◊ Photo by Bella Zhornist ◊
ART
I have yet to meet a creature that doesn’t hold some kind of opinion on Beyonce. Granted, I haven’t asked my house plants or my friend in Brooklyn’s cat—until I do let’s assume this is a human issue…
At the Institute for Research on African-American Studies end of semester/holiday party, I delightedly sipped a glass of Cab, savoring the flavor of free wine on my tongue, laughing and talking with a small group of students about our various degrees of our Ivy League love/hate, casually racist classroom experiences, and favorite professors on campus, when I suddenly—without warning—found myself in the midst of a Beyonce-induced rant.
Uh-oh.
The thing is, I find Beyonce rants fascinating. More than with any other public figure, so much about a person is revealed when they take just a little bit of space to share their ideas about Beyonce.
The more I have these kinds of conversations (or witness them), the more I am convinced that whatever you think is about Beyonce is really about you. It’s about you, boo. Seriously.
Dress: Ralph Lauren, Top: Guess, Boots: Franco Sarto, Gold Belt: Vintage, Black Belt: Vintage, Bracelets: Vintage, Hair: HeatfreeHair. Photo by Bella Zhornist.
Lemme give you an example:
At this party, the Law student who started the Bey conversation (note here that the same person who is ranting is the same person who prompted the topic) began by saying that she’s not really here for Beyonce’s vocals and disagrees with Beyhivers who think she’s the best singer the world. This, I think, seems somewhat objective and totally fair (though I do find it interesting that Beyonce’s vocals are more scrutinized than any other artist I know. I wonder, “Why?”. I suppose can justify it as the reasonable cost of being at iconic status, which has been the deliberate aim of her career, and therefore extra-critical analysis of her vox are fair game.)
But after the vocals analysis, the truth comes out: I learn that this Law student is really a frustrated artist.
Student x takes a quick turn into complaining about how Beyonce isn’t “political enough” and how she found Lemonade to be a late, hollow attempt to ride the BLM wave. She ranted and ranted about the same thing I’ve heard many other (mostly young people)—usually aspiring artists gripe about when it comes to Beyonce:
SHE SHOULD USE HER PLATFORM TO DO MORE.
The thing is, Beyonce has reached such a cultural pinnacle that it is almost impossible not to project onto her. We do this anyway with celebrities. We equally participate in a celebrities’ making. We think we “know” Beyonce when we really know what we’ve constructed of her. So, what you think about her is really about you no matter where you “stand” on Beyonce, which is such an interesting phrase to use for someone considered by many to be shallow and dismissible.
I also just have to say from my vantage point that, Dear God! I’m happy that Beyonce is being authentic to her own timing and decisions. She seems to me to be truthfully discovering who she is and unfolding that through the image she has sacrificed all normalcy to build. Complaints about her lack of depth are hilarious to me. Because of her “platform,” she can only be as “deep” as the mass culture will permit, as we continue to construct and deconstruct her…it is all about your perspective. And our collective perspective is sadly, not very deep.
(We construct our politicians the same way, P.S.)
So, I sipped my wine and I decided not to tell this lovely student that she was really actually frustrated with herself for not using her own platform. The only people I’ve heard be extremely passionate about tearing Beyonce down are people who aren’t focused on their own creative output and the authentic work of their own hearts.
There’s more to say here. Bey is such a topic. We’ve made her into something incredibly charged.