Beyonce's "Formation" Video and the Black Lives Matter Movement

Kayla Hanifen

ENGL 306

03.06.2016

Rhetorical Analysis Final

Beyoncé’s “Formation” Video and the Black Lives Matter Movement




“Freedom, by the definition, is people realizing that they are their own leaders”- Diane Nash

            

            From the words of American civil rights activist and strategist behind some of the most successful campaigns of the era, Diane Nash, (About Us) the Black Lives Matter Movement persevere behind 3 years of undignified violence from the United States criminal justice system. Formed in 2012 (About Us) by founders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullor, and Opal Tometi, the Black Lives Matter Movement is a social movement that hones in on the identity of African-Americans, and the problems facing black people in America. Fighting around the contours of black life, the Black Lives Matter Movement, is now an international activist movement that campaigns against violence toward black people. In the context of this movement, the entire premise behind the performances and protests where to work for against the de-humanization of Black lives, and to (re)build the identity of Black Americans. The movement is a “call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society,” (Black Lives Matter). What makes this movement so unique, is its unique ability to contribute beyond extrajudicial killings of Black people by police, vigilantes, and the narrow nationalism prevalent in Black communities. (Ethan, Corey) The Movement calls on Black people to “love Black, live Black, and buy Black, keeping it Black” (Black Lives Matter).

Prior to the controversial performance of Super Bowl 50, Beyoncé Knowles, an International pop-star/singer songwriter, dropped her “mesmerizing” (Harper, Robin) single and music video “Formation”, February 2016 (Black History month) as a tribute and political response to the de-humanization of Black identity. Featuring explicit lyrics, the video “Formation”, directed by Beyoncé, takes on a strong political stance in defense of the Black Lives Matter Movement not only by her play with time, but her extensive use of imagery and lyrical play on words.

When considering the relevant context of her protest and its role on her audience, Beyoncé made no mistakes in her debut of “Formation”. A “rallying cry that couldn’t be more timely” (Macpherson, Alex), Knowles chose February 6, to debut her surprise single “Formation” only a day prior to the third most-watched televised event in the nation, the Super Bowl. February, nationally acknowledged as Black History Month, is also the month that caters to the widely popular sporting event, the Super Bowl. It’s no surprise that Beyoncé would select this time frame to kick-start her protest against Black violence. Serving as awareness of African American history in the United States, February also offers a direct pathway to a national scale audience. By utilizing the Super Bowl, and Black History month as a vehicle for her protest, Beyoncé’s single “Formation” was able to impact her audience on a grand scale. The history of Black culture already fresh in the minds of American citizens, were now engraved if not already after her controversial Super Bowl performance only a day after the release of her music video. Make no mistake however, the relevance in content of her video, both lyrical and visual, and the direct reference to the Black Lives Matter Movement and their fight against police brutality. A trending topic in the United States, and one that is still very real, and very active. If Beyoncé were to debut after the momentum and heat of controversial police cases passed, the rhetorical effectiveness would be considerably less effective because of her inability to establish a strong enough ethos in her audience. After all, any reaction is a good reaction, even if it means anger and protest in the police force, or built momentum in the Black Lives Matter Movement. (Hibberd, James)

Beyoncé’s video, “a black consciousness masterpiece” (Machpherson), was pinpointed to the specific identity and audience of Black Americans, by carefully constructed lyrics like: “I like my negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils,” (Beyoncé) celebrating black culture. However, the video sings a different tune all together using imagery like Beyoncé crouched on a New Orleans police car, half-submerged in a flood (Machpherson), and an extended shot of a child dancing in front of a row of riot police cutting to a graffiti shot reading “STOP SHOOTING US”. These visuals and symbolic references to the long history of police brutality in the video also extends its hand to the secondary audience of the United States Criminal Justice System.

However, her span of audience does not stop there. After her “Formation” video debut, Beyoncé makes a surprising controversial performance during Super Bowl 50, in which her army of all black back-up dancers occupy the field in their Black Panther caps forming the symbolic “X” in symbolic reference to Civil Rights activist ‘Malcolm X’. Portraying a mixture of playfulness and anger in her performance, (Crucchiola, Jordan) Beyoncé demands the stage of her tertiary audience, the public. In turn, she uses the combination of her single and video to set the path for a wave of protest designed for maximum resonance, and in the perspective of others “alienation” (Machpherson).

 “Formation”, and it’s accompanying video, was not just a marketing tool for the Black Lives Matter movement, but a statement, if not a battle cry, calling for all Black Americans to “get in formation” (Machpherson). Meant to “provoke, and prod the masses” (Zeichner, Felix, Mayard) Beyoncé (re)established, and (re)humanized Black identity through her effective use of ethos, logos, and pathos.

The manifestation of a large spread of historical references and social/contraversial events in the Black community played a key role in the construction of ethos in Beyoncé’s video “Formation”. Beyoncé plays to the historical aspect of the Black Lives Matter Movement where she shows visual symbols like a jacket that says “POLICE”, and a graffiti sign that read “STOP SHOOTING US”. (Chokshi) However, symbolism is not what makes this a powerful use of ethos. Beyoncé references cases of police brutality in her video, where she has a line of police offers wearing riot gear and a young African -American boy in a hoody dancing in front of the police. This imagery is referenced to the police shootings with is a topic of conversation in social media. Black men, women, and children have been killed by police in controversial circumstances and evokes the message of ‘love’ by showing the police raising their hands with the dancing boy. Beyoncé also plays to the social identity of what it means to be a Black American. In her video, she states: “My dady Alabama, Momma Louisiana, You mix that Negro with that Creole, make a Texas Bana, I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros, I like my Negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils…” (Beyoncé). These lyrics hone in on the Black identities of Americans and that they should be unafraid to own that identity which in many cases around the United States, is a big issue. (Bryan, Logan) Honing in on these key social issues and expressing the love of her race, Beyonce gains credibility in her audience because she not only has Black attributes and qualities, but also pulls imagery from documentaries and visual symbolic representation of real-life controversial situations.

Another literary device used, but not necessarily utilized in Beyoncé’s protest, is Logos. The audience can see Logos in the music video “Formation” through Inductive Reasoning. Inductive Reasoning, a logical process with multiple premises all believed to be true, are essentially combined to obtain a specific conclusion. That being said, Beyoncé’s premises are established in her imagery as described in Ethos and later described in pathos. She conveys these symbolic historical representations of trending controversial topics in social media as well as conveys ‘love’ and ‘acceptance’ in the identities of Black Americans. (Choshki) These controversial platforms act as an amplifier to her ‘call to action’ in her protest. At the end of her video, Beyoncé encourages the embrace of Black culture as well as controversial ‘hatred’ in the criminal justice system. In her imagery of riots, police, and sings saying “STOP SHOOTING US”, Beyoncé guides the audience throughout the process of Inductive Reasoning. By the end of the video, the audience hears her statement and call to action as described in the title “Formation” in which one of two things occur. The audience feels threatened by her demand to Black Americans to line up in “formation” to prepare for several battles, or feel a sense of celebratory in their reinstated identity.

Pathos, a powerful element of persuasion, used by artists and protestors alike was developed and perfectly engineered in “Formation”. The video itself, created and enhanced a mixed sense of emotion within its audience, causing a reaction of discomfort, bitterness, and anger on one side, while encouraging enthusiasm, pride, and celebration on the other.

The video, shot in L.A but placed in New Orleans, contained imagery and clips as a supplement from a NOLA (New Orleans Local News) documentary (Chokshi, Niraj). Shots like: 1.) Beyoncé laying across a drowning New Orleans police car 2.) Hurricane Katrina background, were all used to invoke a feeling of power even in the face of racism and acknowledging the destruction of New Orleans, a culture rich state for Black Americans (Chokshi). However, the emotional pull did not stop there, Beyoncé wore Jay Z’s chain stating that the chain did not symbolize the possession and ownership of her, but rather the idea that she owns Jay-Z (Chokshi). This statement by Beyoncé also coincides with her feminist protest through videos like “Who Runs the World (Girls)”.

In the lyrical aspect of the video “Formation”, Beyoncé carefully constructs her poetry in the form of celebration of Black culture. With versus like “Baby hair and afros”, “Jackson Five nostrils”, and “hot sauce in my bag”, (Beyoncé) were all attributes of Black culture that Beyoncé celebrates. Noticeably in her video, she does not shy away from these qualities in which later in the video, she refers to herself as being light-skinned but still prideful in her blackness where she states: “Yellow bone it” (Chokshi). The video then progresses into a vast run of imagery, where a series of houses pulled from the documentary “The B.E.A.T” (a documentary that bounces Black culture in hip-hop), that displayed the sinking New Orleans and crumbling homes of Black Americans. (Chokshi) Showing the evolution and many facets of black culture and femininity, Beyoncé and her back-up dancers are revealed in a parking lot wearing short-shorts and crop tops that is then flipped back to her ‘ancestors’ wearing Antebellum-era dresses in a Louisiana mansion. It is for that aspect, does the video maintain an important juxtaposition.

“Formation” comes to the image of Beyoncé on top of a drowning New Orleans car in which she refers to herself as “Black Bill Gates” referring to her power and wealth. However, following this lyrical statement, a hooded boy appears dancing in front of a line of police officers that contrasts to a sign that says “STOP SHOOTING US”. This imagery the most important and controversial topic in media because it is a nod to the Black Lives Matter Movement (Chokshi). This scene is ultimately the ‘call to action’ or ‘statement’ because when the boy raises his arms (an image reminiscent of Trayvon Martin, a victim of police brutality) with the police in homage to the “hands up, don’t shoot” chant, it dials up the “hate” (Chokshi) and puts police in danger. This is exemplified through the protests of the police department saying “Beyoncé is ‘inciting bad behavior’ and endangering law enforcement’” (Chokshi). “Art is one thing, but yelling fire in a crowded theater is an entirely different one.” (National Sheriff’s Association Executive Director, Jonathan Thompson).

There is an incredible response to the video of “Formation”. Pathos, being the prime rhetorical tool in this protest, created a “masterpiece” (Macpherson) with a double-edged sword, while logos, and ethos, despite its effectiveness, only added fuel to a Forest Fire. It is apparent this is a successful form of protest, because of the “unequivocal entry into racial politics” () that was both quick and prominent. While some critique her debut of the video to be about “the entirety of the black experience in America, in 2016, which includes standards of beauty, (dis)empowerment, culture and the shared parts of history,” (Macpherson) others better perceive this as an “anti-police” statement (Chokshi). Is “Formation” really an overstep in social and political bounds, or does Beyoncé’s rhetorical protest serve as form of moral guidance in the eyes her audience and American citizens alike?

MLA Works Cited Page

“About Us.” Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.

Chokshi, Niraj. “Sheriffs: Beyonce Is ‘inciting Bad Behavior’ and Endangering Law Enforcement.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Corey, Ethan. “Connecting the Dots Between the “Identity Politics” of Black Lives Matter and Class Politics – Working In These Times.” Connecting the Dots Between the “Identity Politics” of Black Lives Matter and Class Politics – Working In These Times. In These Times, 27 Oct. 2015. Web. 06. Mar. 2016

Crucchiola, Jordan. “Why Beyonce’s ‘Formation’ Matters So Much: A Perfectly Choreographed Political Debut Before 112 Million.” The Wrap. The Wrap, 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Hibberd, James. “Super Bowl 50 is the third most-watched TV telecast ever.” Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Logan, Bryan. “No, Beyonce Is Not Bashing the Police: Here’s What Her New Song ‘Formation’ Is Really Saying.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 08 Fe. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Macpherson, Alex. “Beyonce’s Formation Review – a Rallying Cry That Couldn’t Be More Timely”. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 08 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Zeirchner, Naomi, Dorren St. Felix, Anupa Mistry, and Judnick Mayard. “Considering Beyonce’s.” The FADER. The Fader, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.