Do we really need to see brazen displays of cruelty towards Black bodies in order to understand symbolism?
Critiques of artistic expression are often met with backlash as it is difficult to accurately critique the intentions of a work of art without actually knowing what the artist was thinking of when producing their piece. Instead, we must work to distance ourselves from a critique of the art itself and instead create meaningful critiques of the societal and cultural influence the work may hold within a larger conversation. We often tend to jump to political analysis of celebrity actions yet neglect to stop and wonder if these actions are worthy of our critiques. The release of Donald Glover’s music video for the single “This Is America”, was one of the first times I had been thrown for a loop. After winning a Grammy award this past year for best traditional R&B performance, Glover had cemented himself as a distinctive cultural influence worthy of a place within the larger conversation. It became difficult to distance the piece of art from a political conversation as it so clearly politicized itself through the use of controversial imagery featuring violent acts being committed against Black individuals throughout the video. The symbolism Glover wanted us to see here was clear. Placing images of happy, dancing children in front of a background filled to the brim with violence and tragedy committed against Black lives was meant to symbolize the cycle we engage in that involves ignoring pertinent issues in favor of happier news stories and uplifting social media clips. But is this the proper way to go about relaying a commonly understood viewpoint? Many were offended by Glover’s brazen display of violence against members of a church choir in one of the video’s more jarring scenes. We must begin to ask ourselves if the solution to violence against minority groups is allowing ourselves to become so desensitized to it that we allow it to be utilized as an attention-grabbing artifact within the musical industry. Images of Black death are circulated so frequently that we are now becoming used to the idea of seeing it as art. Culturally, Black pain has been the basis of many an artistic renaissance and a multitude of musical revolutions. But do graphic depictions of the actions many face as a daily reality only serve to diminish the impact created by such images when they are seen as news stories instead of music video clips? How are we to react to a news story about a mass shooting when the same imagery is utilized in something as simple as a music video? Does this act as a trivialization of a call to action against the very thing it depicts? The message directed at society was pure in intention and necessary at its root but was its execution more debilitating than motivating for change?