n
the weeks passed since the debut of Beyoncé’s “Life Is But a Dream,” the press
has had somewhat of a field day, catering to those that love to hate. Since it’s
initially airing on HBO February 16th, it’s been said to be one of
the network’s most-watched documentaries. Yet, still, we find ourselves in the midst
of a wave of writers attempting to translate their viewing experience into a
one-on-one conversation with King B herself. As Beyoncé daringly opened up for
one of her most ambitious projects to date, she battled with sharing her not
only herself but her life, and still, it wasn’t enough.
Looking
at the bigger picture, until lately, it seemed almost Beyoncé’s ‘thing” to appear
as though she was being interviewed as a surprise or that she was strictly
confined to a script of prearranged answers, or maybe, just maybe, she seemed
so enigmatic because she was trying to conceal something. Aside from the notion that she admitted
to becoming “shy and bit intimidated” when she has to speak in from of people,
especially large groups (off-stage), as told in the July 2011 issue of Dazed
& Confused, it would only seem natural that she would be fully open and
honest speaking aloud to the built in camera on her MacBook. “Thank god for my
computer,” says a grateful Beyoncé in the film as a sigh of relief.
Yet,
still, as in any Beyoncé production, scrutiny is only to be left to those
unable to appreciate the much awaited insider experience into the life of the
world’s most sought after entertainer. For The
New Yorker, writer Jody Rosen calls the documentary: “old-hat,” and even
“boring.” Rosen goes on to uncover a well-known industry secret that Beyoncé is
“a terrible interview…based on the evidence presented in ‘Life Is But a Dream,’
even diehard fans may be forced to conclude that Beyoncé is not a person of
great depth.” And to top it all off, Rosen adds that Beyoncé is, above all
else, “a terrible judge of what is interesting about Beyoncé.” We as humans,
perceive reality and ultimately what is interesting to us, but how narcissistic
would they make Beyoncé out to be had she in fact stated: This film represents
everything I find to be interesting about me.
The Huffington Post wrote a review as well. A positive one
in fact, but that left no prelude to the comments. One response wrote, “There
isn’t anything about her that I find real. It all seems scripted for what she wants
us to believe about her.” Absolutely, it’s not our place to know her
personally.
It
just chalks up to the public’s insatiable sense of nosiness. If a celebrity is
reserved and silent about their personal lives, there is uncontrollable
speculation. When they offer even the slightest glimpse beyond the cameras,
“they aren’t real,” and it all seems plotted and fabricated to convey a certain
image.
What
skeptics and other nay-sayers failed to realized was that this film was
narrative, and was on all accounts dubbed as an “autobiography.” So to judge it
as a full disambiguation of Beyoncé, and her character/personality is
completely missing the point. True, by theory, it would seem only fair to show
everything, but we have to ask ourselves, if it were us on the other side,
would we sacrifice all our deepest secrets and sacred moments just so strangers
can say they’ve got us all figured out?
It could be easily said to simply not do a project meant to reveal
anything truly personal, but when you live in world where rumors speak for you
in many cases, the slightest bit of rumor control is necessary.
Now, to the films discredit, it seemed that it was made for those truly hungry for
every ounce of Beyoncé on and off camera. The only viewers who were left
pleased were die-hard Beyoncé fans, mothers, and those who know her well. “I
don’t know how anyone could make sense of “Life Is But a Dream” without having
followed Beyoncé’s every move and every high note as reported by the multimedia
infotainment sphere,” writes Hank Stueyer of The Washington Post. “You must come to this program knowing the
basic trajectory of her career thus far.”
“Life
Is But a Dream” wasn’t made to draw any new fans or to give anyone the full
rundown, not that it was intended to; however, when you have a slew of critics
all aiming to say the same thing (that she gave us very carefully planned
account of her life), you can’t just start with the rumors; especially if you
aren’t going to tell the entire story. This comes in reference to her separating
from her father, Matthew Knowles, as her manager. She lamented that she wanted
to salvage their relationship and “move on,” said Beyoncé, but anyone with ears
could tell there was much more to the story, even if they couldn’t pinpoint the
details. Though she told the truth as to her wanting her dad to be her father
versus her manager, you could see there was a larger amount of emotional
baggage attached to the situation that any amount of “business” could account
for. In other words, it seemed too personal for it to just be about the music.
he
film made very clear that after 31 years, Beyoncé is finally coming into her
own, she’s discovering her own voice, and with that, as she stated in the film
“I’m always struggling what to reveal about myself.” But when you’ve grown up
in an publicized industry and told to always remain silent about this and to only say this about that, of course you’re going to always wonder, when does this stop? When can I open up and say what I want and not fear my words will be exploited?
That notion; however, comes with security within your personal life, and in the
case of Beyoncé, that involves her marriage to rapper Jay-Z, her family, and
now her daughter Blue. At a certain point, she realized those relationships
must be taken for face value; there has to be a certain level of trust that we
all share with our loved ones, and anything thing beyond that should be left to
scrutiny.
All
of the negative criticism may be necessary in a lot senses because it questions
art; everything is left to interpretation, and opinions are how the world
works. However, you have to wonder, if we aren’t satisfied with whom Beyoncé is
from her own words, who would we like her to be? Would we like her to be
married to one man but having a baby by another? Or scream that her
relationship is “Nobody’s Business” yet every five minutes is posting pictures
of she and her lover or cursing out fans on social media sites? The truth is
that society will never get enough of celebrities. From where they eat, to who
they date, to what songs they listen to when they have sex, it’s a guilty
pleasure that no one is ashamed of anymore. “Life Is But a Dream,” is a statement of independence from
the cameras to show that a regular life can be lived, as if Beyoncé’s life
could be regular.
One
of the best takeaways from the film that confused all of the critics was the polarity
of Beyoncé on and off stage. In one scene, we see her in a recording booth
recording tracks such as “I Care,” and we see her transform before our eyes
from a deep-voiced, soft-spoken southern belle into a force of feminine
strength and back again, as she messes up the lyrics of “Run the World (Girls).”
You see her preparing herself to sing and then, all at once, the strong, yet
familiar voice hits you “boy I know you love it how we smart enough to make
these millions, strong enough to bare the children…[she stops] ah shit!” only
to belt out in uncontrollable laughter.
During
her confessional like interview, she laments on technology’s influence on being
popular. “When I started out,” says Beyoncé, “there was no internet…and
exploiting your personal life as entertainment. I think people are so
brainwashed.” She uses Nina Simone as an example of talent that wasn’t judged
by a personal life. “When she put out music, you didn’t get brainwashed by her
day-to-day life…and all the things that really [are] not your business,” she
says. If anything this film makes it very clear that Beyoncé may not be all
that her music and on-stage presence may lead you to think she is, but whoever
she really is, she seems more human than ever now. She seems relatable.
It
says that she’s an incredible performer with a strong voice and an even
stronger entertainment alter ego that empowers us all; did we not glorify Sasha
Fierce? With rappers, it’s common knowledge that they aren’t the drug-slinging
womanizers they once were or portray themselves to be. With Beyoncé, it’s the
exact same case, people want the fire, and all the witty, “I’m woman, hear me
roar!” traits that come with being a female music artist. True, you could call
it being fake, or fabricating a personality when we just want to know who she
really is. But that’s not her job, her job is to give is good music and sing
and dance until her heart gives out, not to take us home with her after every
show and tell us her every though. So, when we think of how the world works,
doesn’t that just make her good at her job?
The
best account of the film came from The New York Times, by writer Alessandra
Stanley, who was perhaps the only person who had enough insight to review it.
In Stanley’s words:
“’Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream’ is as contrived as ‘Madonna:
Truth or Dare,’ but probably for good reason it is neither daring nor entirely
truth. It’s an infomercial, not just about Beyoncé’s onstage talent but her
authenticity behind the scenes. She is a people-pleasing diva and she wants to
keep it that way. This documentary doesn’t really convey what life as a celebrity
is like, but it does say a lot about how this celebrity would like to be seen.”
At
the end of “Life Is But a Dream,” Beyoncé leaves us with the notion that she is
still on the road to fully finding herself, but she was no further along than
the day she gave birth. Between being a mother, a wife, and a daughter, all the
while attempting to downplay the superlative of being an entertainer, she may
not find the perfect balance, but she is happy, isn’t that all that matters? -CD
Images courtesy of Parkwood Entertainment
