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

[Redstreak]

12 minutes ago, swissman said:

So what you're saying is people who have never stood up, never been political, always played it safe, etc. get to continue that, but someone who apparently has been political in the past must forever and always be so?

Well kinda? The people who stay silent should say something but when you’ve gone out of your way to be political you invite the scrutiny of what you do or don’t say past that

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Redstreak

[swissman]

1 hour ago, Braz said:

"that her fans can project radicalness upon her"

 

See how she has a point?

I really don't see how what you quoted projects radicalness upon her, at all. It merely outlined consequences she's faced by making the work she has in the past.

 

 

The question remains, has Beyoncé faced backlash for her stances on Black issues in the past? Yes or no.

 

If you say no, we'll need to prove that to be the case. The yes is very clear. There factually was a desire to "boycott" her after the Super Bowl. There factually was a backlash by police who said they would not protect her on tour. She factually did ruffle feathers at the Country Music Awards by performing with The Chicks, who factually do stand for something (both in their own stance and in the perception of them). Even in 2006 the week after she stated "I make Black records" her sales factually went down 70%. We could go on. Of course her career never plummeted nor was it in danger because she is Beyoncé and because there is still a great majority who agrees with her, but don't act like in 2016 many [white] people didn't want "the old Beyoncé" back. And don't act like her fans have projected any of this onto her. All of it is a reaction and an outlining of occurrences, not some made up "well she said 'my ballgown is black velvet' and that must be seen as a radical statement."

 

 

But none of this means she is inherently radical. She's made statements. She pushed buttons by expressing pride in herself, others, and her culture. She let herself be a cultural litmus test. It showed the [white] public is inherently sensitive to people standing up against white supremacy.

[swissman]

2 minutes ago, Redstreak said:

Well kinda? The people who stay silent should say something but when you’ve gone out of your way to be political you invite the scrutiny of what you do or don’t say past that

 

This still feels like a hollow criticism. Talk about Beyoncé's political power, the reach she has, the potential for changing people's mind, the affirmation of her support, etc. That would say far more than exhibiting hypocritical logic stating someone who has apparently done so much without being even asked, must now do everything anyone ever asks of her when it comes to politics. Since she has "been about it", she must always and forever be about it, despite the clear history of Black feminism being her main political talking point, while the bevy of white popstars and celebrities who have never been about anything can go on releasing their films and having their albums reviewed without mention of where these things are available in the world.

 

To be clear, I would love for her to address and support Palestine. I want that. But I don't think this way of expressing that desire is helpful nor fair.

 

[swissman]

I think the discourse being both "Beyoncé stands for nothing, her fans project a radicalness upon her" but also "She's been so radical that she needs to speak on every issue" to be very strange, because which is it?

 

In truth it's something in the middle. For the last ~10 years or so Beyoncé has centred her work on Black feminism. That's really where the politics start and stop. Black feminism. It's a worthy and big topic, but it's not as if she's commented on and led the world through its issues time and time again. She, a Black woman in America, made content about the feelings of a Black woman in America, used political symbols, quoted political figures, and sung political lyrics. With RENAISSANCE she has expanded it to Black queerness as well, which intersects with Black feminism.

 

To then review this film, pretend you don't understand what she's talking about when she says stuff like "safe space" so you can pretend not to hear anything is outright manipulation. I cannot believe that a film review does not have the inherent tools to read between the lines and understand symbolism, wordplay and other such things that the tour itself brings to the screen, but also the very clear statements from the clips and interviews shown.

 

Had the review said they wanted to hear "more" about certain topics, okay, sure. But "silence" was the operative word. Silence meaning the absence of sound. The absence of a statement. And that is a lie.

[Chris]

Mentioning politics and world events that have nothing to do with the film?

 

Talk about attention seeking.

 

And for the record, the author of this article can give two f*cks about all the innocent civilians dying. She is just weaponizing their pain and suffering for clicks.

[Marianah Adkins]

All I can say is in general, musicians/artists are not expected to speak out politically. If they do, its usually for a social issue that they feel personally strongly about (like Madonna with Aids/Lgbt). In a way, I have a lot of respect for artists that do this because it is not expected of them and can even sometimes be harmful commercially, but they do it anyway.

This was the case back in the day and it was only until recently when it became cool for them to become political for PR purposes. Ofc it doesnt mean all of those who did the trend were for PR, some really did it out of genuine care and were willing to sacrifice commercial success out of it. One of such artists here is Beyonce who really took the platform to use her music and performances to advocate for black feminism. And mind you, she took a lot of heat for it and it undeniably affected her commercial prospects.

 

Which is why I feel bad when people like this reviewer, discredit her political advocacy to her art. Obviously, you cannot expect her to do the same thing but even then, her latest album centered around black joy. She has been very clear on what she advocates politically and has sacrificed her career prospects doing so. People tend to not realize the fact that they do not even need to do this stuff and yet they did.

 

I was also disappointed with Bey not speaking out about Gaza but then again it is not expected of her as a musician. In my opinion, I just feel that it is unfair for them to be held at such a standard compared to those other artists who are similarly successful (if not more) and yet remain silent and apolitical. The artists that paid their dues like Bey have already sacrificed enough, why should we burden them further as compared to those who barely did ****. 

[eleganceislearned]

On 12/5/2023 at 12:28 PM, GraceRandolph said:

Do you not want your fave to be held to high standards? Of course wealthy and visible public figures will be held to high standards of conduct. Duh!

I'm of two minds of this: it can be annoying to see someone become vilified because of virtue signaling by some people who are looking for rational reasons to fuel their irrational hatred, but things play out as they do. They do something stupid, then people will drag. Though I will say that is by far preferable to a  Kanye situation where they are praised so much & their stupidity ignored that they become Howard Hughes/Michael Jackson/Prince-style out-of-touch weirdos (kind of where Taylor might be headed tbh).