In her song and cinema work with Melina Matsoukas, Beyonce touched on different social-political and historical themes, including slavery, feminism, black culture with black identity, and police brutality/racism in society. Their messages are similar to my initial reaction to the video and song lyrics because, for me, as a woman and a human, equity in law and societal relationships is essential. As a talented moviemaker, Melina Matsoukas perfectly helped Beyonce convey messages using different sources and stories, from slave plantations to tragedies in black neighborhoods in Louisiana. Also, Matsoukas shot different places and different black people to show the diversity of the black community. However, the most important and most controversial parts of the video clip are the scenes with a boy which dance in front of the police and a wall with the phrase “stop shooting us,” and where Beyonce drowns on the top of a police car. Both Beyonce and Matsoukas want to show how sometimes American police just ignore or exceed their authority towards black people. Especially the second example describes the tragedy after Hurricane Katrina, where around 75% of black residents suffered moderate to catastrophic damage.
Of course, as a lyrical and musical piece, “Formation” is full of emotive language or rhetorical devices. Firstly, I want to explain an example of emotive language. “I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros” shows that she is not ashamed of her African-American appearance, but on the contrary, she likes it and is proud of it. However, Beyonce is creative in using euphemisms. She uses “best revenge is your papers” in the line “Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper” as a positive way to say that her success is the best revenge in response to haters.
This musical piece was so controversial because of its bold statements on race and politics. As Alexis Okeowo, the author of an article about Matsoukas’s works, states, “When Matsoukas started working on the “Formation” video, mainstream black artists were showing unaccustomed interest in issues like police brutality.” Her comment shows that Beyoncé did not want to remain silent and be an ordinary singer who entertains fans and privileged people. She wanted to loudly declare that she would not stand aside from the abuse of the black people of America. At least through her songs and music videos, Beyoncé with Melina Matsoukas wanted to influence Pop-Queen’s fans and the public in general. Of course, not everyone liked this, especially those people who did not want to change the police and politics in the states.
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In my own response, I don’t think I included the part where Matsoukas shot different places and different black individuals to show the diversity of the black community. When you included the part of the video clip, there are scenes with a boy who dances in front of the police, a wall with the phrase “stop shooting us,” and where Beyoncé drowns on top of a police car. This is the imagery I was referring to that could have been left for interpretation and led to controversy. I missed the euphemism where Beyoncé says, “best revenge is your paper,” and your bringing my attention to it was insightful and only adds to her message on her appreciation for her success.