How is Beyoncé positioned as an artist through her music videos?
Destiny’s Child released the song ‘No, No, No’ as part of their first studio album (their debut single) in 1997. In the music video Beyoncé is presented as cute and innocent, like the phrase ‘the girl next door’, this may partly be due to the fact that at this time she was only 17 years old, not even an adult so she shouldn’t be sexualised. However, this music video is set in a nightclub during a karaoke/ open mic and since during this time the group were relatively unknown they positioned Beyoncé as a young woman with an endearing smile, but also appealing to the male gaze as she danced alongside the other members of Destiny’s Child.
In 1998 a remix of ‘No, No, No’ was released featuring the well known musician Wyclef Jean, he gave Destiny’s Child street credibility so the music video had a more edgy and sultry ambience. For example, there are scenes which only show the groups figures with light in the back, and they are also sat on a street corner (which represents Beyoncé as a down to earth, trendy woman). A bit later in the music video there is a set change to a more heavenly atmosphere, which brings back some of the innocence and purity that Beyoncé represented in the original song.
The song ‘Bills, Bills, Bills’ revolves around Beyoncé arguing with her boyfriend at a hairdressing salon, then she is seen gossiping with the women around her about it (which is a stereotype of women used in this video to show how relatable her situation is). In the scene below it shows the group dancing around/ on the chairs, which is like a burlesque chair dance (which is similar to a scene out of the film ‘Basic Instinct’). This dance and the intertextuality suggests the women have the control using their sexuality, which shows female empowerment also through the representation of Beyoncé; being independent (not needing her boyfriend and addressing women, sending them the message that they shouldn’t be dependent on men for e.g money).
‘Independent women’ is part of the soundtrack to the film ‘Charlie’s Angels’ which is a remake of the 70s TV show of the same name. Its intertextuality positions Beyoncé as one of Charlie’s Angels, who are known for being strong, intelligent women that always have each other’s backs. This implies that Beyoncé has the same characteristics as them, promoting female empowerment by suggesting that women should work for themselves, buy their own things, and be there for each other as support, moreover addressing men and challenging them (by asking rhetorical questions in the lyrics and answering them).
‘Survivor’ is a song addressed to women which evokes strength, power and independence. The music video shows multiple scenes where Destiny’s Child are travelling around an island, familiarising themselves with their surroundings. This shows that they can survive on the island by themselves which is a parallel to relationships, implying women can survive on their own without a boyfriend/ husband. The context behind this song is that a year before the album’s release, two members of the group were replaced with other women and articles speculated who would survive in the group until they all break up as a whole. Therefore this song encourages and spreads the message that women should be brave and confident within themselves against the challenges of the world, like how Beyoncé survived the criticism thrown at her and her group members, and how in the music video her character survived in the wild after being washed up at shore.
When Beyoncé left the group Destiny’s Child, her solo debut song was ‘Crazy in love’ which featured Jay Z. Similarly to the ‘No, No, No’ remix, this featured the rapper so she could gain street credibility,
which worked well with how Beyoncé wanted to present herself at that time. She wanted to show the audience that the old Beyoncé is dead and she has created a new version of herself compared to how she was in Destiny’s Child. In the opening scene Beyoncé walks towards the camera confidently and the outfit she wears is quite revealing compared to her clothing choices in the past. Throughout the music video she uses her sexuality to her advantage and evokes the male gaze by dancing, emphasising the meaning behind the lyrics which say that love makes you do crazy, uncharacteristic things.
The scene where she is dancing in front of a burning car with Jay Z highlights the death of her old self, burning away in the car, showing she has grown up from the girl she was in Destiny’s Child’s first single, and is free. However, after she made this more sexual music video she didn’t stop promoting female empowerment, for example she also released ‘Single Ladies’ which stated that women are strong and don’t need to marry a man, but this could be implied as being contradictory to ‘Crazy In love’ as in this song she speaks about the feeling of being in love taking control of her.
‘Formation’ takes place in California but the environment represents New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina took place. In the music video Beyoncé celebrates her culture/ identity and success as a black woman and speaks out about New Orleans’ past, present and future, and the problem of the police. This highlights that Beyoncé is now focusing less of the patriarchy and more on the issues of racism.
‘Formation’ contains strong political criticism and instead of just promoting female empowerment, it has themes of empowerment in her heritage.
For example, the scene where she is standing on a police car which is submerged in the flood acts as a criticism towards the police who failed to respond appropriately to the previous Hurricane, neglecting people of colour in the affected region.
She performs dance routines with back up dancers during the music video, not using her sexuality but expressing pride and also outrage through her movements at the several issues she represents from moments in history.
Overall, Beyoncé has themes of female empowerment in most of her music, even when creating music video's on love and her identity. She projects an independent aura, claiming to be a feminist and advocate for Black Women's Rights, which she develops through her music as a solo artist and as a member of Destiny's Child. Her views have mostly gone unchanged, but the audience can feel her maturity influencing how she positions herself as an artist.
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