Beyonce Formation

Context

Historical Context

Media Language

Representations

Theory

Lyrics

Hurricane Katrina hit a poor suburb in New Orleans - relief + support was poor

Poor response time made the residents felt like it was racially motivated as they helped the wealthier suburbs quicker

Album Lemonade released in 2016 the day before the Superbowl

References to martin Luther King

Mise en scene - newspaper quoted by MLK saying 'More than a dreamer'

Police brutality

'Stop shooting us' seen in the mise en scene in graffiti

Antebellum dresses - symbol of deep south America and slave owners wife's typically wore them

Confederate flag seen in the mise en scene

Theme of slavery

They didn't want to end slavery

Creole culture - mix of French and afro American

Inspired by bounce music - typically listened by the gay community

Plagiarising the voice of Messy Mya's voice and footage from the Beat documentary

The word 'Bama' can be a racial slur in America - talking about herself and her heritage

Wide shot of Beyonce sat on a sinking police car

Direct mode of address

Strong gesture codes

Mise en scene of hurricane Katrina and the flooding

Positioned herself above the police, position of power and authority - Strauss and binary oppositions

Strass - binary oppositions

Over the shoulder shot of a shirtless man wearing skinny white jeans dancing

Dancing provocatively in front of a mirror - typically seen of a homosexual men but not black men in the media

Beyonce wearing a antebellum dress + parasol typically worn by slave owner's wife's

Subverting stereotypes - showing social change + Beyonce's ideologies about racial hierarchies

Afrocentric beauty - taking notions of slave owners and changing it - close up

'Texas Bama' - changing negative stereotypes and takes pride in her cultural heritage

'I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros' in a wide shot of her child Blue Ivy - addressing racial abuse of her daughters hairstyles - strong gesture codes - proud

Wide shot - powerful black woman (Beyonce) centrally framed surrounded by men - she is in power

Wearing lots of jewellery

Funeral wear - sombre morning tone

Morning the death of the life's taken from hurricane Katrina and or police brutality

'Wide flared nostrils' - embracing African looks - celebrating the black community

Slow zoom from a long shot of Beyonce dancing provocatively in a bodysuit in a hallway - sexualising, scopophilia, voyeuristic, male gaze, post feminist

Van Zoonen - men and women are represented differently - women are objectified due to western culture

Long shot of a little boy dancing in front of a line of police - resistance

Mulvey - male gaze

Van Zoonen - men and women are represented differently, women are objectified due to western culture

'I like cornbread and collard greens' traditional food, her roots

High angle wide shot dancing in a empty swimming pool

empty swimming pool is making a social comment - black woman tried to go in a swimming pool and the they drained it

Bell Hooks called Beyonce a terrorist as she believes she is having a negative impact on young women

'When he fuck me good I take his ass to Red Lobster' subverting stereotypes

'If he hit it right, I might take him on a flight on my chopper, drop him off at the mall, let him buy some J's, let him shop up' subverting stereotypes of women and them buying things for their husband or boyfriend

Gilroy - post colonialism theory