Friday, May 18, 2018

beyonce star image of persona undermines her political message essay

-beyonce's star image and persona undermines her political and social message as she is trying to get more and more people to watch her and is not actually interested in the more important issues.
Theough the formation music video we can see that she is using her body to get everything she wants. this is seen for example when she is dancing in the hall. through the shot where it zooms out she is dancing in a red bodysuit, desplaying most of her body. this shows how she just uses her body as she wants attention.

-Beyonce can also be seen to use her image just to get more money. when she is sitting in the living room shot reverse shot of her portrayed in a rich enviroment is used and it is put in contrast to her standing on a bronken car. She is all dressed up and in fancy clothes when she is adressing topics to do with race and power. this can link to levis strauss who argued that binary oppositions are used in media texts to produce meaning.

-she is just diong it for the money and this is becuase she started speaking up and representing black people in 2009, as soon as a black president came to power, so that she could sing to him.

-The pro-blackness message in the video seems to be planned to attract views, as it was dropped when black lifes matter was really popular, so more attention to it and more money
-bell hooks - femminism is not a poitical commitment but a lifestyle choice

-How convenient was it for Beyoncé to finally give us an unapologetically black message in 2016? For a star that’s never actually confirmed rumors that she’s paid the bails of arrested Black Lives Matter activists, and now new speculation that her husband’s company TIDAL donated $1.5 million to the organization — this musical move seems calculated.

-During the formation video we can see her acting as if she was a white lady playing around with the idea of hierarchy. this can be seen through the mid shot of her jut to market the song through the cross cutting and justaposition of shots of her being sressed up as a white posh lady and

-colonial discourse- uing idea of slavery from the past to talk about black lives matter

-Being a legend, an icon, at this point, that’s what I’m trying to do,” she said.

feminism definitions

Black feminism is a school of thought stating that sexism, class oppression, gender identity and racism are inextricably bound together
antebulum - before the war

Black is beautiful is a cultural movement that was started in the US in the 1960s by African Americans. It later spread beyond the United States, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko in South Africa.

It aims to dispel the racist notion that black people's natural features such as skin color, facial features and hair are inherently ugly

Black Girl Magic (#BlackGirlMagic) is a concept and movement that was popularized by CaShawn Thompson in 2013.^[1] The concept was born as a way to "celebrate the beauty, power and resilience of black women", as described by Julee Wilson from The Huffington Post,^[2] and to congratulate black women on their accomplishments.

beyonce article

Beyoncé: the superstar who brought black power to the Super Bowl

With her spectacular intervention in front of millions of TV viewers, Beyoncé brought radical politics to mainstream pop. What is behind her journey to the heart of the new civil rights movement?

Barbara Ellen

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It could be considered deeply ironic that a group plans this week to protest outside the National Football League’s headquarters in New York against Beyoncé’s “racist” half-time performance at the Super Bowl. For the performance was all about the new-style protests against racial discrimination that have been surging through America, in the form of civil rights grassroots movements such as Black Lives Matter.

If it goes ahead, the demonstration will protest about … another protest: a far larger, infinitely more important one, dealing with what it means to be black in America, the kind that doesn’t fit neatly outside the NFL’s HQ.

One consequence of Beyoncé’s performance is a shift in the way she’s being framed in some quarters. One description of the Super Bowl event I keep seeing is “unapologetically black”. This alludes to the dancers in Black Panther berets performing black power salutes, arranging themselves into the letter “X” for Malcolm, and the homemade sign (said to be unscripted), demanding “Justice for Mario Woods”, the victim of a San Francisco police shooting whose case has been a BLM rallying point.

Then there’s the song “Formation” (a surprise release and Beyoncé’s first in 14 months), and the accompanying video (using footage from the New Orleans music documentary That B.E.A.T). In it she references, among other things, Black Lives Matter, civil rights generally, slogans such as “Stop shooting us”, riot police, the shamefully sluggish official response to Hurricane Katrina (where poor, predominantly black lives were clearly deemed not to matter). “I like my baby hair and afros. I like my Negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils, ” she states.

Employing words and visuals to gritty and poetic effect – cleverly eschewing blunt aggression, the key accent is languid, dream-like menace – the message of “Formation” pounds through, like an elegant, detailed, modern civil rights seminar. It’sAt this point, even long-time fans of Beyoncé (and I’m one of them) could be forgiven for wondering how she got here? How did one of the globe’s consummate mainstream superstars manage to reposition herself as a lightning rod for radical politicised black America?

The answer: in some ways, yes, arriving here is surprising; in others, not so much. The element of surprise mainly relates to Beyoncé’s carefully plotted and executed long game as an artist – from her beginnings, managed by her father, Mathew, as the blatant main draw in Destiny’s Child, through to her film appearances in the likes of Dream Girls and Cadillac Records, and, most notably, her instant stellar success with early solo albums such as Dangerously in Love, the rather unfortunately named B’Day, and I Am … Sasha Fierce (introducing her alter ego).

In hindsight, there’s always a danger that such achievements could start to look pre-ordained, when of course they were anything but. While Beyoncé’s dance moves (and thighs) had their own wow-factor (as evidenced in the video for “Crazy in Love”), she should be given due credit for becoming a crossover artist in excelsis.

Always a “black” artist, firmly entrenched in high-grade R&B, soul, hip-hop, roots and disco – her Super Bowl costume was said to be an homage to Michael Jackson – Beyoncé was never going to end up as a backing singer. Her undoubted talent was long fuelled by a determination to be placed where she deserved to be, firmly centre-stage, at the heart of the mainstream.

Sometimes, this could lead to artistic stiffness – a live show I saw, while amazing, occasionally exuded the distinctly corporate “on-message” feel peculiar to certain superstars who cannot bear to tear their eyes off the main prize, even when, as artists, they should be immersed in the moment.

Other accusations levelled at Beyoncé include a success/money-obsession (even in “Formation” she says “best revenge is your paper”), although a counter-accusation could be some people’s obsession with portraying uber-consumerism as a black-only trope.

Beyoncé has also been criticised for being a bad feminist, although I’m not so sure about that. “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” had a comically dodgy theme, but, from early on, Beyoncé was thanking feminism for giving her confidence in life and relationships. Similarly, to those complaining that Beyoncé’s scantily clad, hip-thrusting performance at the Super Bowl was “hardly Bob Dylan”, it’s a different genre, sweeties (do try to keep up). Besides, sneering at the mode of protest rather than examining what the protest is about is an old method of silencing and cowing.

Then there were the recurring accusations that she looked as if she might have undergone a process to lighten her skin – no proof was ever offered. Both in person, and in adverts such as those for L’Oréal, she’s been criticised for looking “too white” and contributing to young black girls’ anxiety over their appearance, or at least not helping matters. On the face of it, from there to the “Jackson 5 nostrils” sentiments of “Formation” does seem quite a leap.

Mind you, is it really so surprising, or just more overt? Did Beyoncé seem any less proudly “Black with a capital B” when she was singing “At Last” to the Obamas at their inauguration dance? Or when she (and her husband, Jay Z) endured people moaning ridiculously about their headlining slots not being right for “rock festival” Glastonbury? Was Beyoncé any less politicised when she and Kelly Rowland started a charity to help the Hurricane Katrina survivors? Or when she and Jay Z donated generously to civil rights charities? There also appears to be a multifaceted timing element at play. It’s the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Black Panther party. “Formation” was released on what would have been the 21st birthday of Trayvon Martin(another high profile police-shooting and BLM cause). Barack Obama is an outgoing president, while Donald Trump (and the Donald Trump mindset) is dominating the headlines.

There’s the recent Oscars row and a growing restlessness in the music industry, with Nicki Minaj, for one, being extremely vocal about black under-representation. (Ever savvy to changing trends, Beyoncé’s eponymously titled previous album already heralded an edgier direction in her musical style). Moreover, there’s Beyoncé’s “personal timing” – a mother in her mid-30s, she wouldn’t be the first woman to become more politically aware and active as she became older. Then, of course, there’s the other kind of timing relating to the genius marketing ploy of surprise-releasing a song, causing a huge global rumpus at the Super Bowl (also starring, lest we forget, Bruno Mars and Coldplay), then announcing your 40-date world tour straight afterwards.

It’s possible to admire her business acumen (not so much “I have a dream” as “I have a tour to promote”) and at the same time acknowledging that perhaps only someone such as Beyoncé, with a powerful international reach, could have made such an enormous zeitgeist-ruffling impact.

Beyoncé also risked something very real regarding her mainstream persona. Not only among those prone to panic when confronted by politics, but more generally. After all, with a single performance, she has become as synonymous with black rights as film director, Spike Lee, was in the 1980s. Which, in turn, ties in to the interesting debate about why black success is so often viewed as a tangled fraught compromise between cultures, when white success can just be success?

Why does Beyoncé have to choose to represent or not represent “her” culture, when, say, Madonna isn’t required to bang on about being an Italian Catholic the whole time?

In this instance, Beyoncé chose to represent a cause, and in great style. Should it go ahead, the NFL protest is going to seem a mite underwhelming considering what black activists have been protesting about.

Beyoncé sings in Destiny’s Child in 2000. Photograph: Startraks Photo/REX

beyonce super bowl article

Beyonce gets political at the Super Bowl: Singer performs 'Black Lives Matter rallying cry' - as her dancers dress as Black Panthers, pay tribute to Malcolm X and demand justice for man shot dead by cops

• Beyonce delivered her message during performance of new single Formation at halftime during Super Bowl 50

• Her backing dancers appeared dressed as Black Panthers activists with all-black outfits and signature black berets

• Several dancers also appeared in an image holding a piece of paper reading 'justice 4 Martin Woods, a black man shot dead by around a dozen police in San Francisco after refusing to drop a knife

• The Black Panthers were an armed group involved in the black power movement of the Sixties and Seventies

• They followed the teachings of men such as Malcolm X, who advocated the use of violence to overcome oppression

• Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mother, also posted an image of herself and the dancers giving the black power salute

• See more of the latest updates on Beyonce's Super Bowl performance at www.dailymail.co.uk/superbowl

Beyonce issued a strong political statement with her halftime show at Super Bowl 50 on Sunday with backing dancers dressed as members of armed rights group the Black Panthers.

The superstar brought the dancers on for her new single Formation which is being widely touted as a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

At one point during the song, the supporting performers formed an 'X' on the field - thought to reference black rights campaigner Malcolm X - and then raised their arms in the air in a gesture referencing the black power salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Following the show, several of the dancers were pictured giving the same salute around a piece of paper that reads 'justice 4 Mario Woods' - a black man shot dead by police in San Francisco last December. Afterwards Beyonce said that she 'wanted people to have love for themselves'.

At the time Police Chief Greg Suhr said his department and San Francisco district attorney's office would investigate the shootings.

The dancers, dressed head-to-toe in black, also donned the signature black beret of the political group that operated during the Sixties and Seventies.

THE BLACK PANTHERS

Central to the black power movement of the Sixties and Seventies, the Black Panthers were an armed group once dubbed 'the greatest threat to the security of the country' by FBI chief Hoover.

The group was founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California, close to where theSuper Bowl is being played.

Following the teachings of men like Malcolm X, they advocated the use of force to prevent the oppression of black people in America.

They were also a socialist organization, believing in unity between the working classes that overlooked gender and race.

Beyonce was widely expected to make a political statement during the halftime show which was headlined by Coldplay and also featured Bruno Mars.

Anticipation had been building for her performance after she unexpectedly dropped the music video for the song on Saturday.

The video, the most political Beyonce has released, showed scenes of white police lining up against a black teenager and graffiti that reads 'stop shooting us'.

Another part of the video shows Beyonce in a flooded New Orleans, recalling scenes after Hurricane Katrina in which George Bush was accused of 'not caring about black people' by rapper Kanye West after relief was slow in reaching the area.

Within minutes of the video's release, Twitter was awash with reactions to the fiercely political lyrics and scenes - and a cameo role from the singer's four-year-old daughter with Jay Z, Blue Ivy.

Several fans hit out at Beyonce over the music video and advocated boycotting the Super Bowl, accusing her of spreading an anti-cop message which only serves to further divide communities.

Writing on the singer's Facebook page yesterday, Kristen Wickham said: 'As the wife of a police officer, I am offended by this entire video. Rise above and stay above the strife.

'For a girl who grew up in a privileged, wealthy family, she has no business pandering to those who didn't. She has no idea what struggle is.

'I have unliked you and your husband's pages, deleted all of your songs from my collection and will never buy another thing associated with either of you.'

Meanwhile Rebekah Simpson added: 'Planning to boycott the Super Bowl Halftime show. All Lives Matter! I am offended by your song "Formation" and its implication that there is a vast conspiracy in law enforcement against a particular race.

'It is just not so. My husband puts his life on the line for ALL citizens. Do you kiss your loved one good bye each day knowing that there is a high probability that he may not return that evening? The officers that I know serve the community with honor and integrity. I salute them.'

Following her Super Bowl performance on Sunday night Twitter was again filled with people supporting Beyonce, claiming she had given a 'history lesson' to viewers.

Beyonce spoke afterwards of how thrilling it was to perform at the Super Bowl.

She told ET online that it 'felt great' to perform Formation. She added: 'I wanted people to feel proud and have love for themselves.'

The Black Panthers were an infamous armed group that was founded in Oakland in 1966, close to where the Super Bowl is being played this evening, and operated during the Sixties and Seventies.

The group, once dubbed 'the greatest threat to the internal security of the country' by FBI director J Edgar Hoover, was formed in 1966 to combat oppression of black people in the U.S.

While previous civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King had advocated a policy of non-violence, the Panthers supported the use of force in order to hit at authorities and protect members.

Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, was sent to prison in 1946 for larceny and breaking and entering after a life of petty crime and trouble with the law.

But once in prison he discovered Islam and joined the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, dropping his 'slave' last name and adopting the letter 'X', symbolic of a stolen identity, in its place.

After he was paroled from prison in 1952 Malcolm X went on to challenge the mainstream non-violent civil rights movement of Martin Luther King Jr.

Instead he called on his followers to defend themselves from white aggression 'by any means necessary', and advocated black rifle clubs.

His fundamental belief, taken from the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, was that the white man was the devil, and that blacks could never live in harmony with whites.

His autobiography, and numerous public speeches, formed the basis for the black power movement which gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s.

Meanwhile on the field on Sunday night, Peyton Manning's Super Bowl dream came true as the Denver Broncos clinched the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Manning won his second Super Bowl after the Broncos triumphed 24-10 over Cam Newton's Carolina Panthers.

The Broncos dominated the game and never looked like giving away the lead after surging ahead early on.

Manning, 39, is almost certain to retire after a career that has seen him named MVP five times and regarded as one of the NFL's best quarterbacks ever.

However, he was coy about his plans and said he would take time off to discuss his future with his family before making a decision.

FELL during Super Bowl

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