HOW A STARS IMAGE DEVELOPS OVER TIME THROUGH MUSIC VIDEO

By Jordan Schwarzenberger
Beyonc Knowles is arguably the most successful pop star of the 21st century. Since
the start of her career with girl group Destinys Child in 1999 she has gone from
strength to strength, becoming a solo artist with 5 platinum studio albums:
Dangerously in Love, B Day, I Am Sasha Fierce, 4 and BEYONCE. Currently worth an
estimated $440 million (Forbes, 2013), Beyonc is a pop powerhouse who has taken
the 21st century by storm. Her work is primarily within the R&B genre, with influences
from Hip Hop and Soul, which is partly due to her background in the Church and
Gospel Choirs. Since 1999, her image has gone through an array of changes. What
started with a reserved and closed off character, Beyonc has become firmly in the
worlds spotlight, and one half of arguably the worlds most famous married couple.
Her image has gone through many changes, and is arguably best documented
through her music videos.
Beyoncs earliest image was formed during her time in girl group Destinys Child, as
she was managed tightly and strictly by her father Matthew Knowles. Her image was
firmly as one member of the 4 piece group. For instance in the video for Say My
Name, released in 2000 presents Beyonc in equal time with the other 3 girls and
does not single her out as the front woman. However, by 2001 her image was
starting to change. In the track from their second studio album, Survivor, Latoya had
been dropped and the 4 piece became a 3 piece with Beyonc firmly presented as
the leader. In the video for Bootylicious for instance she is in the centre of all their
dances and has a disproportionately large amount of screen time in comparison to
Michelle and Kelly. This trend was cemented over the next few years of Destinys
Child. In 2004 for instance with the track Soldier from the groups final studio album
Destiny Fulfilled, Beyonc is placed at the centre once more, and is given the
middle section of the video to perform. Moreover, she is given the primary dancing
sections and is clearly seen once more as the leader of the group. However, despite
this her image was largely contained. She was not given the same level of personal
exposure or character that was to come in later years.
In 2003 after the release of her first studio album Dangerously In Love, Beyoncs
image began to swiftly change outside of Destinys Child, who would go on as a
group for the next 2 years. This release was hugely successful and Beyonc sold
317,000 copies in its first weak and debuted atop the Billboard 200. It has gone on to
sell 11 million copies. With this release, Beyoncs image started to become more
sexualised. It moved away from the dance image and moved closer to the
character to whom men desired to have and women desired to be. This was
supported by her marriage to rapper Jay Z, who helped to add an urban edge to
her overall image. This sexualised image was best demonstrated in the video for
Baby Boy featuring the very popular mainstream dancehall artist Sean Paul. In this
video Beyonc is seen very provocatively, looking as if shes having orgasms and
surrounded by naked bodies at parts. The editing is soft at times and then rapidly
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fast, using seductive fades and slow camera movements, arguably in an attempt to
simulate sex. The tracks production as a dancehall track is significant here, as
pseudo-dancehall, originating from the Caribbean, is highly provocative and
sexualised. However, the sexualised image is further presented through her belly
dancing towards the end of the video where she performs wearing only a bra and
knickers. This presents her image as wholly sexualised, except not overtly, it is more of
a provocative image; look but cant touch. This particular image is furthered later in
her career. However, throughout her videos for Dangerously in Love and later on in
her career, Beyonc maintained the image of the dancer and performer, often
dancing choreographically in the majority of her videos.
This combination of dance / sexualisation was demonstrated in a video for Beautiful
Liar from her second studio album BDay. In this video, Beyonc and Shakira can be
seen belly dancing provocatively at various stages in the video, often gyrating their
bottoms in sexual ways. On this album however, Beyoncs image is not purely that
of the sexual performer. On the video for Irreplaceable Beyoncs image is more of
the woman in a relatable romantic situation, having broken up with her boyfriend
who is ironically, replaceable. This is arguably the start of the feminist Beyonc who
starts to portray the image of a strong and independent woman, an image first
presented with the tracks Independent Woman Part 1 and Survivor during her time
with Destinys Child. In this video, she is seen as powerful and the man is clearly the
accessory. She is then seen with an all-female band performing, and is seen in her
bra presenting to the man what he is missing. This video, unlike Beautiful Liar and
Baby Boy, is more of a narrative, and shows a less sexual Beyonc; an image some
may consider to be respectable and sophisticated. Therefore, as we reach the
middle of Beyoncs career, one can ascertain that her image has become a
combination of sexualised, sophisticated and feminist.
More recently however, Beyoncs image has taken two changes. In 2008 with the
release of I Am Sasha Fierce, her image through her music videos became more
feminist and sophisticated than sexualised. This arguably reflected her change in
age to 26. With this release Beyonc released the hugely popular singles Diva and
the smash hit Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) which went quadruple platinum having
sold more than5 million paid digital downloads as of October 2012. This video, which
has reached 346,107,366 views on YouTube, presents Beyonc in her alter ego,
Sasha Fierce, a strong and powerful embodiment of femininity and female
strength. Here she is not sexualised, as her image has become more of a feminist
symbol than a sexual symbol. This was the forefront of her album, and would lead to
a hugely successful album with 8 Grammy nominations and over 8 million copies
sold worldwide. Lately however, this feminist image has shifted to a sexually
empowered feminist image on her 5th studio album BEYONC. This album was wholly
different for Beyonc in terms of image from anything else before. It was released
without warning, and alongside it came videos for every track she released, most of
which documented her and Jay-Zs sex life. For instance, in the video for Partition,
Beyonc is seen riding on a sex horse as a silhouette, and is seen as this fiercely
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powerful sexual image. This is furthered with the video for Drunk In Love, which
shows her in the sea, a symbol for sexuality, with her husband Jay-Z, and at points
she dances sexually provocatively. This again suggests that her image is sexual, but
far from the form of sexuality she was presented as early on in her career. Arguably
this maturity in image reflects her maturity as a person. The production quality has
also helped to maintain this mature image. Naturally the camera quality from 2003 in
comparison to 2015 is huge, and so her sexuality seems even more sophisticated.
Therefore, one can argue that recently, Beyoncs image has shifted from the
feminist image of Sasha Fierce, to the empowered and feminist sexual image of the
recent album, Beyonc.
In conclusion, Beyonc embodies the 21st century female pop star. As with virtually
every mainstream female in pop music Rihanna, Ciara, Nicki Minaj etc Beyonc
has had to sexualise herself to become famous and successful as this is, sadly, the
limiting nature of the music industry. However, many would argue that she has
subverted this sexual image. Whereas many could look at Miley Cyrus and see
someone who has overtly sexualised herself for success in a degrading manner, one
could see Beyonc as a fiercely empowered and mature being who expresses her
sexuality in a far more sophisticated way. Over time, this image has matured and
matured, and many could argue that she is a world away from the girl from Texas
performing in a girl group. In many ways, Beyonc has come from within a
misogynistic industry and shaped an image on her own terms - If I must be
sexualised, I shall do it my way, in my form. This is the difference in her image from
that of Rihanna or Miley, Beyonc is strictly an empowered and independent female
artist who has played the game in order to reach the level of popularity and status
that now allows her to dictate the rules.