Formation

Question 1

Where was Formation performed as a surprise?

Answer 1

The US Super Bowl in 2016

Question 2

What was significant about the performance of Formation at the Super Bowl?

Answer 2

• The performance was shrouded in imagery that evoked the values and ideologies of the violent 1970s civil rights campaign
• The images were dominated by the Black Panthers (military style protest group) and Malcolm X (black civil rights campaigner)
• The dancers, alongside Beyonce, were dressed in black berets and military style clothing, and formed an X as part of their routine

Question 3

What can generally be said about the lyrics of the song?

Answer 3

The lyrics of the song used references to Black Power, #blacklivesmatter, and to the indifference of the police to the sufferings of the black communities during Hurricane Katrina

Question 4

Why was Beyonce criticised for being hypocritical?

Answer 4

• She is rich and privileged so she shares little suffering of the black community
• The Panthers were openly misogynistic and hostile in their treatment of women
• Malcolm X was also openly dismissive of women’s rights

Question 5

Beyonce was also criticised because people thought her sudden political awareness was a promotional tactic. Why would they say this?

Answer 5

The next day she announced a 40 day tour of America

Question 6

What are the opening images of the Formation music video?

Answer 6

The opening images of the video show parts of the city under water, recalling TV film of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Question 7

Why was Hurricane Katrina so controversial?

Answer 7

The impact of the tragedy was fuelled by controversy because people believed that New Orleans didn’t receive the attention and the help it deserved because of its majority black community

Question 8

The music video shows imagery of a sunk New Orleans police car into a body of water. What are the connotations of this?

Answer 8

Perhaps that they felt helpless, perhaps drowned in corruption. The purpose of this was to let the audience know where she stood on the issues she represents in the film and the song, she is siding with the audience and the disenfranchised black community

Question 9

One of the most powerful scenes is that of a small child dancing in a hoodie in front of a line of officers. Why is this?

Answer 9

• It references the police shooting of Mike Brown, where even in a harmless situation the black person was considered a threat
• The hoodie is poignant, as the police officer defence in the Trayvon Martin shooting had argued that his jacket made him look threatening

Question 10

Why is it significant that the Formation music video shows Beyonce with several different hairstyles?

Answer 10

• Hair is a way for black women to express themselves and make a statement
• These are struggles specific to black women, such as whether to conform or make a statement with your hair

Question 11

What can be said about the lyric “I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils”?

Answer 11

• Statement to those who dubbed Jay-Z as unattractive
• A ‘negro nose’ is stereotypically wide and regarded as undesirable by Western cultures
• Beyonce is stating here that she is not one to conform to white standards of beauty