Just like everyone else, the highlight of my weekend was Lemonade. For anyone that spent the weekend under a rock, Beyoncé released a visual album on HBO titled Lemonade. The title was inspired by a speech her grandmother gave at her 90th birthday party, in which she referenced the commonly used phrase, “when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.” Just 5 minutes into Beyoncé’s artistic masterpiece, it became clear to me that life has given her a fair share of lemons. It also became clear that the infamous elevator fight in which her sister, Solange, got into it with her husband, Jay-Z, may have been spiked by his rendezvous with “Becky with the good hair” (unless the mentions of infidelity were actually Beyoncé acting out what her mother went through with her father, which is also a viable option). But, while almost everyone on my social media timelines looked at Lemonade as Beyoncé’s announcement that she was filing for divorce, I saw it as a very honest and open love conquers all themed story shedding light on the truth about marriage.
While I in no way missed the black girl magic and overall female empowerment messages that were all over my screen on Sunday night as I settled in next to my husband on the couch to watch Lemonade (a day late – due to the time difference here in Japan), I saw the entire piece as pro-marriage. While infidelity rumors and hilarious Jay Z memes floated up and down my Twitter and Facebook timelines, I wondered if people were so enthralled by the drama that they missed the memo that by the end of Lemonade, Beyoncé was showing us all that her and her husband had worked through their issues. It’s human nature to focus on the drama. That’s the entertaining part and the part that draws us all in, but, the drama should not overshadow the beautiful story of a couple who went through something heartbreaking and somehow found a way to work through it, save their marriage, and keep their family together in a time when black marriages and families are breaking up at an alarming rate for a number of reasons. Lemonade was packed with black power, feminism, fashion, and overall fierceness, but it also contained a few takeaways about the power of love and the beauty of marriage:
The Pro-Marriage Message in Beyoncé’s Lemonade
No relationship is perfect
Members of the Beyhive (myself included) look at Beyoncé as perfection. She is an icon – a beautiful, strong black woman with the world at her fingertips. On top of that, she is married to a mogul who is, in his own way, just as iconic as she is in the hip-hop world. Their relationship and family is one that many people idolize, but Lemonade shed light on the fact that it is not perfect. No marriage is perfect and no person, regardless of status, beauty, money, or fame is immune to pain. As married women, we often think that we are the only women in the world who have gone through a certain thing or had a particular argument with our husbands, but every marriage has it’s own unique set of issues.
Marriage takes work
Marriage is hard. Giving her whole heart to another person takes an immeasurable amount of trust. Maintaining that trust for a lifetime is almost impossible and it requires deep, emotional work from both people to keep that trust and unconditional love afloat. Beyoncé’s Lemonade showed just how much work marriage takes. Overcoming infidelity, dishonesty, or even just a regular old rough patch requires honesty, humility, and vulnerability, which can be difficult for women, and even more difficult for men. Beyoncé shed light on the range of emotions that are involved. Scars have to be reopened and dark corners have to be peeked into and swept out. Marriage involves working on your own emotional baggage and being willing to help your spouse work through any personal issues he or she may have on a daily basis.
Love conquers (almost) all
At the end of Lemonade, I was reminded just how strong love is. There is (almost) nothing that two people who are in love cannot work through if they are dedicated to making their marriage last. Forgiveness is hard, but Beyoncé showed the world that is possible. By the end of the hour-long HBO special, there was no doubt in my mind that Beyoncé and Jay-Z had worked through whatever issues they had and were on their way to rebuilding their trust and faith in one another. Love is powerful and the beauty in marriage is that our vows force us to keep trying when we feel like giving up. While other people focused on Beyoncé’s pain and anger, I saw her strength. I saw a woman who was broken down but did what it took to build herself up and continue to fight for her marriage. I saw a strong, black couple that admitted to the world that their marriage is nowhere near perfect but decided that their love was strong enough to persevere.
What did you takeaway from Beyoncé’s Lemonade? I would love to hear from you!
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