The United States of America did not just form, or break away from England due to one individual. A group of men came together, known as the founding fathers, and signed the Declaration of Independence which helped unite America to become its own country. Beyonce’s song and video, Formation, embodies this type of group effort in order to accomplish goals and political gains in general; which proves that by coming together a group of people can then make their voice heard, and even bring peace between two sides. Beyonce uses scenes like the one of her standing, and eventually drowning on top of a cop car to strike emotion with the viewer. She also uses a scene where she is in front of a group of people all in unison which makes her and the group both look powerful. Another scene that promotes unity would be the scene where the cops and young boy raise their arms. The first action needed to be taken for a viewer to be inspired to join a cause is for the viewer to feel an emotion to the cause. 

A scene in Beyonce’s video, Formation, directly impacts people because she is drowning while laying on top of a cop car. Hurricane Katrina was a disaster, but also was handled terribly by the government and state officials. Many people saw their own family members die in this atrocity due to the government not using proper evacuation methods, and also misusing funds which in turn did not help the poorer communities affected by Katrina, so automatically people relate to the scene. Currently there is a strong movement of people calling for cops to be held accountable for their actions in taking the lives of defenseless people. Beyonce uses this movement combined with the disaster that transpired in Karina to entice people to join her cause in being in a formation against the actions of government. Beyonce is able to draw more interest, and support to be in formation by promoting the past disaster along with the current turmoil. Beyonce then captures interest in showing how she will put them in formation. 

Another part of Formation that will make the viewer more enthralled with the movement is when Beyonce is standing outside of a house in front of a group of men, and they are all wearing black. Black is an interesting color to choose for this scene because it can stand for death, but the death it stands for is the corrupt government officials that let their own people suffer. The color black in this scene is also power, and more importantly the power Beyonce and company have as a group in formation. Men also typically are ones to lead, so it is eye opening in that Beyonce is the forefront of this movement meaning this formation is special in that men and women can be equally involved. Another scene where Beyonce is leading in this manner is when her and the dancers are in formation. The confidence she displays in both scenes makes her feel and look more powerful because she is running the show. By leading people into believing in the power they can achieve as a group Beyonce’s formation will force the government and police to listen. 

Compromises are a powerful tool, and are extremely effective in stopping a conflict between two sides. The formation video features two sides that include cops, and Beyonce’s group. I allude to the cops as the side Beyonce has most conflict with due to the scene in the video that features a wall that reads, “stop the shootings.” Shootings in America at the hands of police officers are currently all over the news, and riots have broken out in major cities due to them. The part of this video that people miss is that there is a compromise in this video when a child raises his arms which the police officers quickly do too. At first glance it may look as though the cops are surrendering to the child, but this is a compromise. In order for two sides to come together they need to first off understand each other. This is crucial because then the knowledge, feelings, and different points of view can be heard by both sides. Once that huge barrier is finally broken a compromise can be made because each side now understands each other. The child’s dance is a symbol of the information the government and cops needs to learn from poorer communities in order to end the senseless killings and mishandlings of funds for them. Beyonce wants to push people to be in formation due to how once they are in formation enough power will be attained for a compromise of sorts to occur. So Beyonce’s goal of a compromise to end a feud between the government and people is made when the child and cops both have their arms raised at the same time which therefore brings peace. 

Beyonce’s music video, Formation, heats up the debate table for how the government has handled Katrina, but more importantly poorer communities in general. Beyonce makes clear with the scene of her drowning that she along with countless others will never forget the loved ones they lost due to Katrina, and police shootings. These disasters have pushed Beyonce to start a formation against the government, and one of the goals of her formation is for people to realize that our ideas and opinions cannot be ignored by the government as a group. Beyonce broke a stereotype in that she was leading, and not men which helps bring women into the movement. The color black is also particularly important in the scene where she leads the men because it gives off a sense of power. The most important scene though is the child, and the police holding their arms off signaling they are in unison too. The ultimate goal in this video are for police, and communities to become one and realize they should be together not against each other. 
