For my post, I have decided to tackle prompt 3: does the difference in setting affect how we understand the dancing and lyrical performances in the music video “This is America” versus Guava Island? I want to think through this question because I find it intriguing that the exact same song and dancing can be shown in different contexts in order to prove a point using multiple lenses. In my opinion this shows that Donald Glover has succeeded in creating a “mastery of form” because through his extensive work in television and music he is able to expertly manipulate mixed media in order to showcase his message in multiple renditions of the same form.
Currently, I do not believe that the difference in setting impacts how we interpret the dancing and lyrical performances in “This is America” versus Guava Island. While the song is performed in different contexts, both renditions aim to show that America is not the “land of the free” for black people. In Guava Island, Glover’s character Deni sings “This is America” in the middle of Red Cargo, a shipping company where workers are given no days off and treated poorly. After an employee details what he would do if he were able to emigrate to America, Deni dismisses him as ignorant and claims that they are already in America, meaning that black people are not treated any better there than Guava Island. He then rallies the workers – all dressed in orange prison-like jumpsuits – to perform the song. Throughout the performance, the dancing shows the freedom that the workers desire as they refuse to do their work, while the lyrics and costuming show the reality that America is not any better than the corrupt government the workers are currently working under.
Guava Island‘s rendition states that America is not as free as it seems; the official music goes deeper and tells the audience why. “This is America” speaks on the massive amounts of gun violence against black people in America, the assumed setting. Right off the bat, a black man is shot after strumming his guitar, causing Glover to somberly say, “This is America/ Don’t catch you slippin’ now.” This sets the tone for the rest of the music video, which depicts conflicting imagery that masterfully describes the danger of being a black person in America. Throughout the video, Childish Gambino performs energetic dances through various scenes showing violence against black people, including gunning down a church choir – symbolizing the 2015 Charleston shooting – and black people running away from cop cars, showing a juxtaposition between the glorification of black art and the reality of how black people are treated. This sends a clear message that while Americans praise black art and appropriate African dance styles, the country cares more about its guns than the livelihood of people of color. This notion is further bolstered by the fact that after someone is shot in the video, the black people are left laying on the floor or dragged away while the guns are neatly taken from Glover’s hand wrapped up in red cloth.
Both the official music video and Guava Island depict the saddening reality that black people are severely oppressed in America using the same lyrical and dance performance but two different settings. I leave you all with the following questions: is setting actually important? Or is performance of blackness universal enough that setting becomes less important?