I was wrong. If you skipped the Superbowl, you would have missed Beyoncé. And Coldplay. But Beyoncé is the only one that counts.
That woman really knows how to resonate.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Clean?
Here?
Since I don’t care for pop music, I doubt I missed anything that would have interested me.
whheydt #2
Thank you for sharing.
Saul Williams she is not.
She doesn’t have to be Saul Williams. She’s already Beyoncé.
I heard there were owls!
Err… yes. I didn’t see the half time show (partly because I am not a sportswatchingperson, but mostly because I’m not an American, and so I have/had/has no idea how I would watch it (I realise it’s probably very simple to find a way, but since I am not a sportswatchingperson, I have no interest in finding out)) but I do like that song. I am a cool kids, though, so I watched the dirty version! :o
Always be yourself
Unless you can be Beyoncé. Then be Beyoncé
I do not listen to very much pop but I have heard a bit that is still expressing dissatisfaction for the same old lies and BS I remember hearing in my younger days the ones making it look a little different and the music certainly sounds different but the feelings expressed are very familiar.
uncle frogy
OK, I found the person most apoplectic about this. This one’s a doozy.
I went to You Tube to see if her performance at half time had been uploaded. What I found instead were dozens of videos by various breeds of moron, ‘revealing the hidden illuminati / new world order / globalist / satanic / gay / muslim / satanic gay muslim / hippy (?)’ messages which were spread throughout the half time show and probably the whole day. Which, like a masochist, I dipped into, but could only get through about ten minutes of a few of them before my brain began to shrivel up. In that time though, I learned (1) the name of the lead singer of Coldplay is actually “Coldplay” (as in ‘watch the expression on Coldplay’s face, look at Coldplay’s t-shirt, listen to Coldplay as he prays to his pagan gods’), (2) Beyonce and her dancers have ESP and were trying to turn us all into robots, (3) Bruno Mars picked his name because it is a subtle suggestion that he was not born on Earth, (4) everybody on the stage was acting in a super secret co-ordinated way that was actually a call for a massive gay race riot in order to destroy America (I’m not sure how you announce something secretly… although “massive gay race riot” actually sounds rather intriguing – do the colours of the rainbow all turn on each other?), (5) Lady GaGa wore red because fire / satan / lipstick / lava lamps / vagina, (6) Marleee Matlin manged to sneak in the devil’s horns sign into her signing during Star Spangled Banner (did GaGa do a metal version? was it really heavy, or just kind of glam?) (7) something something something U.N. something.
i have no interest in either the Superb Owl or in Bouncy’s music or dancing.
i just regret missing the Puppy Bowl. well, not really. i watched kung fu panda 2 instead.
@10
Was Cowboy Bebop the big guy with the mustache or the skinny guy with the afro? :)
After the recent David Bowie news I ran into an extended rant about how Bowie’s entire career was a project to inject occult influence into culture. Were you aware that a lightning bolt on the forehead was an allusion to Alestair Crowley? (Don’t even get started on Harry Potter.)
If Marlee Matlin was able to sing anything it’d be remarkable. Miley Cyrus?
sigaba @12:
You misread that: Marlee Martin was signing, not singing. From Entertainment Weekly (warning: autoplay video above article):
Lady Gaga sang the anthem.
I think it’s neat that they let the boys play football at the Beyonce concert.
I wasn’t really into any of those bands, so I guess I’ll let The Onion take it for me:
http://www.theonion.com/article/super-bowl-halftime-show-marred-functioning-sound–52312
Whiny self-serving music complaint made, I actually liked what Beyonce seemed to be trying to do there. I’m hoping the civil rights movement gets enough momentum going to actually make the jump from equality in law and theory to equality in practice. There seemed to be moments like after Rodney King where it seemed to be heading there and then felt like it dropped off again. It sort of feels like there’s a bit more continuity to the forward movement this time around.
Seven of MIne, you win all the internets
Me:
All hail Tpyos! (I meant Marlee Matlin, of course).
My boobs hurt just watching her dance; that bouncing is just… ow.
I scrolled past the video; left it playing, I’m liking the song!
“I’m a star….Ok, ladies, let’s get in formation….”etc.
Oh yes. That one truly knows how to ‘resonate’ with her listeners.
…with dashes of inconceivable wealth to indicate just how pertinent her ‘message’ must be, especially magnified by all the hip-work by her and her entourage.
anchor
Her net worth has zero relevance to her message of employing an all black and female troupe of dancers dressed up in costumes that evoke 70’s era black civil rights activist for the halftime show of the TV show with an enormous audience. Her hips and dance skills are even less relevant. You also misspelled magnificent.
Tethys
I don’t understand how using the word “magnified” constitutes a misspelling of “magnificent”.
As for her “net worth”, whatever it may be? As a (science-oriented) musician and artist that aspect never occurred to me. Its irrelevant – UNLESS – one requires a strong association of personality and celebrity to each and every composition that attempts to convey a message.
If she is financially successful and enormously popular? By all means: ‘magnificent’! Splendid!. That has nothing whatsoever to do with my appraisal of what I see. One cannot take that external attribute and attempt to connect it to what is contained in the clip, as part of the statement conveyed in that piece. The personality has nothing to do with the piece for anyone encountering the piece oblivious to any knowledge of the composer.
Not everyone is aware of who Beyoncé even is, let alone any of the considerable charms she evidently enjoys over the popular taste. I have no opinion on it. All I see is what I see – without the trimmings you think I ought to have or adhere to.
I trust you understand the distinction between the artist and the product…the message must rest on its own merit despite the means or the personality that conveys it.
Yet the conveyor must carry some responsibility for the content of the message.
That is an ordinary take on artists and musicians: that they must accept the responsibility for what they attempt to convey. Critics are always immediately available to elevate or tear down attempts at artistry. Experienced opinion is informed by exposure to such attempts plus a general knowledge of what constitutes quality. The distinction between the message and the artist is irrelevant: the piece, in and of itself, is what a proper observer should be looking at, and nothing more.
And a critic is entitled to their critical opinion as long as it is backed by a ‘reasonable argument’…sadly, it is by no means anywhere near as crisp a territory for dispute as that enjoyed by scientists (as if scientists can pat themselves on the back over how quickly they can achieve a consensus) but nobody with any serious brain in the arts pretends that opinion isn’t divested from a sense of personal taste, or that any concept of a universal taste can be arrived at, let alone supply a complete metric for something approaching the sort of consensus required by science.
I will re-elaborate and state my opinion as a knowledgeable critic of the arts who also happens to know a little about people and how the poor struggle to make ends meet whilst they are constantly subjected to examples of wealth: her ‘message’, nevertheless, ‘artistically’ (read derivatively) falls far short of what it pompously pretends to convey through the perceived and false empowerment of egocentric conceit and may in point of fact even drastically diminish the perception of the actual problems involved in a way that hasn’t been seen since the mania that “being like Mike” ever held the slightest hope for inner-city kids trying to escape the ghetto.
I will say it is a shame, on an entirely innocent opinion basis backed by a fair knowledge of how such escapade distracts from the pretended subject of the message, taste be damned. Style will never, ever sincerely serve the interest of truth in the arts any more than it impinges on the conveyance of scientific knowledge to the public. But that is another topic to be strenuously examined elsewhere: the idea that public outreach is at all assisted by the hiring of commercial mentalities instead of artists who have made science a part of their work.
I mean, she’s only bringing feminism/police voilence/black pride to the forefront with her media, which reaches millions & millions of people.
But ya know, I guess someone has to hold their nose and poo-poo the silly lady pop music by “Bouncy”.
That’s an awful lot of words to justify the opinion that shaking her hips while dancing is something Beyonce should be ashamed of doing.
How is it an escapade? How does it distract? Why do you think it is a pretense? Pretended subject of the message?
Did anchor @22 have a point? I think I lost it somewhere in this sentence:
I see speed0spank has summarized it nicely, though:
Exactly. She performed that song with that group of women in front of a massive audience that includes a whole bunch of privileged white people who ordinarily would dismiss any message even remotely similar. Wouldn’t even see it, in fact. She made it hard to ignore, and anchor, if it’s the packaging that disturbs you, perhaps you should question why a black woman (a group of them, in fact) being unapologetically sexy bothers you so much. I mean, I guess it’s a problem because there’s no men in the video for whom they’re being sexy, so they must be doing it for all the men watching the video/performance… right? Right? So: are you really the person she had in mind when she wrote that song? Are you sure the message falls short? As a lay-person who still manages to know something about music, I would say this was pretty damned powerful. It’s strong creative statement made by a black woman (look at her and her friends, owning that plantation house – how is that not powerful???), and if you can dismiss it on account of a few bouncing bums, you are not worthy of Beyonce.
Here are the lyrics to Formation, so that Anchor can explain to us how this is a pretended message.
I’m going to watch again just for the phrase, “so twirl all my haters, albino alligators” .
I noticed you posted the censored version. Here is the uncensored version:
Oh, and also, anchor, I’m not quite sure what you mean by this:
Are you suggesting that Beyonce has been hired by BLM or a similar movement organization? Because that is just disgusting.
Unfortunately I can’t find it right now, but I read a short piece on all the flak Beyonce is getting for trying to get involved in the movement: she went to a march following the murder of Trayvon Martin, and was told not to do so because her star-power was taking attention from the cause; she donated rather large amounts of bail money for arrested protestors in Baltimore, but was castigated for not making a personal appearance; and now, she is apparently getting flak from (black?) men for daring to parade herself and her friends sexily in front of a national audience, and never mind the song. Just can’t win, can she. (Perhaps someone who has me on FB can help me out with this one…)
She’s a role model for lots of people out there. I see nothing wrong with that. So she has money – but I see her using (some of?) it for causes that mean something to her. And if not every little black girl can be her, at least they can know that there is someone who just may actually speak on their behalf with the necessary resources to back the voice. If this is wrong, should we stop telling little white boys they can all grow up to be president?
http://www.colorlines.com/articles/jackson-five-nostrils-creole-vs-negro-and-beefing-over-beyonc%C3%A9s-formation
http://newsouthnegress.com/southernslayings/
Here’s more on the song.
I posted most of the lyrics, but the gendered slur filter ate it. I truly am curious as to what anchor thinks the message is, and why Beyonce being rich somehow negates that message. Here are some lyrics that won’t trigger the filter
Hey, anchor, was a black lady not sufficiently humble and appeasing to you?
Yes, Beyoncé is freaking unashamed of who she is, of what she has achieved, of her blackness, her body, her sexuality. That’s the greatest threat she can pose to white supremacy, to White Feminism. She’s right in your face and that is good.
rq
Did I recently tell yo that I love you?
Huh. Saw the first couple of minutes of the video, read the Wikipedia article. Obviously, I’m not part of the target demographic.
I still have no real idea of the semiotics of the video, other than what I’ve read here. Or of the reference to resonance, though presumably it relates to her significance to PZ and other readers, rather than it being literal.
(BTW, had I not read that she’s black, I’d not have realised it from looking at this video — not that I’m particularly observant that way)
Did anchor @22 try to use some form of Vulcan logic on Beyonce? If she needed to state an opinion why not use a Power Point like all other great artists.
I like Beyonce for her music and being unashamed, but I LOVE the way she makes white people scared. I’m sure my dad is terrified and has probably been hiding under his bed since Sunday.
Rudy Giuliani got his white feels hurt
anchor @ 22:
I am an artist, most of the people here are passing familiar with my work. I’m more than familiar with the process of critique, receiving it, certainly, and giving it, as well. That screed of yours – not critique. It’s not sound criticism, either. You do have one thing down for sure, and that’s the pretentious bullshit that infests the art world, all the pretenders who pad themselves out with words, all of which come down to poison, sometimes wrapped in sugar, but poison nonetheless.
If I read my pretentious bullshit pretender right (I left the art world proper because of asses like you), there’s a fair bit of envy lurking in your breast. I’ve heard all that shit before, too many times. At every fucking art show, there’s at least one (and usually more), “oh, his/her work isn’t awful, but so trashy, don’t you find?” and so on. Or there’s talk about the artist themself, rather than his/her work, and in spite of your pretensions to being so above the fray and common folk, you couldn’t help serving up a pile of judgment on Beyoncé.
Trash people all you like, but please stop doing it under the guise of being an artist and “informed” critic. You’re an embarrassment to artists everywhere.
Saad, quoting Giuliani @ 37:
Jesus. He doesn’t even realize what he said.
John Morales
It is black history month in the USA, and the video is densely packed with references to the multiple cultural backgrounds and heritage of being black in America. The first voice (male) in the video says ” What happened in New Orleans?” Her lyric that references her Louisiana Creole mother, and the multiple scenes of her in white lace dresses are absolutely meant to evoke the famous and very politically powerful women of the red light district . It might be entirely coincidental, but one of the bordello’s was named Mahogany Hall.
I’m sure I could watch it 20 times and still not catch all the layers of nuance.
Tethys
Well, I certainly missed the one about the red light district and bordellos, I thought those were plantation houses (which says something still powerful but altogether different), so thank you for pointing that out – I mean, my knowledge of New Orleans history is something like 0, so I should probably refrain from commenting on the video’s visually historical aspects. :D
rq
I think the plantation houses are another reference to the history of being a black american. Note that when she is dressed all in black that the men surrounding her each wear a different marker of black culture. I see a dashiki, a fez, and a voodoo acolyte. I’m not sure what the others reference. Even her costume choices are making a statement. All couture. She may rock her Givenchy, but I guess Gucci is the perfect thing to wear when acting out the drowning of New Orleans.
Tethys that’s what’s so beautiful and multifaceted about this video: the sheer range and depth of representations of black culture and specifically Southern black culture, something that often gets reduced to flimsy stereotypes.
Sooner or later (and I hope sooner) someone is going to do a frame by frame annotation of this video from a cultural and sociological point of view, and I’m going to read the whole thing.
I really love it when pop culture remembers that it can be used to talk about big, complicated ideas.
I went looking for more information on Creole culture and found some really interesting information. The wiki article has a pretty good overview of the subculture, and the racial three tiered social system that developed in Louisiana. It’s all rather complex. The current race binary of black or white was a huge problem for the Creoles, and was much debated back then. Beyonce can trace her ancestry all the way back to the original Acadian settlers leader Joseph Broussard , in 1765, 11 years before there was a country called the USA.
Tethys
johnx’ link @29 takes a good look at the Creole/Negro/colourism aspect of the song. Not necessarily the history part, but… well, read it. It was good.
ianrennie
Yes! So do I. And it’s not just Beyonce doing it, I believe several other black artists in hip-hop are doing similar things (was it Kendrick Lamar with the video with the flying black man who also hurt lots of white (cop) feelings?).
And the thing is, this is totally not my music. I’m not a Beyonce music fan. I’m not a Kendrick Lamar music fan. But I’m certainly a Beyonce fan. I love what they do, I love that they do it – unapologetically, loudly, in-your-face – because this means that I get a glimpse of something otherwise closed off to me. I learn shit from music like theirs (if nothing else than the sheer emotional investment they have for issues within their community(-ies) or the demographics they represent), and I can certainly appreciate that. And yes, I love it that they’re using otherwise disparaged popular music to get their message out. A medium powerfully used.
Tethys, thanks.
Great article on Formation that includes links to multiple other articles including some that are already linked above. Not Ready to Stop Obsessing About Formation? We got You. This quote really lays it out plainly
I also really appreciated this one. I too watched in awe as Beyonce slayed.
I find the word peacock descriptive and out of place, but no good alternative is springing to mind.
“Strut”?