Beyoncé’s 2016 “Formation” music video includes a montage of scenes invoking both modern and historical settings. One image I’d like to pay particular attention to and which I discussed in an earlier journal entry is the parlor scene in which Beyoncé and several other women dance in the hallway of a 19th century southern home wearing maroon bodysuits.
The costumes encapsulate the switch between past and present Beyoncé incorporates in the rest of the video; the shoulders of the bodysuits reflect standard Victorian dress, large sleeves which are modest and long, while the bottom is a legless bodysuit, something Beyoncé has incorporated into her modern image onstage.
Beyoncé critiques respectability politics through this outfit, an idea present late in the 19th century during the Victorian era, wherein black women conformed to high-society standards to break into social spheres by incorporating Victorian dress. Beyoncé both reflects on and resists respectability politics through costume, as well as the dance she performs while in the bodysuit and the space she occupies. The costume is complete with black tights and a large pearl collar, as well as braided hair. The accessories again are a mix of past and present fashion, the pearl necklace being reflective of Victorian jewelry worn by wealthy women, the black tights are a modern item which allow women to comfortably display their bodies.
The dance pushes back against the white culture of the Victorian era, and by performing within the hallway of this home, Beyoncé employs a mastery of form. The montage technique is often used by modern artists in music videos, but here Beyoncé takes it further by not only switching location and dress, but playing with time and space, exemplified in the contrast between the Victorian home and the image of the dancers in an empty pool, or the image of her in a fur jacket seated in a car. Her lyrics and video production display her mastery of pop culture and allow her to include strong political messaging, both historical and modern.
Beyoncé’s use of setting and costumes in the parlor scenes are heavy with symbolism, in other parts of the video what images present strong symbols, and do they, combined with the symbolism I’ve discussed here, form a coherent message?
If Beyoncé were to replace or cut the images in the Victorian homes with more images of modernity, or if she were to only set her video in historical settings, would her video have the same effect on audiences, and what does this say about the relationship between history and pop culture?