"The Day Beyoncé Turned Black": An Analysis of Media Responses to Beyoncé's Super Bowl 50 Halftime Performance

Abstract

This thesis involves an analysis of media responses to Beyoncé’s Super Bowl 50 halftime performance of the song “Formation.” The first method is a qualitative thematic analysis that aims to answer two research questions: 1) What themes are presented within liberal and conservative media responses? 2) How are these themes and their dimensions framed within each type of response? I predicted that liberal sources favored the performance while conservative sources rejected it because of oppositional interpretations of two key elements: Beyoncé’s support of Black liberation movements and her insertion of political speech into American football. The second method is a rhetorical analysis via the concept of the rhetorical enthymeme. I argue that the conservative framings of themes within the media’s response utilize unstated assumptions that are rooted in the ideological principles of conservatism. These include a respect for law enforcement, an embodiment of patriotism and, ultimately, a connection to whiteness and racism. Because the conservative media author or speaker has an audience of media consumers who share a conservative worldview, he or she presents arguments (including the condemnation of Beyoncé’s performance) based on these unstated assumptions.