15 Reasons Why We're SO OVER Beyonce.
The Trump Presidency, the end of Brangelina, and the collapse of the European Union, among other catastrophes, seemed impossible just a few short months ago. Nothing seems as impossible though as Beyonce losing popularity. Because Bey is the Queen of Pop: she represents the people arguably more than any Presidential candidate or administration might be able to. We know so little (let's be honest) about her personal life that Beyonce is essentially an empty vessel into which we can pour our ever vacillating desires, which means that she is able to weather almost any storm, including Hurricane Katrina. Yet in a moment in which people are seriously questioning the old order and the very foundations of western society when people are grasping desperately for answers, alternatives, and autonomy, is it possible that Beyonce's enduring fame and fortune might have had their moment? Or will we rely on her as a source of security and safety all the more, as we are cast adrift from our p asts and old attitudes, along with our reason, at times, like sea-lashed Syrian refugees? Beyonce though, has managed to channel the contentiousness of the moment, and is riding atop a flooded police car, and shouting the name of subversive groups at the SuperBowl. Beyonce's every move is a political event, just as (it appears) the actions of every individual are politicized in the current cultural climate. While everyone is united by a shared love of Beyonce, there are some pretty important reasons why we're SO OVER her, too. So stay tuned…
15. The Cult of Beyonce
One of the most major reasons why we NEED to trash Beyonce is that we're not allowed to. It's as though there really were a conspiracy that eradicates the principle of free speech in our democracy when it comes to Beyonce. Voice a niggling complaint about any aspect of Bey's creative oeuvre, and you are instantly ostracized by your coworkers, friends, and close family members. Should you have a problem with her outfit in "Sorry", go so far as to say you prefer 90s Beyonce to her latest album, or even (and this is the cardinal sin in the modern Western world) Beyonce's vocals, you will find yourself in the midst of a perfectly synchronized replication of the dance steps to "Flawless". Beyonce is our mascot, the lynchpin of contemporary culture, and we are brainwashed as cult members when it comes to any critique of our leader. Step aside President Trump. Let's be real, our leader is Bey.
14. This isn't her first rodeo
Purely because Beyonce is at the top of the game, a mother and a wife, we can't live out our teenage fantasies through her anymore. She's just not the same generation. We wonder whether Beyonce could possibly relate to our anxieties about the boy we like, growing up, and living our formative years in the internet age. Because Beyonce is already established, she is just less relatable to those of us who are still climbing the ladder, so to speak. We need cultural producers and icons who are going to represent our inadequacies, sense of unlovability and lack. Beyonce's persistent and unrelenting hard work (let's be frank) seems like one helluva mountain to climb on the road to success, and we just don't know where to start. So we'll probably start with stars who are on the rise, rather than the radiant celestial body that is Beyonce-level fame and fortune.
13. She and Jay are friendly with Obama and Michelle
Much as we loved the fact that the previous administration was tight with the leading pop cultural couple in the music biz, times are a-changing and so has the President. Just because Bey is linked with Barack and Michelle (she sang at Obama's inauguration), we associate her with a different era in America's history, one which already seems confined to the past. We wonder how Bey can come to represent the new order in the same way that she ruled over the old. With the radical political change that we have all been swept up in the past few months, we feel like listening to Beyonce is strangely retro, even though Lemonade is entirely masterful, beautifully produced, and relevant. We are more concerned about what weirdness could come at us from the future, and it's unlikely that focusing on Beyonce, a cultural heroine from our past and present, is going to provide us with answers.
12. No drama
Bey is so sorted that there just isn't any drama surrounding her personal life to fascinate us. Because we love analyzing the personal lives of celebrities, which reflect back to us our own hangups, relationship problems, and insecurities. We know that Lemonade was all about Jay Z cheating on Bey, but that just seems so invented, and ultimately the survival of the relationship has just proved that love conquers all. Which is lovely, and a happy ending that we all welcome (especially right now). But it's an ending nonetheless. In reality TV terms, where does Beyonce's back story go from here? If this were a Kardashian episode, some very weird shiz would need to go down to create some kind of cliffhanger in this narrative. On top of this, Bey is entirely mysterious, rarely speaking about her private life in public, and notoriously shy offstage. Her voice is her public persona, and the paparazzi has no drama to hook its entertaining spiel onto.
11. We love Solange
Besides our Bey-trayal, we've discovered her sister Solange, and we're obsessed. With a distinctly more indie vibe from her pop-culture sister, Solange is our new everything. Because Solange seems like the more authentic, subversive version of her sister, and what's more, less people know about her awesomeness, so we feel like we're "in the know" by following her creative output. Her vibe is far less glossy and a whole lot more gritty and real. In this crazy talented family, she is a different kind of diamond, the relatable, lower-maintenance alter ego of Beyonce. With incredible vocals and those same awe-inspiring cheekbones, Solange has become the subject of academic articles, evidence of her alternative kind of appeal. Plus, there's the surreal sense in her videos that we're looking at Beyonce from a parallel universe, a universe in which the music industry isn't as ubiquitously glossy and allows for greater complexity and vulnerability.
10. Appropriation
And then there was the time that Beyonce appropriated Hurricane Katrina to sell some records. All right, Beyonce and Jay Z do own property in the state, and she was transforming the disaster into art. But still, many felt sore that they were living in the aftermath of the disaster, and Beyonce, who lives her life at a level of privilege that places her above that struggle, had both claimed and glamorized a still super painful public problem. This was problematic, even for the most dedicated Beyonce devotees. Some social media reactions suggested that the video really needed a warning at the beginning for Katrina survivors who might be triggered by its scenes. Whether you thought Bey was bringing attention to the disaster as a form of activism, or personally profiting from it, watching Beyonce about to drown on the top of a police car was distinctly uncomfortable. It was the symbol of the pop apocalypse. Did her citation of the symbols of black activism in Lemonade minimize them?
9. Bey is beyond criticism
Rolling Stone, the giant of music magazines, has mused about Beyonce: "By treating the icon as infallible, we rob her of her humanity." And we have to concede that Beyonce's superstardom and reification into a goddess-like herald of cultural reality, have simultaneously removed her humanity. As a result, Taylor Swift like, it seems that she has had to manufacture some kind of controversy of which to launch her latest album. The very fact that Beyonce has achieved ultimate success and become a kind of living idol also has the effect of transforming her into an empty vessel for our ever shifting desires. When we overlook the inconsistencies in her creative output and the problematic aspects of her work, we rob her of her humanity. At the same time, the impressive, interesting, inconsistencies of her work are also drained of their importance and their cultural value. We need human, not divine cultural forms.
8. Her "Subversive" Superbowl show
Beyonce's SuperBowl show was, naturally, spellbinding and verging on transcendent. She massively upstaged Coldplay and managed to manifest a well-timed advert for Pepsi (also a sponsor of the games) and ingratiate herself further with advertising for #BeyGood, her philanthropic work. But who could overlook the hypocrisy in her subversive critique of capitalism at the same show? Perhaps it was part of the point that she shouted out the name of a radical activist group during the ultimate crucible of the corporate monopoly over American society. But if so, this was hardly a radical political statement. Rather, it seemed to suggest that everyone, even Beyonce, has their hands tied by the system. Corporate America is deeply flawed and Beyonce is not able to offer us a way through, without visibly "selling out". Perhaps the idea was to use capitalism for good. And then there were her dancers' Black Panthers-inspired garb, which seemed less like an inspiring homage and more like a Gaga-like indulgence in cultural appropriation.
7. She's part of the system
Whilst we love to love Beyonce, she has been around for more than a couple of years, and in that sense, she is a part of the furniture. A little like Hillary Clinton, Beyonce represents the status quo. And if you're frustrated with the status quo, you're not going to vote Bey. All of the hypocrisy that many Americans associated with the Democrat party offering finds an echo in the work and lives of Beyonce and Jay Z, who are top of the pack of cards within the current system. Just take the "cornbread and collard greens" tribute to the impoverished rural South in Beyonce's "Formation" tune. The song is available for download on Tidal, the most expensive streaming service out there, which is run by Bey's hubby Jay Z. Or the references to Michael Jackson in Bey's halftime show. Beyonce, superhuman as she is, has come to represent the new normal, and as such no longer represents the antithesis of creative potential.
6. She's from a different moment
Love her most do, but Beyonce is decidedly from a different moment than the current millennial one. Although she started super young, Bey has been at the top for some years now, and with the announcement that she is pregnant with twins, came the awakening realization that she is not personally representative of the new generation. As Bey herself reminds us "I know when you were little girls / you dreamt of being in my world /respect that, bow down b****es". Clearly, Beyonce herself feels that she must defend not only her man but her status at the top from younger usurpers. There are other voices in the pop world making themselves heard, and it is questionable whether pop is itself the universal catch all of popular taste that it was in the days when Bey came to fame as part of Destiny's Child. Bey seemed to manufacture her own version of Taylor Swift's squad in Lemonade, suggesting that she is no longer the trendsetter in the bunch. But then again, Lemonade was pretty spec tacular.
5. Pepsi
Need we say more? If you work in a creative field, you always worry about "selling out," or dumbing down or not actually believing in the art you're making, just to chase money or please corporate world sponsors. Bon Iver has come out and criticized Beyonce for doing just that. Although the crux of what he was saying was about his frustrations with his own reliance upon corporate sponsors to fund his artistic career (his 2011 campaign with Bushmills whiskey for example), his critique was pretty well-aimed: "You can never be self-righteous, but it's okay to be a little righteous. You have to believe in something. Like, I'd prefer Beyoncé didn't do a Pepsi tour. Do not take two million dollars from Pepsi and be a role model for young girls. Do not do that. That stuff does anger me. And I feel like I am not afraid to talk about that stuff." This raises questions about the larger conversation about radical politics, capitalism, and the precarious role of women right now. Kanye and Adidas, Rihanna and Puma, Drake and Nike: everyone now is a sell-out in this sense. Meanwhile, Apple and Beats music pull the strings. Is the problem Bey, or beyond Bey?
4. Her gloriousness distracts us from troubling world events
Beyonce's lush and glittering twins announcement was exactly what the world needed: a hyper-beautiful, vividly colorful, luminously beautiful alternate world. But that was just the problem. There's so much going on in the world that we need to pay attention to right now. From the alt-right movements cropping up all over the world to the changes being made by the new administration to the turbulence and mass migration in the middle east. In a digital age saturated with images, information, and data, we're stressed out with the prevalence of pop culture as it is, and Beyonce's creative productions seem to add to the already weighty load we're shouldering and desperate for a break from. Which was why the simple natural miracle of pregnancy and birth also offered us new hope in the next generation. Bey's confident maternity reminded us that new life is still possible. But then again, the Leandra Medine we know and love was troubled by Bey's pronounced pronouncement and p rotuberant belly, suggesting that it was painful for women who can't conceive. Phenomenon, faux pas or dissociative diversion?
3. Racial tensions
Speaking of Bey's baby bump, it has become clear that as the artist channels influences associated with her black heritage, she is alienating some white people in the process. The decision to post pictures with clear Yoruba and Tarot influences, which went right over the heads of many white people, was evidence of this. Perhaps Beyonce feels she has reached a level of stardom where it doesn't matter if she alienates a few people in order to be authentic. But the clear racial commentary in Lemonade pointed to an uncomfortable issue for Americans: race. Always controversial, racial identities and groups are clearly something that the Trump administration is wrestling with, by threatening to deport Muslims. But it was also a brave and important move, evidence that Beyonce cares about what is happening and isn't afraid of using her voice to represent the black women who were fighting forced sterilization and eugenics throughout the 19th, 201th, and 21st centuries, in addition to demanding reproductive rights like white women. Bey has definitely highlighted a controversial topic.
2. She's the man
She's at the top of the pile, and while she is adored by many, she is also dangerously representative of the current system. In a time clearly driven by radical politics, distrust, and uncertainty, many of us are naturally projecting our discomfort onto the collective body: society. And whose body represents our society? Beyonce's. And as though representing the current split in America, Beyonce's body politic is gestating twins. At the top of the pop game, she represents populism. Beyonce is everybody, and everybody is worried right now. Strangely enough, Beyonce herself is not, revealing a vision of the present and the future that takes in the difficulties of the past. When Bey has her twins, we hope that they will be born into a world that is as full of potential as they will doubtless be, as inheritors of the huge privilege and responsibility of being Beyonce's offspring. Weirdly, they represent all of us.
1. She's the Queen
But let's be honest. Bey is royalty. She is the queen of pop and the princess of not needing to chase PR to remain relevant. Beyonce transcends it all, even the haters she responded to in Lemonade: "Y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess". We are so glad she addressed that, because at the moment, conspiracy theories and fake news stories seem to have replaced trust and sanity, and everyone is running around like headless chickens. Beyonce is calmly enjoying a traditional Southern chicken dinner, surrounded by family. In the whirlwind of frenzied activity, Bey offered us (as usual) a completely "together" album. She is the embodiment of traditional American values like hard work, and even cites the bible (as well as the women who faced troubled times before her) in her latest creative outpouring: "My grandma said, nothing real can be broken". Once again, in a moment in which we are questioning democracy itself, at least we can "bow down" and hail Queen B.< /p>
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