A Rhetorical Analysis Of Formation Beyon

In 2016, Beyoncé released a provocative music video for her song “Formation” which depicts her rightful and unapologetic attitude towards her womanhood and blackness. She released the video just 24 hours before her Super Bowl performance—a usually entertaining moment during the sporting event. She took this nationally screened opportunity, and she revised its purpose from one of pure entertainment to one in which an important political comment on the oppression of which black people and women are forced to abide by was at the forefront of her performance. Though Beyoncé has access to other platforms in which to express her opinions, other black people (especially black women) may not have the same advantages as, for example, white males in

where to communicate their political messages, so utilizing this space for political discourse, though nontraditional, is helpful in communicating to marginalized groups her views on the oppression of black people and women (Steele, 2016). Black adolescents also engage with TV more often than their white counterparts making this televised display even more important to engaging black people (and adolescents) and representing a viewpoint of being unapologetic for their heritage (Tanksley, 2016).

As people were anticipating her Super Bowl performance, the release of the music video at that time when people were searching for Beyoncé was well-planned and allowed for her music video to become popular very quickly, which was especially impressive as she had not announced its release. The music video is an intersectional exploration into the systematic oppression of women and black people. I will be conducting a rhetorical analysis of the “Formation” video beginning with the chosen locations, continuing with an analysis of stylistic decisions, and finally discussing the significance of her

lyrics.
Despite the fact that most of the footage was meant to portray New Orleans post-Katrina, none of the scenes were actually filmed in Louisiana—they were all filmed in California. For example, the iconic sunken police car scene was filmed in a water tank on a soundstage in Los Angeles; the plantation house was actually the Feynes Estate, which was built in 1907 and is in Pasadena (Beyoncé, 2016) (Pasadena Museum of History, 2018). Each scene with Beyoncé was filmed in California; however, many of the scenes were taken from various documentaries, which took place in and were about New Orleans. For this reason, Beyoncé was criticized for profiting off of other people’s tragedies, though she argued that it was important and purposeful in representing her message of unapologetic blackness and womanhood.
Regardless of what is believed about the use of the footage, the meaning behind it remains at relevant given the oppression is clearly portrayed. The mansion (though not a slave plantation as it is depicted) has a clear purpose in the video and, in some ways, since it is not a plantation home there is an underlying message that is even more important--this message being that even though slavery is no longer present in our country, racism still exists and is dressed up differently. This mansion, which is not a slave plantation home, is decorated to look like one (Beyoncé, 2016). In other words, there is a mask of acceptance in our society, and, by using a home, which is not a slave plantation house, viewers are exposed to the idea that racism still exists but is simply disguised. In this way, she understands that times have progressed because slave plantations are no longer in operation, but she is arguing that there is a systematic oppression that still exists and must be fought against. In order to avoid the secreted continuation of racism, we must continue to progress forward, which can come only if we accept each culture without declaring it an "other" (hooks, 1992).
The police car submerging in the Katrina floodwaters is very striking and carries a lot of weight in representing how systematic oppression leads to hopelessness (Beyoncé, 2016). This scene is even more powerful when it is associated with the scene of Beyoncé and the Black Panthers dancing in what is a waterless pool. As the video does not appear to follow a chronological order, if one considers the submerging of the police cars to precede the Black Panthers joining Beyoncé in a unified dance, then it appears that Beyoncé is saved from drowning and encouraged by other black women to fight for equality, fairness, and for herself. In some of their dance sequences, there is a military-like uniformity, which represents their willingness to fight in the war to end oppression. There is also the idea, though, that their efforts are being observed as one of their dance scenes is layered to look like a VHS tape (Browne, 2015). They do not appear to know they are being watched, making it appear as though the police seen later could be monitoring their resistance movement. The meaning behind the dance sequences draws the attention of viewers in its solidarity, making viewers curious and asserting their perspectives onto the dancers while engaging in a silent conversation of purpose (Mulvey, 2010). In other words, even viewers who disagree with the idea of supporting black culture are forced to confront the reality of its normality. The importance of submerging a police car is representative of her belief that the police are not fighting for black people but against them. She is supported, not by the system, but other oppressed people who all want nothing but to be seen as equal when they practice black culture.
These two scenes of oppression and unfairness in the system are then concluded in the scene depicting a black boy dancing in front of police. This sequence is interrupted to show a wall saying “Stop Shooting Us” (Beyoncé, 2016). The boy then puts his hands up in defeat and the police put their hands up to represent a cease-fire. A peaceful resolution is what Beyoncé really seems to be fighting for, and a resolution to the misguided police surveillance (Browne, 2015).
Beyoncé’s stylistic decisions are really interesting in that they are less about her womanhood and more about her blackness.

There is a scene of several black women in a sitting room wearing all white, fanning themselves, and sitting on a torn sofa. This scene is not Beyoncé and the other woman acting like white slave owners, they are instead imagining that they were the masters. The producers of the video actually scanned artwork of white plantation owners and reimagined them as black people in order to create this effect. The sofa being ripped is also important as it is a metaphor for the destruction in the systematic oppression on the lives of these women, but they believe that they can undo this injustice if given the power

to.
Another important decision is Beyoncé’s use of her daughter, Blue Ivy, to show a natural black woman in her childhood (Beyoncé, 2016). The confidence that her daughter has is often torn down when other races ridicule black people for embracing their blackness and culture. Beyoncé also depicts several different black hairstyles in a representation of her unapologetic blackness. The Black Panthers also wear Afros in showing the beauty in embracing their culture.
Several lyrical decisions also imply that natural beauty is representative of a unified culture in her presented argument. The line, “I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros” shows her acceptance of natural beauty in black culture and the need for society to accept black culture as natural rather than as an “other” (hooks, 1992) (Beyoncé, 2016). There are many other stimulating lyrics that also make the argument for an acceptance, understanding, and support of black culture in society. One of these being the line, “I twirl on them haters, albino alligators” as albino alligators are often sacrificed to help the group (Beyoncé, 2016) (Kronke, 1997). Beyoncé is making the claim that she is using her career and talent to sacrifice some people’s opinions of her in order to make a statement about the need for support of black culture.
The line, “What happened in New Orleans?” is the first spoken line of the whole music video (Beyoncé, 2016). It is sampled from a video by Messy Mya, a YouTube star who was killed in New Orleans by a man who was sentenced to serve just 18 months in a mental institution for bipolar disorder (Freund, 2013). The black-on-black crime was important for her to comment on because the women in the video are shown as a unified group. In order for black culture to be supported, black people to need to come together.
There has been a lot of discussion as to why Beyoncé chose to sit on the police car in seemingly normal clothes while singing lyrics representing her wealth (“ I’m so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress”) and superiority over her husband (“I rock his Roc necklaces”) (Beyoncé, 2016). I would argue that this is due to the same reason that the producers chose to repaint images of white plantation owners to show the black women as the masters in the situation. Beyoncé is showing that she is not allowing societal standards to impact the way that she lives her life but understands that oppression still occurs. She is both oppressed but also represents an “other” in her race and sex, as she has been able to rise above the systematic oppression (hooks, 1992). This rise, though, was not without help and this video is acknowledging through the Black Panthers that this help came from other black women and, especially as shown in the clip of the beauty parlor, they are still struggling under current cultural standards. Her line, “I got hot sauce in my bag” displays her unwillingness to abide by current societal norms, as she is aware that her culture should not be discriminated against (Beyoncé, 2016). She is the race that she is and that race has a culture which should not be ignored simply because it makes some (who are racist) uncomfortable.
I think that Beyoncé’s video is purposeful in every aspect. In order to portray intersectional oppression due to her sex and race, she films in a location, which was impacted by a tragedy—seemingly comparing the tragedy of oppression to drowning. She uses her hairstyles and clothes to represent black culture, but to also show that black culture should be supported in order to allow for an equal possibility for black people to succeed—as well as women though this reality is not as clearly represented in her music video. Her lyrics, though, paint a utopia where black culture thrives and is not discouraged, and, for that reason, her provocative video is important in starting a discussion about how to progress forward in acceptance of black culture.