In the formation music video, the themes portrayed are police brutality, feminism, and black empowerment, Black identity.
Upon my initial reaction, the themes were unexpected. I didn’t get it the first time I watched it. I had to watch it over to get the themes.
Matsoukas helps help Beyonce convey these messages by using the theme of police brutality in the video. Beyonce is laying on top of a police car submerged in water. The car represents the lack of support for the African American community. The scene was shot in Los Angeles, and Matsoukas used a blue screen to create New Orleans. The water symbolizes the flooding that happened during hurricane Katrina. The victims were ignored after the disaster. There is also a black boy dancing in Infront of Caucasian policemen standing in a line next to each other. This is the peace dance. Lastly, there is also graffiti in the background that says “Stop Shooting Us”
Feminism is portrayed by using feminist swagger using a different style of clothing. Beyonce’s lyrics mention her taking it when she wants, dreams of it, and she works hard till she owns it. She also mentions that if her partner pleases her she will buy him some shoes, and “let him shop up”.
Matsoukas portrayed black empowerment by using themes from the Mardi gras parade, slavery, and protests. She used renaissance styled portraits of African American subjects. This symbolizes power and wealth. During the renaissance period, only Caucasian people held positions of power. She also used a Bolex camera. This is used to create grainy look documentary-like footage.
The emotive language used in the video is like, for example, she says she likes her baby heir with baby hair and an afro. She likes men with large noses. She also used other languages such as Possessive, reckless, slay,
This video was controversial because people took the message wrong. The police department saw the music video and protested. They said the video was “Anti Police”. Shantrel Lewis, a documentary filmmaker said “Are we in need of mainstream blackness so badly that we’ll mistake exploitation for validation”. I disagree with Santrel, so many people shy away from the topic of police brutality. She is using her music video to bring awareness to such a controversial topic.
2 thoughts on “Nasanya Brown Conversation 2”
Your answer is great!
“Formation” is a Black Power anthem, a fitting contribution to Black History Month, and an important conversation piece in the Black Lives Matter movement.
I have seen it mentioned in an article about formation, “Katrina is not just a historical event,” explained Harvard professor Regina N. Bradley. “It is a springboard for re-rendering southern trauma and its association with blackness. Trauma is the springboard of southern blackness. But its foundation is resilience and creativity .”
I was also very touched by the shot of the little boy doing the peace dance, in the article Matouskas said “I want to talk about police brutality, about the fact that we are dying and being killed, but in a subtle way,” the boy should have Danced shirtless, but he arrived on set wearing a black hoodie. According to the news, In 2015, 1,134 young black men were killed by police officers and were nine times more likely to get killed by police officers than any other Americans, despite only making up 2% of the population. The image of the young boy set against the police is Poignant and powerful.
Actually, it is not because of the opposition to the police, but the behavior of the police must be done well. Some police officers do not have basic moral and professional qualities. This song is an attack on the brutality and injustice against them. However, some police officers will use this as a public attack to discriminate against political colors.
Thank you very much~
I agree Beyonce showing what the black community faces when it comes to the police is very real. When someone like Beyonce demonstrates these social issues people are going to protest for equality. Our police is supposed to be a safe place to go when in danger, but what do you do when the police is the danger? Of course the police department would feel some type of way for Beyonce showing the racism in the police towards people of color. They might label the video “Anti police” when it’s not the video is ANTI-RACISM.