Texan Mosaic

by: MATT MOLINAR/Editorial Assistant

After Beyonce’s beautiful performance at the 2016 Super Bowl, what I thought was an amazing message didn’t quite sit well with other fans watching the event.

Beyonce’s performance of her newest song, “Formation,” contained a message relating to the empowerment of black people. It was also a tribute to the Black Panther Party, an organization founded by followers of Malcolm X. Many people have been taking this as some sort of political move by the singer to stir up violence against police officers.

I think this is absolutely ridiculous. The message that she is trying to send, as seen in the music video for “Formation,” is “stop killing us,” “us” being people of color. This relates to the many recent deaths of black people involving police brutality. This has caused handfuls of angry protesters, who, more than likely, pay absolutely no attention to national news, to hold rallies against the performer.

On Feb. 16, there was a rally in New York as a protest against Beyonce. These people claim that the message “stop killing us” is anti-law enforcement. If that’s anti-law enforcement, then is “keep killing us” supposed to be pro-law enforcement? The matter is just too opaque to deny. Police brutality is a serious issue, and it occurs more often within the black community than any other community.

Another thing people have been bringing up after the Super Bowl performance is that Beyonce is becoming a bad role model. I don’t understand this whole decision that was made that she even had to be any sort of role model. I had somebody in my psychology class say that Beyonce was “a slut” for wearing a bodysuit during the performance. But what is she supposed to wear? I don’t understand why these people get so angry. The outfit she wore during the performance was an homage to what the late Michael Jackson wore during his Super Bowl halftime performance in 1993. Would you like to see Beyonce doing kicks and splits in jeans and a sweater? Or maybe even a pajama onesie.

If you know anything about dance, you know that it is almost traditional for women to wear a legless bodysuit during a dance number. Would you ever go up to a 10-year-old girl from the Abby Lee Dance Company and call her a slut? I hope you wouldn’t, but it’s really the same thing as calling Beyonce a slut for wearing the same thing.

I could understand how the context of her music could make her a “bad influence.” But her music is not marketed toward toddlers and children in middle school. The front of her albums say “Parental Advisory.”

While Beyonce is performing at the Super Bowl, making more money than you could ever imagine, these brainless people are just finding things about her to complain about. I love Beyonce and support everything she stands for, and I think anyone who is opposed to her message should calm down and worry about something else like their jobs, or the California drought.