Beyoncé wants “Formation” to be about being strong, being proud to be black, and getting involved in social and political issues. The song talks about things like the Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality, and racism. It is a celebration of black culture, history, and strength in the face of systemic oppression.This is the same as the initial reaction when I heard the song and saw the video. I can clearly understand what she wants to express.Melina Matsoukas has made nine videos for Beyoncé, whom she calls “family.” Matsoukas said yes when Beyoncé asked her to direct the video for the song “Formation,” which is on her visual album “Lemonade.” Matsoukas spends hours looking through art books and magazines for ideas, and each video she makes is like a thesis project for her.
“I’m a black Bill Gates in a business mind” uses exaggeration to emphasize the themes of black excellence and success.
“What happened after New Orleans?” shows how little the government cared about the city after Hurricane Katrina and how little it did to help.
The song “Formation” caused a lot of trouble because it was political and mentioned the Black Lives Matter movement. Some people thought the song was divisive and disrespectful to police. The fight over the song and video shows that people in America are still talking about race, police brutality, and social activism.
3 thoughts on “week2”
Hi Yang, I agree 100% with your point of view. It is so hard to watch tv and see so much violence and Beyonce put it very clearly in her song, police brutality, racism, and social activism.
the song portrays the black lives matter movement, it demonstrates how little they cared about the city after Hurricane Katrina, just as you mentioned xinhang the song shows how we still have racism and nothing is done. like Beyonce still respects police who risk their lives every day but all lives matter including African Americans.
Nice examples, I agree there are a lot of rhetorical devices in this song! You used examples different from mine, so there were more than I thought. Your view on why it was controversial is also very similar to mine. Great post!!