New Orleans floods. This image is very ironic as many, including Beyoncé argue that the police and others did little to help during the floods. Beyoncé uses the floods as her main topic in the music video to complain about the lack of help. She is aware that having someone speak publicly about this will allow others to see and for others to feel remorse. Beyoncé's star image is present in the beginning of the video, in hope to amplify and enhance people's feelings towards the floods. The images of the extreme havoc the floods caused continue to be shown.
Voyeurism is also present in the music video, showing Beyoncé and many other women dancing and showing parts of their body. The lyrics in the video address this as well as the floods in attempt to tackle the prejudice and discrimination against women. Beyoncé sings the lyrics "okay ladies now, let's get in formation" to show that women are powerful. This line is reference to army and soldier routines and how the are put in formation to maximise the effect, which is clearly what Beyoncé is doing. There is also a play on words, saying "in formation" may be interpreted as 'information'. This is perhaps telling the audience that women are equally as powerful as men, and just as smart.
Beyoncé also addresses the issues of racism in today's society. She speaks of the discrimination against black people, and how her and many others believe the police barely helped with the New Orleans floods because the population is primarily black. The lyrics assist this prejudice, saying "I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils." Beyoncé here talks about people commenting on the appearance of black people, but how she embraces the hate to fuel other things. There is also an intertextual reference when speaking of the band "The Jackson 5". This is also used as an example of how talented black people can be.
Formation revolves mainly around equality and countering the strong acts of racism and sexism in today’s society. Specifically, Beyoncé speaks about the New Orleans flood.
Beyoncé's video "Formation" begins with an image Beyoncé on top of a police car. The police car is surrounded by water, showing the devastation around her regarding the New Orleans floods. This image is very ironic as many, including Beyoncé argue that the police and others did little to help during the floods. Beyoncé uses the floods as her main topic in the music video to complain about the lack of help. She is aware that having someone speak publicly about this will allow others to see and for others to feel remorse. Beyoncé's star image is present in the beginning of the video, in hope to amplify and enhance people's feelings towards the floods. The images of the extreme havoc the floods caused continue to be shown.
Voyeurism is also present in the music video, showing Beyoncé and many other women dancing and showing parts of their body. The lyrics in the video address this as well as the floods in attempt to tackle the prejudice and discrimination against women. Beyoncé sings the lyrics "okay ladies now, let's get in formation" to show that women are powerful. This line is reference to army and soldier routines and how the are put in formation to maximise the effect, which is clearly what Beyoncé is doing. There is also a play on words, saying "in formation" may be interpreted as 'information'. This is perhaps telling the audience that women are equally as powerful as men, and just as smart.
Beyoncé also addresses the issues of racism in today's society. She speaks of the discrimination against black people, and how her and many others believe the police barely helped with the New Orleans floods because the population is primarily black. The lyrics assist this prejudice, saying "I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils." Beyoncé here talks about people commenting on the appearance of black people, but how she embraces the hate to fuel other things. There is also an intertextual reference when speaking of the band "The Jackson 5". This is also used as an example of how talented black people can be.
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