Beyoncé - Formation

That B.E.A.T

This documentary focuses on bounce music, a sub-genre of hip-hop particularly popular in the deep South of America. Bounce music is characterised by a loud and noisy production, a heavy emphasis on samples, a very fast tempo, sexually explicit lyrics, a significant queer following and a large number of gay producers. Elements that are lifted from the documentary include the iconography of flooded buildings, footage of dancing, the sampled electronic drums and bass, and the rough and ready feel and exciting energy.

However, the video to Formation completely dispatches any queer iconography. The sight of men dancing in a highly sexualised manner is not hegemonically conventional, and would be unfamiliar to those not familiar with gay clubs or queer cinema. This documentary therefore dismantles heteronormative notions about rap music. By completely excluding all queer themes from this video, it can be argued that this decision has been made to minimise risk and maximise profit. However, in doing so, Beyoncé is not only reinforcing heteronormative values, but is also symbolically annihilating black queer representations.

Formation presents a powerful and diverse set of representations of black people, but it is not completely intersectional feminism.

Iconography- visual symbolism

Paul Gilroy - Ethnicity and Post-colonisation

• argues we live in a post colonial world
• racism still exists

Antebellum era - time between formation of the U.S. government and the outbreak of the American Civil War

Hyper-reality - where a representation feels more real than the thing its representing

Bricolage - combination of different elements & styles from different times/places

Formation is a hyper-real bricolage.

Formation is a deconstruction of time and place, breaking down boundaries of temporality (referring to time).

By breaking down the boundaries of space and time, it shows racism is like an endless loop, the same issues which have affected black people in the 19th century are affecting people now.

Formation does not present a linear narrative. It presents a complex and fragmentary narrative, a hyperreal bricolage that makes reference to antebellum era slave owners, slavery, revolution and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.