In 2018, Beyonce performed at Coachella, one of the most talked about music festivals in the world. If you weren’t able to spend hundreds of dollars to attend the festival, Coachella partnered with different social media platforms to broadcast live performances. Now a year later, Beyonce has collaborated with Netflix to bring us her movie, Homecoming. Homecoming is a movie that Beyonce filmed and produced herself, of both her performance at coachella, as well as the work that was put in behind the scenes. Many people have taken to social media to discuss the impact the film has had both motivationally and ethnically. Here are a few ways the movie has inspired me as a young black woman in college, chasing her dreams.
#1. She Used her platform to represent Black men and women
Coachella has been around for 20 years, and Beyoncé was the first black woman to headline the festival ever. She took that as an opportunity to showcase black culture. In her movie, Beyonce said she wanted to make sure that every person of color who was watching could hopefully see themselves or see pieces of themselves that they could relate to on that stage. When I was watching it, I did. I personally love to sing and I play instruments too, one including bass, and it wasn’t until watching this movie that I saw a black woman singing and playing bass in Beyoncé’s band. It really made me feel as though my dreams are not to small and that I’m not alone, and there are people out there just like me.
#2. Her dedication to her work
Something that didn’t surprise me, but also did, was Beyoncé’s relentless work ethic that she put in just for this performance. She started preparing for the show eight months before it even happened. She spent the first four months preparing the music with the band, and the last four months working on the dancing and production of the show. On top of that, she was also trying to make sure that the recording for the movie was correct as well as the in person audience would be able to hear everything. She made sure to invest her time to the fullest extent to deliver the historic performance that she did. This has inspired me to put effort into everything I do. If Beyoncé can be a mother of three kids (and two of them are newborn twins), and work for eight months straight on both a headlining performance and a movie, then I can get up, go to class and actually DO GOOD in them.
#3. Her overcoming her doubts and fears
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Beyoncé voice her insecurities before in my life except for when she briefly touches on them in her songs, but even then they don’t come off as insecurities, because of how powerfully she sings. However, in the movie she talked about how her last pregnancy was hard, and how she even got to a weight that was over 200 pounds. So one of her biggest concerns was whether or not her body was going to be the same or be able to perform the same. And according to her, it’s not. But that didn’t stop her from performing the way that she wanted to. It motivated her. She set goals for herself and even said how she pushed herself past her limits. She was proud that reached her goals and more. This has inspired me to fight past my negative thoughts, because you can achieve anything you put your mind to.
#4. Her acceptance of other people and what they bring to the table.
Something that I absolutely loved while watching the movie, was hearing and seeing how Beyoncé would let her dancers, singers, production crew, etc. be themselves. Many of the times when I watch other artists behind the scene videos, everyone is supposed to just go with how the script or scene is supposed to be and that’s it. But Beyoncé spoke about how she wanted her crew to have real emotions and put their own spin on things, so instead of conforming everyone to just her vision, she incorporated everyone else’s as well. And I think that is such a beautiful mindset that I feel like others can incorporate into their lives. I know personally that I get really angry when a situation is out of my control or people don’t react the ways that I expected them to, but If I can learn to build off what happens around me, rather than being upset that I can’t control everything, I’ll be happier.
#5. Her Humbleness
The last thing that really inspired me about this movie was Beyoncé’s humbleness. She is a world re-known artist that continues to break records no matter what she does. She even broke the record for the having the most viewed live stream of all time with her performance. And despite all of that, she still shows how grateful she is for everything that she has. It has inspired me to stay humble and appreciate everything I have, no matter what happens to me.