The World Wide Web blew up this week (not literally, thank goodness) after TMZ released last Monday what will go down in history as the video that destroyed the world’s faith in family and, c
The World Wide Web blew up this week (not literally, thank goodness) after TMZ released last Monday what will go down in history as the video that destroyed the world’s faith in family and, consequently, humanity.
The footage, a silent 50-second grab showing Solange Knowles lashing out and kicking at brother-in-law Jay-Z in a lift at the Met Ball after party, has been the ice-breaker for many a conversation in the last seven days, with people worldwide speculating just what caused the physical altercation.
Twitter comedians set about contemplating #WhatJayZSaidToSolange (maybe Jay made an elevator-themed funny about Solange’s music career?), while novice meme creators the world over opened Microsoft Paint and got to work immortalising the dispute in digital artistic form.
But for me, that’s kind of where the fun stopped. My reaction upon watching the video was pretty much a perfect human embodiment of the surprised/confused-frowning-with-eyebrows-raised-emoji.
You know, this one.
And it’s MADDENING that the employee at The Standard Hotel in New York who leaked this video (who the Associated Press reported had been sacked last Wednesday for “breaching the security policies of the hotel and recording the confidential CCTV video”) was willing to compromise his or her job in order to release footage he or she knew would become an instant headline and cause huge embarrassment for a family that, among other things, has a young daughter.
Restoring the image
It’s undeniable that Beyoncé, Solange and Jay-Z would not have wanted this footage shared with the world. A verbal altercation would have been bad enough, but it’s the light-hearted nature with which a video that, frankly, showcases familial violence has been met that is truly worrying.
One article by American news site PolicyMic called out everyone making fun of the video by asking what the reaction would be had it been the other way round. If it had been Jay-Z physically assaulting Solange, would we have found it as intriguing and entertaining?
Surely the answer is no. Most people would agree that violence against women is not something to be glorified. So, why the double standard? Violent conflict within families is not something that should be entertained nor tolerated, regardless of the genders involved.
Both Beyoncé and Solange took to social media this week, posting #throwbackthursday-style sister photos, presumably to dispel any more rumours of feuds and restore everyone’s faith in the family dynamics of the 21st century’s favourite couple.
What do you think? Have your say in the comments section below.
