
At one point in time we were all the little kid idolizing the artist, actor, or character on television. Today, Beyonce is seen as a woman of power in music and in society. “Formation” not only describes Beyonce’s heritage, but also much of history. Beyonce reminds viewers that history can indeed repeat itself and still have the same, if not greater, impact the second time around. Through her music video, “Formation”, she symbolizes her own power and that of the black lives matter movement through color schemes, the literal formation of herself and other dancers, and repetition. There is always a deeper meaning behind “the big picture.” When you look more into the meaning of miniscule details presented, political views and stigmas change. 

Right at the start of the first scene, Beyonce’s political views are evident. An establishing shot is used to set the stage in the opening scene, providing a sense of where the action is happening. The music video opens with Beyonce standing on top of a police car in a body of water. Making the shot and scene very straight forward but yet still open to interpretation. Beyonce is representing here that she stands above the police force and they are drowning in the overwhelming amount of tension between police and the general population. Later developing into a long shot, this allows the viewer to take in the vastness of the location and Beyonce’s isolation. The body of water the police car sits in is the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Messy Mya is the opening voice of the video: An African American comedian who was shot down in the street in New Orleans. The viewer can clearly see the symbolism in some part of the video but there is deeper meaning behind Beyonce’s words than the viewer may pick up on after just one viewing. Relating back to the visual aspects of the video, the colors are dulled and gloomy in the background but Beyonce is in a red dress.  Dulled colors in a gloomy set symbolize the haze of confusion that overcame the town after destruction and Beyonce’s capability to stand above that. Contrary to the political views of many, that blacks sit at a lower status than whites in society.  

As previously mentioned, Beyonce is a powerhouse on stage but also in everyday life. She blatantly displays this and how she plans to instill this characteristic in her daughter through the use of the literal formation of herself and others in the video. In most scenes Beyonce displays her power by the placement of herself, standing at the front and center of most scenes. The placement of herself is to display the motif of power. Power amongst a different race than our own changes the political views and stigmas held by many. An example of a scene that held an immense amount of symbolism, displaying Beyonce’s power through her positioning, was Beyonce standing in front of a former plantation wearing all black, expensive jewelry, and surrounded by black males in black suits. The black color scheme depicts power and wealth among the free people. Beyonce blatantly continues to flick off the cameras, presented as a wealthy black female. She is alluding the time of slavery and how their freedom had led to nothing but wealth and fame. Also it is important to note, Beyonce is putting herself in front of the men and they are on either side of her. Signifying her power over the men, the fact they are all individually successful and have found their own sense of freedom away from the plantation: a place that used to hold all the power over someone of their color. Many often try to ignore the ugly parts of history that may have been inhumane or cruel but Beyonce brings those topics back throughout her video, forcing viewers to face the reality of the dilemmas pushed to the back of our minds and hearts. Overall, Beyonce proves her overcoming of all of these situations through positioning herself front and center. 

The next scene with a lot of symbolism, displaying power, is that of Beyonce’s daughter, Blue Ivy wearing a white dress standing with two other little girls relative to her age. A medium shot is used to film this scene most of the time, showing Blue Ivy and friends from the waist up. The color white represents purity, symbolizing Beyonce’s protection over her daughter hoping she will never face the trying times that have occurred recently or in the past. The formation of the three girls is similar to that of Beyonce’s scene in the hallway and in front of the plantation as aforementioned. The other young girls in the scene, stand behind Blue Ivy on either side of her. This is an attempt to instill power in Blue Ivy at a young age. Power and confidence are two characteristics that Beyonce portrays in this music video and in life that have helped lead her to success. The scene of Blue Ivy portraying the image of innocence is recurring and flashed back to many times throughout the video, to balance the harsh and heavily racial scenes Beyonce is in.  This scene may change a viewer’s perspective on the stereotypical image of black women. It is often frowned upon by society for them to be presented with their natural hair in an afro. Multiple times throughout the video Beyonce and Blue Ivy are shot with an afro, in the clothes they choose to wear. With confidence comes self-love and Beyonce instills that in her viewers and her children by allowing them to embrace their own essence of beauty, not societies image that has been created for them. 

Confidence equals self-love, avoidance of pressing topics, and the amount of detail used to change political views is tied together throughout Beyonce’s video as a whole. As recurring motifs, it is important to analyze the details and pay attention to the little things. At the end of “Formation” Beyonce sings, “Girl, I hear some thunder. Golly, look at that water, boy, oh lord.” Beyonce references the thunder as the movement of power and strength rolling into the town. The water of the flood, holding the belongings of loved ones and residents of Louisiana. A powerful vast body of water sits still to remind those of all they have lost.  Songs, newspapers, conversations, school teachers, etc. are all things that can change our political views or stigmas of an event or time that is ingrained in our heads. Although, Beyonce has a way with art that she used to instill something more than a catchy song in our head. Eventually, once the lyrics 

are known by all and that catchy song is repeated for the one-hundredth time, perhaps it will all make sense. “Formation” is Beyonce’s strongest political message she has shared to date. Beyonce evokes powerful images of black culture, wealth, tragedy in the area, resilience and self-confidence to her viewers. Providing hope for a society that is in ruins and is flooded with controversy. However, Beyonce shows viewers that everyone has a different purpose, and uniting each individuals purpose could change many political stigmas. 
