by Jasmarie bailey
The message and theme Beyonce expressed through the song and video formation is embracing your identity to be proud of your heritage and who you are. The themes that Beyoncé touches on In her music video are pride, feminism, police brutality, and the importance of self-love. The messages and themes I’ll admit were not similar to my first reaction to the song when it came out 7 years ago I was 14 when it came out I didn’t focus on the message or the meaning behind the video or singing until I kept watching it and started asking the mom questions that I understood but now that I’m older I understand the message and reason behind the video better. Matsouka helped Beyoncé convey the message and themes of the song in various ways Matsuoka looked for sets that resembled plantation houses, rented a museum in Pasadena, and decorated it to resemble “Gone with the Wind” and “Twelve Years a Slave”. She even had an art director “blackify” the house by hanging French Renaissance-style portraits of black subjects. Beyoncé uses emotive language and rhetorical devices one example of emotive language is when she says “ y’all haters corny with that Illuminati mess” She uses Dysphemisms she’s talking about the rumors that she sold her soul for her fame and money she’s saying anybody who agrees with the rumors are corny.
Another example is when she says “ I’m so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress(stylin)” Using sarcasm she says she can ruin a Givenchy dress and just buy another one because a Givenchy dress is an expensive dress but she has money like that. I think the song and video became controversial because some people thought she was exploiting black culture it made no sense how she is going to exploit a culture she was a part of I think people around that time seemed to have forgotten that Beyoncé was black and she felt the need to use her voice her platform to talk about the issue that’s going on that the media refused to fully address properly or chose to ignore. I also think the song and video were controversial because some people thought she was anti-police not once in the song or video has she ever said she was anti-police she even said in an interview that she respects cops for risking their lives out in the field she doesn’t respect how they choose to handle people of color.
