Manveer Saini Conv 2

Summary

In the song "Formation" by Beyoncé she displays a message through her song of the strength of black women, and the reason I know this is because not only is their black women, but they are also showing their success and proving their haters wrong by slaying at their life through their own efforts claiming it to be the best revenge. This video is like an embracing of her achievements and roots. In fact, these messages/themes were similar to my initial reaction to the song/video because her words were very powerful as I carefully listened and looked at these women and how they introduced the haters and ended their revenge through their efforts and confidence and even the title itself "Formation" helps me get an idea of what I will be focusing on. The video originally would be an anthem of female and black empowerment and convey black women as heroes. And Matsoukas begins to develop ideas for the video as she spends hours browsing online and through art books and magazine looking for images that resonate. For the "Formation" video, she found ideas in the work Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Octavia Butler. She began to conceive scenes of black history, from slavery through Mardi Gras parades and Rodney King protests. Matsoukas looked for a set that resembled a plantation house, rented a museum. She wanted to display police brutality in the video by showing a black boy facing a line of white policemen doing what is called a peace dance. Basically, it was Matsoukas ideas that help Beyonce convey the messages/themes on black culture, police brutality that helped show that black women should be appreciated through the ideas of storytelling, imagery and visuals. Two examples of rhetorical devices in the song were hyperbole and Euphemism. When I mentioned hyperbole what I mean is that in her song she says, "I twirl on them haters, albino alligators." This creates a very exaggerated image of her when she talks about twirling on them haters alongside albino alligators. And when I mentioned Euphemism Beyoncé says, "I like my negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils." This is also explained by Beyonce herself that she is referring to African American features and when she says Jackson 5, she means when Michael Jackson's pre-surgery nose when he was still in Jackson 5. So, in other words, "Jackson Five nostrils" euphemistically highlight characteristics unique to Africa. The role of "Jackson Five nostrils" was to prove the black self-love. The song and video became controversial due to the references of Black Lives Matter protests and new creation of understanding of black Americans.