Summary
In the song Formation by Beyoncé, she dives deeply into her own self-confidence and the way she has established her life. She makes sure, that you know, that she knows she is a well accomplished and powerful woman while also addressing rumors that have been broadcasted about her; “Ya’ll haters corny with that Illuminati mess”. As well as touching base with African American stereo types and the standards of beauty the world has had for decades. In the video, you can see she is expressing so much more than only what is explained in the lyrics. Watching the video creates a much more profound understanding of the song when you pair the visuals with it; you begin to grasp that Beyoncé is exampling that despite all of the obstacles, challenges, and expectations to fail that the world set out for black woman, she rose above it all and still claimed her success; “Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper”.
I would have never expected the song to have such a meaningful message behind it, if I’m being honest in the times I’ve heard the song before this class, I had only interpreted it to be uplifting and casual. Not to say that it isn’t either of those things, but it is also so much more.
As I said before pairing the visuals with the song led to a much greater understanding of the messages Beyoncé wanted to convey, Matsoukas, who is described to be an incredibly talented videographer and director, constructed the perfect visualization to show her analyzation of the song she says, “We triumph, we suffer, we’re downing, we’re being beaten, we’re dancing, we’re eating and we’re still here”. Through Beyoncé’s words you see the message Matsoukas wanted to convey, and the meaning behind “and I slay, take what’s mine” becomes more than just a confident statement and comes packed with historical explanations. Formation was also the first song to be released before Beyoncé’s album, Lemonade came out—which touches on the rumors of infidelity in her marriage. At first, I was confident of the fact that Formation was Beyoncé’s way of introducing Lemonade by showing she is a strong woman regardless of the intimate details she will be revealing of her life. By beginning the story of lemonade by making sure her listeners and fans know that she indeed knows her worth. However, after re-listening to the lemonade album, I realized the cycle of events that occur, leaving formation at the end of the album, as she begins with sadness, goes into madness, clarity and then finding the strength to move on in the name of true love. Formation being at the end of this album shows her confidence once being whisked away by the problems in her marriage to coming back full circle and understanding she is the prize. I believe releasing this song as the first single and putting it at the end of the album stands with much meaning behind it as well.
“I just might be a black Bill Gates in the making” – This is a hyperbole; it is common knowledge that Bill Gates is an extremely rich and successful white man. She exaggerates this statement by using him as an example, though Beyoncé is indeed extremely rich and successful as well, using Bill Gates as an example is still a method of overstatement. Bill Gates is rich and famous for creating Microsoft, and as talented as Beyoncé is, I can highly doubt that she will be creating the next billion dollar computer system.
“Ya’ll haters corny with that Illuminati mess” – This is dysphemism; She is using blatant language when it comes to describing the rumors about her. The word “haters” can be offensive, along with term “illuminati mess.” She is not shying on the rather indecorous matter when it comes to the rumors that people make about her.
This video became controversial because of the way Beyonce threw light on the stereotypes and struggles of Black Americans, many felt as if she glamorized them and exploited them, Shantelle Lewis, a documentary filmmaker accused Beyoncé and said, “Are we in need of mainstream blackness so badly that we’ll mistake its exploitation for validation?”. However, I feel Beyoncé owned the stereotypes and touched on the struggles of Black Americans in a powerful way, showing that she will not be affected by the challenges put out for her and own them in a way of understanding that her history pulls into a big part of who she is and despite any discouragement to be great she will continue to fight through it and allow herself the ability to not only create success, but feel successful.
