Media Exam Question

 Explore and compare representation in the following two videos (30 marks)

 Childish Gambino’s - This is America and Beyoncé’s - Formation music videos are both show a representation of real-life issues and black culture. This is America brings awareness to the problems within society and the problems that black people face. Whilst Formation brings light to Hurricane Katrina and the reignition of racial tension in America.

The Formation music video was released in Black History month but also on Trayvon Martin’s birthday. There is significance in doing this as it brought awareness to his murder and people starting to become more active in campaigning towards equality. The music video references the Hurricane Katrina and the terrible crimes that have been committed against the black community. The video centres around black women and includes them being proud of their natural hair and also shows them in positions of leadership and dominance. It also has vocal and visual representations of the LGBTQ+ community.

When the music video starts, we hear Messy Mya. Messy Mya was a male youtuber who explored gender expectations and wasn’t scared of being controversial. Using the sample of Messy Mya’s voice might be Beyoncé’s way of using media language to reference other cultural icons that her target audience may be familiar with. It might also be a way to show the theme of black oppression and discrimination, another topic that may engage her target audience. There are scenes in the music video that are taken from a documentary called ‘That B.E.A.T’ which was about bounce music and fans in New Orleans. There is a common theme of police brutality against the black community as there are references such as blue flashing lights, police uniforms, etc. This reflects the social, cultural, and political circumstances in America such as police brutality, racial discrimination, the Black Lives Matter movements, etc. These are topics that the audience would be familiar with.

Beyoncé uses a range of profanity throughout her song which adds a tone of aggression which can be linked to her expressing her anger towards the mistreatment. This could also be Beyoncé challenging the representation of women being submissive or her ‘giving in’ to the stereotype of black women being aggressive. She always uses racial slurs that can represent the themes of historical discrimination.

In one of the scenes, Beyoncé is seen sat on top of a sinking police car which is her referencing the flooded water in Hurricane Katrina. The low angles and the way her body is positioned for example the way she is sitting on top of the car, in a confident pose with her legs spread, in a typically masculine pose, makes her seem powerful and in control. This could be challenging the stereotype of women being weak. However, there is some controversy that Beyoncé standing/sitting on top of a police car represented her being against the police. Beyoncé is seen holding herself in a formal and powerful manner in a lot of shots. She is seen wearing expensive clothes and jewellery/accessories which can represent wealth and success. This relates to the Gilroy theory where ethnic minorities are seen in a certain way due to racial hierarchies. The use of young children in music video could represent that discrimination is still happening to young people in this day and age.

The video also includes the voice of Big Freedia’s. This shows Beyoncé accepting an ally from the LGBTQ+ community.

 

When the This is America music video starts, the establishing shot is a wide shot of a guitar on a chair that is later picked up by a black man. The music video starts in a relatively normal way as the camera pans to Childish Gambino. However, less than a minute in, the video takes a drastic turn as Gambino strikes a pose and kills the guitarist with a bag over his head. This changes the tone of the video from cheerful to aggressive. The pose that Gambino strikes resembles Jim Crow. Jim Crow was an illustration from the early 1800s that marked African-Americans as “lazy, stupid and less human”. Jim Crow was later referenced to a series of segregation laws that were made during the Reconstruction Era. After shooting the guitarist, Gambino hands his gun over to someone who takes it away wrapped in a red cloth, whilst the body dragged away. This could be a representation of how guns are treated with more respect and care than black bodies.

Childish Gambino is topless in grey trousers to show that he is vulnerable because he is black. After a minute has passed, lots of movement starts to happen in the background. Black men running across the warehouse (some with weapons) and people driving past in cars. In one of the scenes, Gambino is seen shooting a choir. This is a link to the white supremacist Dylann Roof shooting and killing nine people in a predominantly African-America church. Once again, the gun is taken away with care in a red cloth. This can be seen as a reference to how the United States failed to pass a law on restricting gun ownership. Gambino may be insinuating that the US cares more about the protection of guns than black bodies.

Gambino moves swiftly from one violent act to another to resemble what America does. This brings awareness to how we only care about mass shootings in the moment but when the latest viral dance or video comes out, we get distracted and stop caring. Later in the music video, someone is seen jumping off the railings and committing suicide. This is a huge contrast compared to Gambino and the school children dancing and smiling. For the duration of the music video, Gambino is seen dancing a variation of the Gwara Gwara (a South African dance) which serves as a distraction to all the bad things happening around him. This could be seen as Gambino saying that America uses black entertainment as a distraction from the death and violence it pressurises on its black residents.

In one of the scenes, we can see someone dressed in a black hood riding on a white horse being escorted by a police car. This could be a reference to the connection between police brutality/violence and death for black America’s. There is a scene in the music video that shows a cluster of cars with their doors open. This could be symbolising how African Americans are frequently being forced to pull over and step out of their cars by the police. In the last scene it shows him running away from a mob of people which some people may say is a reference to the movie Get Out, which is known for using common horror clichés to reveal the truth about racism towards black people.

This is America and Formation have a similar representation in their music videos/lyrics of, for example, black culture and issues with police brutality. For instance, both artists touch on the wealthiness of black people. Gambino says in the lyrics “Get your money, black man” whilst Beyoncé says in her lyrics “You might be a black Bill Gates in the making, cause I slay, I might just be a black Bill Gates in the making”. Both Beyoncé and Gambino address black wealth in their lyrics which could represent that they might be trying to subvert the representation of black people being poor or less successful.

Gambino and Beyoncé also have the theme of police brutality towards the black community in their music videos. As I have already mentioned, in the This is America music video there is a police car escorting death which could be representing how the police tries to validate black death. In the Formation music video, there are references to how the police mistreat the black community. There is a scene of a little boy dancing in front of the police. The use of low angles of the police and their uniform makes them seem quite powerful and intimidating in contrast to the little boy.