Racism, inequality, and discrimination are still prominent in today’s society. Recent police shootings of African Americans have caused great outrage. Celebrities have the power to greatly influence people of all ages and cause them to think about topics that they would not normally think about. Beyoncé is an African American singer who is not only African American but also a woman. She is a minority who is in the spotlight all of the time and has a say in some people’s thoughts. Her “Formation” music video uses a visual motif of her standing on top of a sinking police car to argue that police violence is not acceptable and that it must be put to an end.

The visual text depicts many different scenes of different people dancing. Most importantly it depicts a repetitive scene of Beyoncé standing and laying on top of a sinking police car. Standing on top of the sinking police car signifies that Beyoncé is overcoming the police violence and trying to sink it (end it) completely. This visual motif is repeated twelve times throughout the whole video to argue to the viewers that police violence and racism needs to be put to an end. By repeating this visual motif so many times it sticks in the viewers’ minds’ and makes them actually consider the issue. Beyoncé does not let you forget what she is arguing for. The visual text is directed to those who listen to Beyoncé’s music and those who hear about the video from press coverage. It is precisely directed towards African Americans who have been victims of the recent police violence. Beyoncé wants her viewers to band together and stop these acts of wrongness with her music video in hopes that she can actually make this impression and make a difference.

The overall design of the music video is to flash back and forth between scenes of the motif and then scenes of people dancing. This design keeps the music video interesting while getting its’ point across. Recurring images of Beyoncé sinking the police car makes the scene more powerful because each time it flashes back to her on the car it sinks more and more. Sinking the police car delivers a message to the viewers telling them to overcome police violence and not give in to it. Beyoncé uses symbols such as wearing a red and white dress while on top of the police car to reflect colors that represent the police. Wearing these colors while she overpowers the police car is a bit humorous and is meant to play off of the colors of police. She is trying to convey that it is okay to take a stand against the police when they are acting wrongly.   Most people feel badly for the victims of hurricanes just how they feel badly for those affected by police violence. A specific scene of a young African American boy dancing in front of a line of police appeals to our emotions because it makes the audience consider how they would feel if anything were to happen to the young boy. The overall message of the entire music video appeals to our emotions because of how devastating police violence is to the people and families that it affects. Fear of police violence is created when we watch these scenes which helps persuade the viewers to side with Beyoncé’s point of view.

An establishing shot at the beginning of the video makes it a point to show destroyed New Orleans, where the music video is filmed. African American people are common in New Orleans and so are destroyed houses due to the hurricanes. The setting is important to relate destroyed New Orleans to the destroyed lives of victims of police violence. Showing scenes of flooded streets and houses symbolizes how police violence is destroying Americans and their families. Using these symbols adds to the argument by playing off our emotions. The post-Katrina landscape connects with police violence because Katrina destroyed lives and homes in the same way that police violence does.

The unstated assumption of the argument is that Beyoncé believes that police violence is in fact wrong. Assuming that Beyoncé believes that police violence is wrong is the basis of the whole argument. The whole music video supports this argument by blatantly arguing against police violence. Beyoncé only has African American people in the video and has a specific scene that says “stop shooting us” written on a wall. This music video may function differently in a different context if racism were not alive anymore. Without racism and police violence then there would be no need for this music video to argue what it does. Those who believe police violence is not an issue may react differently to this video than those who do. They may not grasp the points Beyoncé is trying to make and disregard the video completely. Beyoncé displays her message multiple ways throughout the video but does it best with the visual motif described. The color schemes and different types of camera shots she uses all add to the effect of the motif. Zooming in on Beyoncé at different points in the video makes the viewer feel more personal and connected to her and the cause she is fighting for. One may not realize what the song “Formation” is about until they see the music video. It does a great job of serving as propaganda for African Americans and those against police violence. Using a visual motif to argue against police violence is an effective way for Beyoncé to establish her opinion and persuade viewers to side with her.
