Summary
While watching Beyonce's music video on the song named "Formation" you will see that some of the themes that are being expressed are black empowerment and her culture. During the video you will hear her say "Earned all this money, but they never take the country out me" which implies that she will always stick to her cultural roots no matter how successful she becomes. When I heard and saw the video the messages and the themes are not similar to my initial reaction. These are similar to my initial reaction when I heard the song was how good the beat is and how she embraces her cultural. One way that Matsoukas helped Beyonce coney her messages/themes is by the themes visually. She utilized imagery from the past to the highlight the songs theme of racial and social injustices. One rhetoric device I found in the song was when she said "I slay, I slay, I slay, I slay." When she said this over and over she meant to convey the message of someone powerful and confident. Another rhetoric device I found was an emotive language when Beyonce said "I like my negro with Jackson 5 Nostrils." This is a way of her saying that all African Americans are loved. The song became controversial because she was stepping up for women rights and most men didn't like that.
