Applied theories Flashcards
Intersectionality
Hooks
Beyonce might provide us with a number of moments that reflect a white power affirming jezebel stereotype, yet the context of further imagery suggests that those representations are deliberately ironic.
Formation, for instance, knowingly references the #blacklivesmatter movement through the ‘stop shooting us’ graffiti reference towards the end of the video. The text draws attention to the economic disparities and institutionalised racism of America, yet also provides a stream of tilt-up imagery lit with high-key lighting that celebrates a diverse range of black female, black queer and black male identities. New Orleans isn’t just mourned, it’s diversity is celebrated.
The text, in this sense, provokes an intersectionalist message - simultaneously critiquing the legacy of black slavery, whilst also celebrating those black identities that mainstream American culture marginalises. In so doing Formation asks an active audience to question the overly sexualised imagery presented at the start of the video and to affirm bell hooks’ intersectional political intentions by ‘calling out’ the effects of white-male privilege.
Objectification
Van Zoonen
Formation - like a number of other female led contemporary music videos - constructs a version of femininity that van Zoonen would argue reinforces patriarchal ideologies.
Scenes within the video clearly objectify Beyonce through the use of explicit costuming and sexually provocative dance routines. Conversely, other moments depict Beyonce in a more passive and innocent manner - demure fourth wall breaks with innocent white costuming are followed by sequences that feature Beyonce’s daughter in a way that reinforces traditional female stereotypes of motherhood.
This contrary depiction of Beyonce as both a madonna and whore figure invites the male gaze. Beyonce is eroticised yet also pressed into a submissive set of
patriarchally aligned representations that reduces women to an inferior social status.
Theory - Uses and Gratification
Audiences use Formation to gain information/education about how Hurricane Katrina effeted the black community of Lousiana, which is represented in the music video
Theory - Post Structuralism
In Formation, Beyonce’s self sexualisation can be perceived as a symbol of feminism and owning female sexuality, or it can be perceived as an overt sexualisation in order to attract a mainstream audience
Theory - Binary Opposition
In Formation, there are binary opposites to promote social issues
Government vs People
White vs Black
Women vs Men
