Beyonce does not have to do much in order to get in the news these days. The singer has been top new since she was in Destiny’s Child back in the day and even more so since she married rapper, Jay-Z. With so much publicity behind her, it is not much of a surprise that she has created a stir after being featured in a recent music video for the band, Coldplay. Most of the stir was created on Twitter.
Just like with just about anything that a celeb does, the music video performance by Beyonce has been raising eyebrows. The singer was filmed wearing traditional Indian makeup, doing tradiational dances in the streets of Mubai and wearing attire that one would associate with the heritage in India. Seems normal, except there is always a group that feels that it was not an appropriate thing to do. Some even thought it bordered on a discussion for cultural appropriation.
Some argue that because Beyonce was wearing the traditional garb, the music video was directed by a man of Indian heritage and Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor was in it, that everything is OK. Apparently, that is the same thing that everyone working on the music video was thinking as well. Basically, the conversation on Twitter was drawing a line between cultural appropriation and appreciation. While some thought it was quite clear to be an appreciation of the culture, that was not felt by everyone.
Beyonce is going to find herself at the center of things like this her entire life and with that being said, some of the side against her had some good points. Why did the director just go with a Bollywood actress? Kylie Jenner was beat up online after wearing a bindi, but now Beyonce has the complete “desi” attire and that is OK? There are many questions to have answered here and it feels that most of the comments are against Beyonce and Coldplay. The culture is not their own and apparently they are getting praise for it, making it wrong.
If you break down the actual situation, it would appear that Coldplay just wanted to film a music video in an exotic place and India just happened to play the part. The name of the song is “Hymn for the Weekend” and is likely to be one featured at the Super Bowl this season. Other things that were showcased in the music video included fire breathers and all of the things that make India colorful. Does the music video have to appreciate the culture just to shoot the video there? Some think that is exactly the case. All of the large news and celebrity websites have picked up the story to continue the discussion.
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Coldplay created the first party jam of their history and that might be just enough to make the band cool enough for the Super Bowl. Granted, not many people are into watching the Super Bowl half time show, but this controversy might be enough to gain a few more viewers for it.
Granted, if you watch the music video, you can tell that many of the people featured in it are having a great time. They are dancing in the streets and seemingly enjoy the music. Beyonce is doing just what she does the best. That is by looking great, singing backup and just helping to create an overall good music video.
For those that are not into the culture that much, or the appreciation of it, the music video is just that, a video. The political junkies out on the internet and the Beyonce haters that are around the same places are going to take shots at least until something else pops up.