celeb news "The Silence Is the Loudest Part of Renaissance: A Film" - Vulture

[Cameltoe Chariot]

Vulture's review of Beyonce's Renaissance film is scathing as hell 

 

 

https://www.vulture.com/article/renaissance-a-film-by-beyonce-review.html

 

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Like the album and tour with which it shares a name, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé seeks to be a celebration of Black queer joy.

 

From the start, Beyoncé preaches her desire to create a “safe space.” “Renaissance means a new beginning,” she says; it’s a balm “after all we’ve been through in the world.” But what exactly is she referring to? The onslaught of death and illness brought on by the continuing pandemic? The laws aimed at criminalizing trans children and adults? The rising misogyny, homophobia, and anti-Blackness that leads to grave violence? The various, ongoing genocides?

 

Beyoncé gives us no context for what she’s referring to or how it touches the shores of a life dominated and driven by the kind of wealth that insulates her from harm. Her words reflect broadly liberal pablum meant to give the appearance of care and mean just enough that her fans can project radicalness upon her but not so much that she would ruffle anyone enough for her to lose money or be forced to stand for something.

 

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The posturing of the tour as ultimately a close-knit family affair continues with how the presence of a beloved Knowles family member, the deceased Uncle Johnny, is felt in Renaissance.

 

He was instrumental in not only raising the Knowles children but in crafting the early costumes of Destiny’s Child. His presence in her life and tour as a Black gay man from the South is an extension of the album’s utilization of house music and the tour’s avowed celebration of queer joy with the presence of her backup dancers the Dolls and ballroom commentator Kevin JZ Prodigy.

 

There’s a clip in the documentary of Beyoncé name-checking Uncle Johnny while speaking at the 2016 CFDA Fashion Awards, which is meant to outline that his presence has always mattered to her career. Though Johnny died of AIDS complications, you won’t learn that from Renaissance. The only mention of his final days comes when Beyoncé’s cousin, Angie Beyince, off-handedly refers to his hospice care. At first blush, the refusal to mention AIDS is odd in a documentary, album, and tour so primed on queer Black joy. But this is by design. For there is no star of such magnitude who more cunningly positions themselves as apolitical than Beyoncé.

 

Her performance as an icon is meant to connect with the broadest number of people possible. To do that, her refusal to stand for anything specific beyond the watered-down treatises on Black excellence must be maintained.

Thoughts? I think Bey is one of the most talented people on the planet, but I have been disappointed in her inability to say things with her chest, instead gently referencing these topics and letting her fans do all the work for her.

 

[FolkLover1989]

Most of the biggest artist are apolitical 

 

It's just their stan who project things on them to make themselves look special or whatsoever 

 

Listen to their music and that's it. Unless they are harming society

 

Scrutinizing Beyoncé for this is wrong. 

[ShouldersSideways]

I think the Johnny reference is a little bit of a low blow. The film is a celebration and particularly a celebration of Uncle Johnny. It didn't linger on his death nor the cause of it because that wasn't the focus.

 

There's an argument to be had about the way Bey positions herself, sure, but that's a flimsy example. 

[RIKI232]

Why does she have to take a political stand? 
she doesn't need to involve herself in these topics, nor her fans should expect her to.

simple as that.

[sunbathinganimal]

@Angelica Jade Bastién

 

[Lose My Breath]

Why do we expect celebrities to take political stands?  This tour wasn't about that, at all, but I think it's apparent how she feels considering how she addresses her feelings and those she's celebrating.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Lose My Breath

[Mitsouko]

Weirdo behavior

 

[Fruity]

Clearly Beyonce did not want to concentrate on Johnny’s death but the overwhelming fullness and joy with which he lived his life, and contributed so instrumentally to hers via his nurture and talent. 

 

Not everything needs to be about AIDS, AIDS, AIDS. There is more to queer people in the late 20th century than death and AIDS.
 

Respectfully this writer needs to **** the **** up. 
 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Fruity

[Rush]

[LVP]

Jeez its a concert movie, not an Oscar contender 

[carameldelight]

The point of Uncle Johnny was about his beautiful spirit and how he was able to brighten up the lives of everyone around him while being brave enough to live in his truth as a gay black man during his time. And how his love for fashion and life inspired her to create the album NOT about his illness. This has been reported on ad nauseum during the album release. 

[Bey'Knight]

Beyonce’s stance on blackness, black love, & femininity has made her a divisive figure since ‘16 but sure she’s not saying things with her chest

 

You don’t have to like her and that’s okay. She’s not a messiah. If she tried to be everything everyone wants of her, she’d be split to smithereens.  Find your hero elsewhere. 

[GraceRandolph]

Honestly she probably should’ve just made a straight up concert film instead of a concert/docu film. The political landscape of 2023 is just too difficult for most mainstream artists to navigate successfully. 

[Trent W]

She already did too much political content

 

In fact, before Renaissance everyone wanted something fun and apolitical

 

Which was basically exactly what she delivered 

 

Someone is always going to be upset once you are that big

 

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Trent W

[peachpop]

Imagine putting out the best work of your career to be knocked for a political issue that really has nothing to do with you.

 

At least Taylor's personal life is so HUGE right now that's it's kind of taking the edge off the pressure to say something. Miss I do not speak or promote is probably going to continue to get pummeled until she actually speaks. 

 

I would prefer the musicians I like to align with my political views, yes. But we do not come to them for that, we come to them to ESCAPE this ****. I understand the argument that she is already a political figure in many ways, and it has benefited her career. But they are issues that directly effect her life. This is just...stupid.

[bjorn]

Did Angelica lie???

 

me don’t think so 

[Uncatena]

straight up saying that Beyoncé stands for nothing is genuinely embarrassing and shameful 

[ariesgroove]

critique can so easily fall in line with hatred and this article displays that glaringly. 

[Joesuxx]

I mean, I agree points were made, it feels as if more could of been said about the queer referencing/inspiration and it’s heritage when it was discussed in press, BUT how is this a review of the film and not just a personal attack on Beyoncé? (casual listener not a huge fan).  Like this is a concert movie, of a pop album, by Beyoncé the entertainer - why on earth would it be political? 

[DAP]

This says more about our society than Beyonce per se. We are so depoliticized that consumption is seen as not only intrinsically political, but the ultimate political act that the masses can ever hope to engage in, and that is truly unsettling. 

[TaylorNation]

so eDgY lol. that reviewer thought they ate  

[PrettyHurts]

You can critique her politics without going as low as she did. Not only did she complain about bey not being explicitly political, but she also invalidated her experience dealing with doubters as a black woman and implied that the moments with her children were unrelatable. She even called the knee surgery footage “carefully filmed”.  Completely ridiculous and crossing the line.

Edited December 4, 2023 by PrettyHurts

[Katamari]

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Beyoncé has yet to make a statement about Palestine. But this silence is itself a statement. Perhaps she isn’t apolitical so much as an emblem of Black capitalism and wealth that seeks to maintain its stature. Renaissance: A Film demonstrates that Black joy isn’t inherently radical. In fact, without a sense of materiality, Black joy becomes directionless and easy to co-opt by the varied forces of power that are fueled by anti-Blackness.

ooh they are getting her for this  

 

ot: millennial music journalism is so dead

Edited December 4, 2023 by Katamari

[Яeo.]

Yawn.

 

beyonce empowered and continues to empower millions of black women around the globe. As she says in the movie, she has nothing to prove anymore. 

[Starshine]

Of course they look like that