Formation Representation

Question 1

How does Beyoncé’s “Formation” video address racial tensions in America?

Answer 1

Through references to historical and contemporary issues of racism and slavery. Specifically the use of the settings of colonial mansions, police brutality and MLK

Question 2

What type of dresses are used in the video to reference slavery?

Answer 2

Antebellum dresses

Question 3

What is the significance of Beyoncé standing on top of a police car in the video?

Answer 3

It symbolizes power and resistance against racial oppression. It comments upon both police brutality against the African American communities and the neglect the people of New Orleans faced after Katrina

Question 4

What is the primary genre explored in the “Formation” music video?

Answer 4

Bounce.

Question 5

What are the 2 documentaries called that are referenced via intertextuality?

Answer 5

‘Trouble the Water’ and ‘B.E.A.T’

Question 6

What is intertextuality?

Answer 6

When one media text references another

Question 7

What was Hurricane Katrina and why does Beyonce chose to reference this within the Formation music video?

Answer 7

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the largest hurricane ever recorded in the US, which flooded New Orleans​.

The death toll was 1,836.

Most of these victims were black and most elderly - Beyonce wanted to shed light about the injustices the black community face.

Question 8

Why was George Bush critised for his response to Katrina?

Answer 8

After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans George Bush was on holiday. ​His delayed response to the disaster struck a chord with many Americans, as he waited 3 days before he flew back to The White House to develop an action plan.​

Question 9

What did Kanye West say about George Bush?

Answer 9

‘George Bush doesn’t care about black people’

Question 10

What is historical revisionism?

Answer 10

Historical revisionism refers to the process of reinterpreting the historical record based on new evidence or perspectives.

Question 11

How did the American Slave Trade influence the Formation music video?

Answer 11

Beyonce chooses to empower previously oppressed groups through historical revisionism. The costumes of antebellum dresses and setting of the colonial mansions represents Beyonce and her dancers as slave trade owners wives.

Question 12

How did the Civil Rights Movement and Racial Segregation influence the Formation music video?

Answer 12

The video features settings and symbols from the Southern United States, where much of the Civil Rights Movement took place. This includes scenes set in New Orleans, a city with a rich history of African American culture and significant civil rights activism. By referencing MLK Jr. and Dorothy Dandridge, Beyonce is creating a purposeful representation of black empowerment and historical revisionism.

Question 13

What is the Dorothy Dandridge case and how is it referenced within Formation?

Answer 13

A ‘white’ swimming pool was drained when Dandridge dipped her toe into it. In Formation, Beyonce dances in an empty pool to pay homage to this event and its injustices.

Question 14

Who was Messy Mya?

Answer 14

Messy Mya, was a rapper, comedian, and YouTube personality from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was known for his vibrant personality, provocative online rants, and contributions to the bounce music scene​

Messy Mya tragically died on November 14, 2010. He was shot multiple times as he was leaving a baby shower for his unborn child in New Orleans’ 7th Ward

Question 15

How does Beyonce use intertextuality to reference Messy Mya?

Answer 15

The video opens with an audio clip of Messy Mya saying, “What happened at the New Orleans?” and later, “B*tch, I’m back by popular demand.”

Question 16

Why has Beyonce used intertextuality to reference Messy Mya?

Answer 16

By featuring his voice, Beyoncé brings attention to his legacy and the broader context of marginalized voices in the music industry.​

Question 17

Why are the use of the horses in Formation significant?

Answer 17

Horseback was the preferred method of transportation around plantations by slave trade owners.​
The use of the low angle shots of black characters riding horses wearing spurs and cowboy hats reinforces that the black community are taking charge of their own destiny.​
The binary opposition between the spurs and the contemporary trainers could have a further ideological significance – connoting that slavery and the ideologies surrounding it still exist today.

Question 18

What is Gilroys post-colonial theory?

Answer 18

the idea that colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the postcolonial era ​

the idea that civilisationism constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness.

Question 19

How could it be argued that Formation conforms to Gilroy’s theory of racial ‘otherness’?

Answer 19

It could be argued that Beyonce is attempting to reclaim the past, using the antebellum dresses, colonial mansions and flood settings.

Question 20

How could it be argued that Formation subverts Gilroy’s theory?

Answer 20

The use of antebellum dresses, typically associated with the era of slavery, on powerful black women reclaims these garments and recontextualizes them as symbols of strength and resilience.​

Question 21

Define bell hooks’ theory of intersectionality

Answer 21

the idea that feminism is a struggle to end sexist/patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination ​

the idea that feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice ​

the idea that race and class as well as sex determine the extent to which individuals are exploited, discriminated against or oppressed.

Question 22

How does Formation urge women to no longer see their bodies as the property of men and to demand control of their sexuality?

Answer 22

Within Formation, women are represented as in control, as Beyonce is often central to frame, connoting her dominance. There is also a distinct absence of men, as women’s bodies are ‘weaponised’ through strong, aggressive movements. The lack of patriarchal ideology throughout the video urges women to no longer ‘see their bodies as the property of men’ and to ‘demand control’ of their sexuality.

Question 23

What is a simulation?

Answer 23

A copy of a real world process

Question 24

What is a simularca?

Answer 24

A copy of something with no original source

Question 25

What is a hyper-reality?

Answer 25

The inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation or simulacra of reality

Question 26

How does Beyonce blur the lines between simulation and simulacra to create a hyper-reality?

Answer 26

Throughout the Formation music video, Beyonce uses shots from the documentary ‘Trouble the Water’, which creates a hyper-reality as audiences are unable to differentiate ‘reality’ (shots from the documentary) from simulation (shots created in a studio setting)

Question 27

What album is the song ‘Formation’ from?

Answer 27

Lemonade