Music Video: Formation (Beyoncé) GapFill

The music video for Formation was directed by  RihannaJay-ZMelina MatsoukasIndya Moore and released on YouTube in December 2016. It is one of the more controversial mainstream music videos of recent years due to its frank representation of race relations (both historical and contemporary) in the United States. While the representation of black womanhood has been met with praise, certain representations in the video alienated a large portion of the  massacademicliberalniche audience it reached.

Formation is interesting to discuss in relation to Paul Gilroy’s theory of  receptionsemioticsracismpostcolonialism. The director, star, extras and dancers are all people of colour, making the video a piece of Western mainstream media that does not perpetuate white-centric attitudes towards race. This  continuationembracesubversiondisjuncture of traditional racial hierarchies is particularly achieved when Beyoncé is depicted in positions of socio-economic power. On the contrary, there are those who would criticise Beyoncé for making the only white people in the music video police officers with riot shields. In this sense, Formation could be seen to misrepresent white people and contribute further to the continuation of  cultural conversationcountertypesbinary oppositeseclecticism based on race.

According to  Dizzie Rascal’sStuart Hall’sDavid Gauntlett’sJean Baudrillard’s theory of stereotyping, Formation appears to promote an ideology that stands in stark contrast to  essentialismimplosionheteronormativitypastiche. Despite the video showing the hardships of Hurricane Katrina, Black Lives Matter, etc., the lyrics of the song appear designed to tell African-Americans that they can achieve success and show qualities that society would not expect from them. This is made particularly clear through lines such as 'you might just be a black Bill Gates in the making' (  a semiotica culturala hiddenan intertextual reference to one of the richest men in the world). Instead of reducing African-Americans (particularly women) to a few character traits, the video constructs countertypical scenarios and displays the diversity of the community. These aspects make Formation stand out among   diversesocialistEurocentricgrime music videos which place emphasis on Western ideas and values while presenting non-white communities as ‘other’.

Although the focus of the video is evidently the representation of race, the video still allows for discussion of the representation of femininity. The feminist theory of  bell hooksPaul GilroyGermaine GreerRoland Barthes could be useful in assessing how successful Formation is at tackling oppression. By setting the video in the financially neglected communities of  MemphisLos AngelesOrange CountyNew Orleans, Beyoncé appears to be commenting on sexism, racism and classism simultaneously. This supports the idea that we live in a  feministsocialistmatriarchalpatriarchal society, but one that is also white supremacist and capitalist. Beyoncé does not merely focus on the struggles of white, middle-class women in the way that many mainstream music videos do. On the other hand, many would argue that Beyoncé has simply borrowed and exploited feminist arguments for the sole purpose of financial profit. This conclusion could be reached as Beyoncé decided to release the video the day before her  World CupWorld SeriesSuper BowlX Factor performance, and there was a commercial for The Formation World Tour that went on sale two days later.

The representation of femininity can also be discussed in relation to the feminist theory of  Henry JenkinsStuart Hallvan Zoonenbell hooks, who identified the trend of female bodies being presented as spectacle. On one level, Beyoncé and the dancers are objectified due to their tight, provocative outfits and the sexualised choreography. However, many would argue that Beyoncé’s sexuality is something she emphasises for her own gratification, as opposed to the pleasure of  white femaletransgenderwhite malehomosexual viewers.