Beyonce is being given the side eye for her latest video with Coldplay, ‘Hymn for the Weekend’, as some folks are calling her out for cultural appropriation.
The Ben Mor directed visual sees 34-year-old Bey Queen playing the role of a Bollywood actress, dressed in traditional Desi adornment, and Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin attending a local cinema to watch her latest production, the Independent reported.
The video was filmed in Mumbai and shows some major love to the culture, including a cameo from Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor.
One disappointed fan wrote, “i dont even know what to say about this coldplay video except can white rock bands please stop filming holi videos in india, thank you,” adding “it’s crazy how literally all the india music videos hit all the same beats. holi paint, bollywood, poverty, spirituality. come onnnnnnnnn.”
Another posted, “So upset by @coldplay using my culture as a prop for their music video. India isn’t just street kids and exotic women. #HymnForTheWeekend.”
The video has divided the social media as the debate is on the constitutional difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation; with some labelling Beyonce’s guise as the former due to her performative use of cultural elements as a kind of costume. Others have questioned how the role of power structures plays into the definition.One Twitterer posted, “Just gonna throw this out there, if Beyonce& Coldplay are PROFITING from a culture that isn’t there’s and gaining praise, it’s appropriation,” while another said, “Cultural appropriation is about power structures just as with racism. How is Beyonce, a black woman, offensively appropriating?”
According to another Twitter user, “Is Beyonce gorgeous in the video? Yes. Is it cultural appropriation? Yeah. It could’ve been done without the exotica and mysticism. #HFTW.”
