Summary
Beyonce song formation represents her roots and Southern heritage but also serves as a powerful call to action for Black empowerment and social justice and Injustices.
The Beyoncé's theme formation closely look like the video, as they both convey the idea of empowerment and recover one's identity. The song investigates her inner thoughts and personal experiences, enabling her to express her identity and culture. The music video reinforces this message by highlighting different aspects of African American history and black power movements. The video celebrates black beauty by featuring a range of hairstyles, outfits, and dancing styles, which challenges society's traditional beauty ideals.
Matsoukas captured the true meaning of the lyrics and showed visuals of black culture and female empowerment. In one scene, Beyonce is seen sitting on a sinking police car, representing the problems of police brutality and racial injustice in America. This image allows viewers to emotionally connect with Beyonce's message. Matsoukas also incorporates scenes that connects to black culture, such as Beyonce and a group of black women dressed in Victorian era clothing. Through these scenes, Matsoukas challenges societal gender norms and celebrates femininity.
In the song Beyonce uses emotive language that creates visuals effect on the audience. For example, she uses imagery in the lyrics, "I prefer my baby hair to have baby hair and afros / I prefer my African nose to have Jackson Five nostrils," vividly illustrate her pride in accepting her true self and her African roots. In one part of the song, Beyoncé repeats the phrase "I slay," which is an example of parallelism. This repetition highlights her strength and determination to conquer obstacles and achieve success.
Lastly in my opinion, "Formation" became controversial due to its powerful and determined pictures of racial inequality, police brutality, and the celebration of Black culture.
