Music Video Analysis- Formation By Beyonce

Beyoncé Formation Analysis:

Beyoncé is a talented singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She is considered to be one of the biggest pop stars and icons in the world, who millions find inspirational. Beyoncé’s recent album Lemonade features the song Formation, this song instantly was in the media as it had a different, more serious tone then her other masterpieces. Formation raises the issues in society about how women and black people are treated. The hit gives awareness to the campaign ‘Black Lives Matter’, which Beyoncé and husband Jay Z donated 1.5 million to. Additionally to this at the Super bowl Beyoncé had a Black Lives Matter theme which she sung Formation.

In the opening of the music video to formation you hear a male voice saying ‘What happened at the New Wil’ins? Bitch, I’m back by popular demand’. This is said by Messy Mya, who speaks throughout the song.  As he says this there are shots showing poorer areas of presumable New Orleans before the flooding. In 2005, New Orleans suffered from a natural disaster which lead to mass floods throughout the city. Hurricane Katrina, destroyed homes leaving one million people homeless and one thousand, two hundred people drowned in the flooding. 

In this shot Beyoncé is crouched on the police car which is submerged in water from a flood.  This shot relates to the Black Lives Matter campaign as Beyoncé is of black ethnicity and she represents the black society and the police car represents the tragic events in which the police are involved with. The car being submerged could be interpreted as the black citizens fighting the oppression and the floods could link to the powerful force they have. The body language in which she is expressing, the crouch, is of an intimidating nature, showing that the members of #BLACKLIVESMATER won’t be taken down easily and will fight until justice is served.   The houses which surround the car are all of similar exterior showing the lack of inequality between the home owners.                                         

In this scene the video is placed in the time period of where black citizens were used as slaves, this mainly being in the era of the 17^th and 18^th century. However, Beyoncé reverses character roles and is playing the white, wealthy woman of the family, who is surrounded by fellow black members who serve her. This refers back to the oppression of the black lives in which the members are trying to overcome. Beyoncé is trying to display the moments in where black lives have been segregated and belittled, attempting to show that every black life is valuable. The backdrop of what appears to be a mansion is covered in white marble, which displays the wealth of the family which contrasts the previous scene of the wooded homes in which are flooded, once again showing oppression by society.                

This scene shows a room within the home in which Beyoncé may spend her time as a wealthy wife, where the roles are reversed. Here, Beyoncé is surrounded by a group of women this time who are dressed in white; this could be interpreted as a mockery of the women as in American history the women were of white ethnicity.  The women are participating in actions which are stereotypical towards women; such as sipping tea or waving a fan, potentially because women were seen as incapable of completing any form of intelligent actions- once again showing oppression this being of women.  In the backdrop there are portraits of women, which is unusual for that era as men were seen as the more dominant so this is uncommon.          

This scene shows a young child of black ethnicity dancing in front of white policemen who are in riot gear; this could represent the riots of the black members of American society, who are protesting for equality. The flashing blue lights in the background shows the seriousness of the situation and draws attention to the 10 men stood in front.  The young boy who is fearlessly showing his dance moves shows how the oppression targets no age and targets anyone.

‘STOP SHOOTING US’

This scene is loud in terms of interpretations. This snapshot is a close-up of a wall, just after we see the child standing in front of the riot squad. It shows the pure fear in which the oppressed citizens are feeling, this can be linked to the recent organisation #BLACKLIVESMATTER   who protest to have the same rights of their fellow Americans; after the civil right movement which took place in the 50s with the likes of Rosa Parks protesting for equality, inequality still lingers for the black citizens hence the importance of this video. With the power in which Beyoncé has over today’s generation she can change the world for the better with videos such as this one.