$30 Project

barthel:

notesladykier:

Noone can mess with Beyonce. I don’t care if she sampled “pon the floor”!  look at this video-  she is the best pop star today hands down!! she did again.

Some notes:

1. I know I talk shit about Gaga, but I’ll give her credit for pushing B’s video game up another level.
2. That said, if you want to see the difference between wearing clothes and clothes wearing you, check out how the outfits move here. The fuzzy vest thing giving her more shoulder bulk at the beginning, the drape of the yellow dress, etc.
3. “Hey, how should we start the video?” “I dunno, how about having Beyonce all in white and riding a white horse through the desert at sunset?” “But that doesn’t make any sense with the rest of the video.” “Yeah, but it’s Beyonce all in white riding a white horse through the desert at sunset.” “OK, point taken.”
4. Something something the black experience already starting in a post-apocalyptic hellscape and so B’s version of Max Max being luxe and glam and more like imperial Japan, style-wise.
5. “How should we end the breakdown?” “Eh, I dunno, let’s just have B smile and then a car explodes.” “OK.”
6. 14 years now since the first Destiny’s Child album. Just saying.

I’m glad that Mike Barthel made a point about the clothes. My first thought when watching the video was that Beyonce makes the whole routine seem natural, as though she just happened to stumble into this apocolytic situation and decided to bust a groove. (Minus that one disco ball outfit where she is blatantly copying Gaga.) Even though you know that this video required hours and hours of rehearsal, the logical part of your brain shuts down. Her ability as a performer is very bewitching.

I don’t have this same feeling when I watch Gaga, the Judas video in particular. Every detail is so carefully orchestrated that it feels stifling. Like wearing a stiff, uncomfortable shirt. In comparison, Beyonce is just so… FLUID.

I’m SLOWLY coming around to “Run the World (Girls).” I’ve posted before about how some of Beyonce’s lyrics toy with the idea of private vs. public power and I do think that element is present here; the playful tone of, “Come here, I hope you still like me, okay now f**k off,” demonstrating the ability to be confusing, the push and pull of control, the idea that the power men believe they hold is really a facade.

Beyonce always does the whole concept of “You think you’re in control, but really you’re fooling yourself,” quite well.

(Source: theladymisskier)