Jan 21 2009
Beyonce Actually Shows Some Real Emotion
For a woman who wants to be perceived as more than just a pop-icon and taken seriously as an actress she doesn’t seem to understand that unless you can really get in contact with your emotions you will never be an Aretha Franklin or Etta James or hell, even Mary J. Blige. They are icons in a way Beyonce isn’t because of their ability to connect with an audience on a raw, emotional level.
One of the best CD’s ever made is Mary’s “My Life.” That CD has gotten me through two very serious breakups and any number of sad times. The raw emotion coming through the speakers as you here her singing “I’m Going Down,” or how she just wants to “Be Happy,” will make the hardest of hearts cry and any woman who’s had her heart broken can relate.
Beyonce is not that. She doesn’t inspire tears or emotional outbursts. Hers is not the music you turn on when the man you loved has left you for another woman. She’s great at giving you something to shake your booty to, but that’s about it. And this inability to emote is completely her doing. Her image is so tightly controlled and manged that there is no room to be vulnerable, but vulnerability is what separates good artists for great ones. And Beyonce desperately wants to be great.
However, last night as she sang her version of the Etta James classic “At Last,” I saw something I’ve never seen before from Beyonce: real emotion. I’m mean, she was trying hard not to cry because that would give her the raccoon eyes, but you could see the emotion on her face. Like the rest of the country and the world she was overwhelmed at the magnitude of the moment and the display of genuine love in front of her. This was the reaction of a real woman and not a pop automaton. Who knew she had it in her?
If Beyonce wants her name to be mentioned in the same breath of the Greats, she will need to add more of this type of raw emotion in her music and her acting (a few acting classes wouldn’t hurt either). While I suspect this was just a one night thing, I love this new Beyonce. She should let her out to play more often.
