Beyoncé and Coldplay found Guilty for Using Cultural Appropriation in their Music Video
What is Cultural appropriation?
Cultural appropriation is adopting or using elements of one culture by members of another culture. We actually see this regularly in our generation. As spoken about in my Gender and Sexuality class, an example of cultural appropriation are the Kardashians. They use black culture elements (and other cultures) as accessories to look good for the public and especially the camera. Elements such as big lips, a thin waist, fat butt, dreadlocks, hair styles and the clothes they wear. We also see it as a trend or the “new style” in our generation. (ex. Hennas, hair styles, bindis, head wrap styles, headbands, Hipster headdresses, etc.). For example, In the article “Eating the Other Desire and Resistance”, the author talks about what cultural appropriation is and what he relates it too. It relates to cannibalism because culture is being used and thrown out once something better comes along. “…pleasure is found in the acknowledgment and enjoyment of racial difference.” By writing this in the article, the author is not agreeing but is analyzing how people are viewed when it comes down to “respecting” cultures. This quote emphasizes how people are pleased with using cultures whether it is theirs or not. The author goes on by stating how “Within commodity cultures, ethnicity becomes spice, seasoning that can liven up the dull that is mainstream white culture.” This quote is basically saying how other cultures are what makes the white culture come alive. We see a black woman with dreadlocks and right away she is seen as “dirty”, “disrespectful”, “ugly” and “wild”. However, we see Kyle Kardashian with dreadlocks and she is preserved as “beautiful”, “goals”, “sexy”, “queen”, and “clean” to the public. This leads us to understand how “Exploring the desire for the other is expressed, manipulated, and transformed by encounters with difference and the difference is a critical terrain that can indicate whether these potentially revolutionary longings are even fulfilled.” Cultural appropriation is racism, maybe it is not intentional by others but it is seen everywhere, even after many think racism has “stopped”, cultural appropriation is an example of how racism continues no matter what tries to change it.
What is Indian Culture?
A culture is seen as behaviors, beliefs, values, music, and religion a person has according to their birthplace (or their parent’s birthplace). Every person has a culture that they were born in whether it is from Middle America, Middle East, North America, etc. No matter what culture you identify with, we all must respect each other and where we come from. For example, the Indian culture is well known for their Hindu Gods, Dance, Traditional Art and Crafts, Paintings, Music and Hindu Temples. India is one of the oldest cultures out there that pay multiple respect for their ancestors to keep their traditions and beliefs alive. Hinduism and Buddhism were born in India and all their music, dance, and theater has been span back for more than 2,000 years. As said by Benjamin Rowland in his article, most of Indian culture is given to religious views and values which shows us how the Indian culture is valued and respected and with the fact that they keep traditions going even though they are 2,000+ years old.
How Beyonce and Coldplay use Cultural appropriation.
Cultural appropriation is also seen in the music video “Hymns for the weekend” by Beyoncé and Coldplay. Although it is a great and catchy song to many, we have seen multiple scenes in the music video of culture being used as entertainment and accessories. In the video, we see Hindu temples, Indian people, Indian civilization, meditation being done, festivals celebrated and Mahashivratri (a Hindu God). The music video overall has a variety of positive Indian culture shown but what makes this music video debatable is the fact that Beyoncé is using the Indian clothes as accessories even though she is not an Indian herself. What could have had this music video be less debatable is if Coldplay collaborated with an Indian singer who knows about her culture and the clothing she was wearing. If this Indian singer would have replaced Beyoncé, then she would have known that hennas are not from Indian culture. This already provides a lack of knowledge that the artist has on the culture itself which can be seen as disrespected too many, especially on the Indian culture, as said before, Indians have a strong respected foundation for their ancestors and their heritage. Notice in the video the person who is grabbing all the attention from the viewers is Beyoncé herself. There are Indian women there that could have stolen the spotlight but we see how this cultural appropriation comes into the picture when Beyoncé used the best jewelry and clothing for the public, just as how the Kardashian use the black culture to show themselves off.
Cultural appropriation or Cultural appreciation?
Billboard also saw this the cultural appropriation within Beyonce and Coldplays music video. They spoke about it on their websites as they showed tweets of some Indian people appreciating Beyoncé for making their culture “beautiful” and others stating how just because she is “Beyoncé” (“Queen Bee”) does not mean she can get away with anything. She is also not the first to take from the Indian culture, we also see famous images like Iggy Azalea in her music video “Bounce”, Selena Gomes in “Come and Get it”, and Major Lazer ft. DJ Snake “Lean on”. We can also see “China culture” being used in “Princess of China by Coldplay ft. Rihanna. This comes back to my point on how the public views certain images/people appropriate for any culture because they look “good” and because the person using that culture is considered a “somebody”. While others who do display their culture out of respect are judged harshly due to their lack of fame and seen as “nobodies” to the world.
