The girl Bey is at it again. She’s got new music out – meh – a new campaign in the hopper for H&M – cute – and even old Rush Limbaugh’s ignorant self has put down his cup long enough to rant. Note, his rant was completely inaccurate and made very little sense, supporting my belief that he drinks, heavily, on the job, or is just really stupid.
But people love to hate on B. It’s sad, but comment streams don’t lie. Some in the public see Beyonce as a rich, undeserving egomaniac, who’s cruel to animals and – if this don’t beat all – has no talent.
Stevie Wonder can see what the deal is on this one: rich + pretty + Black + talented + (Lawd have mercy) woman = How dare you? Bey’s an unknown quantity, quite mysterious despite her recent documentary. Recall, she kept Blue Ivy’s cutie pie mug a secret until she got good and ready to reveal her, declining to cash in on the celebrity baby photos money maker train a la People magazine.
She’s never had a drug-induced breakdown. She doesn’t tweet inappropriate things. She doesn’t curse, swear or drink until she falls down in public. There are no photos lurking of her doing the walk of shame some sunny morning after a tawdry encounter with some random head. Nor are there pics of her getting into any cars sans drawls.
She’s never been arrested and had her mug shot plastered all over the Internet, nor has she been happily, gleefully attached to the wrong man. She didn’t even let her – minimalist, I think – controlling dad scenario stop her flow. She just rolled – with class and grace – past any hub bub and kept it moving to her next big project.
She hasn’t had any illegitimate babies – par for the course for black women don’t you know, and yes, fools, I’m being sarcastic – heck, even the President likes her.
Yet, if anyone wants to talk about the horrors and perils of excess or the antithesis of luxury they throw B on the sacrificial altar like a cheap steak on a grill. Like she’s the only singing phenom to use her hard earned spoils to enjoy life.
How dare you, brown skinned woman, stop acting like the mule of the world! Who told you it was okay to walk around acting like you’re proud – dare we say queenlike – and enjoy your life, be cute, edgy and occasionally unpredictable too? Woman – add disgusted sneer and associated curling lip – stop breaking records and doing it all with aplomb! And most definitely stop encouraging other girls to think they can run the world too.
People hated on Katherine Hepburn in a similar way according to this book I’m reading How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great by Karen Karbo. Hepburn was too much of an individual, refusing to acquiesce to the limiting ideas people had at the time about what women should and could do. She was too far outside the norm for society, so they punished her, until her slavish devotion to Spencer Tracy’s drunk self “humanized” her. Or, as Karbo put it when discussing the strategy that turned Hepburn’s flagging career around in the late 1940’s, “People loved her as long as she agreed in the final reel to eat a little humble pie.”
Apparently Bey with her long blonde weave and unapologetic curves does not appear humble enough. Well, I say how many modest superstars do you really know? Rock on B in all your fabulousness. Crank that new music. Fat Kid can’t wait to check out your next CD.
A Life Not Grey 