Dissect - BLACK IS KING by Beyonce (Part 1)

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

Beyonce’s BLACK IS KING is a love letter to Africa, and we’re dissecting its story, music, and many visual symbols in a special seven part mini-series. We begin with the film’s opening two songs “Bigger” and “Find Your Way Back,” where we meet the film’s central protagonist, Simba, and his ancestral spirit guide played by Beyonce. Shop our limited merch for this series at shop.dissectpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @dissectpodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's something missing in the cover art for Beyonce's 2020 film Black is King. It's a film starring Beyonce, a film written, directed, and produced by Beyonce. A film full of Beyonce's songs. And yet, on its cover, Beyonce, one of the biggest stars on the planet, is nowhere to be found. Instead, we see a small boy floating in the vastness of outer space. He's suspended between planet Earth and a full moon. the stars ablaze behind him. Like every shot, symbol, lyric, dance, and ensemble in Black is King,

this cover image has a deeper meaning. And according to co-director Quasi Forger, it's one that gets to the core message of the film. Black is king simply represents this idea that we are all royalty because we are a child of God. As a culture, everyone around us tries to place boundaries on us. But then we also place boundaries on ourselves. And sometimes it takes us being able to look beyond.

You know, Beyonce was adamant about really going beyond the earth. To really be able to look at the stars and really kind of mingle with your ancestors there and allow them to meet you where you are. Beyonce isn't on the cover of Black is King because Black is King isn't about Beyonce. It's about all of us. living and dead, ancestors, and descendants. It's about reconnecting with the great kings and queens of the past, about recovering the history neglected by the history books,

and reclaiming the crown stolen from us and passing it down to the next generation, realizing we're all a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. I'm T.T. Shodia. And I'm Cole Kushina. We're following up our season-long analysis of Beyonce's visual album Lemonade with a special seven-episode miniseries on Black as King. Through scene-by-scene analysis and original interviews with some of the project's key contributors,

we're going to follow Beyonce as she plays a spirit guide, helping a young boy navigate his life's journey on Earth. To tell this story, Beyonce and her creative team use a unique combination of visual symbols, ensembles, sets, and allusions to the Lion King film, creating an unprecedented storytelling medium Beyonce dubbed Sonic Cinema. and at the heart of this Sonic Cinema is the music. Through an exquisite and diverse selection of sounds,

Beyonce and a curation of African artists and producers help propel the narrative with music that interacts directly with the visuals. Songs like Find Your Way Back speak directly to the story's protagonist, encouraging him to connect with his ancestors through the celestial sky. Meanwhile, songs like Already remind the boy of the kingship inside him, pushing him to take his proper seat upon the throne. Finally, the film concludes with a call to action as Beyonce encourages us to take the lessons from Black is King and put them to use in real life, to create a movement and join her celebration of black culture, her black parade. From Dogan Mass to DuRags.

From Moses to Mansa Musa. From Bee's backyard to Johannesburg. And from life, death, and the spiritual spaces in between. Black as King traverses freely across time, space, and cultures to highlight their connection and showcase a lot of the connection. greater unified black lineage. Through this grand celebration of the motherland, Beyonce demonstrates the profound connection that we all have to each other in this great circle of life on planet Earth. And so with that, and without further ado, let's dissect. Our analysis of Black is King begins at its end, with the long rolling credits that conclude the

film. Among this impressive list of the film's thousands of talented contributors, there are few significant lines of text that go by so quickly they're really easy to miss. They come in the thank you section and are written by Beyonce herself. Quote, to the black diaspora across every continent, thank you for creating, upholding, and driving culture against insurmountable odds. You inspire the world, honoring all who have been a part of this journey and those we have lost along the way, unquote. While Beyonce's message is a timeless dedication to the Black diaspora. Her words resonated deeper in light of the events that surrounded Black as King's release in the summer of 2020. The murders of Amad Arbery, Brianna Taylor, and George Floyd

reopened the deep wounds of racism in America, sparking record-setting protests and leaving much of the nation angry, disheartened, and hopeless in its ability to truly dismantle the country's racist foundation. Beyonce acknowledged this feeling when she formally announced Black as King on her Instagram. Quote, The events of 2020, have made this film's vision and message even more relevant as people across the world embark on a historic journey. We are all in search of safety and light. Many of us want change. I believe that when black people tell our own stories, we can shift the access of the world and tell our real history of generational wealth and richness of soul that are not told in our history books.

With this visual album, I wanted to present elements of black history and African tradition, with a modern twist and universal message, and what it truly means to find your self-identity and build a legacy. I spend a lot of time exploring and absorbing the lessons of the past generations and the rich history of different African customs. I only hope that from watching, you leave feeling inspired to continue building a legacy that impacts the world in an immeasurable way.

I pray that everyone sees the beauty and resilience of our people. This is a story of how the people, left most broken, have extraordinary gifts." And so as we begin our analysis of Black is King, we keep in mind Beyonce's intention to move forward by looking backwards, to shift the axis of the world by reconnecting to the rich history of the Black diaspora, building a better future through the pride and life-sustaining energy that forever emanates from the Motherland.

I feel like I'm not a king yet, but like I got potential for it, you feel me? I'm not dead at 100%, you feel me? Like, I know I got the capabilities too, but sometimes I don't know how to navigate. Black is king begins with a solid black screen, and we hear an unidentified black man speaking about his unrealized potential as a king. This brief monologue encapsulates the entire overarching theme of the film. It positions kingship not as a ruler of a people group, but rather as the individual fulfillment of one's full potential,

being the best, most complete, most empowered version. of yourself. The film continues with its opening shot, an expansive bird's-eye view of the Nile River in Africa, surrounded by plush green trees and rolling hills. As the camera pushes in, we see a basket floating in the river, and later it will be revealed that a baby is inside the basket. Various shots of this basket are interspersed with Poe's portraits of black men, women, and children from different parts of the world. Throughout this sequence, we hear Mufasa from the Lion King, voiced by James Earl Jones. Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance.

You need to understand that balance. And respect all the creatures from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. We are all connected in the great circle of life. This narration binds the basket in the Nile and all the portraits of black people we see in this introduction. They're all connected across time and space. Their journeys are both individual and collective, at once independent and interdependent, a grand tapestry wherein single threads weave together to create something beautiful, complex, and colorful. To understand the balance, the circle of life, is to understand both the importance and responsibility

of your individual contribution to the whole, as well as the humility required to accept your place in the grander tapestry. As for the basket in the Nile, this seems to be an allusion to the biblical story of Moses. As a baby, Moses floated down the Nile in an enclosed basket until he was found by the Egyptian Pharaoh's daughter. After finding him in the basket, Pharaoh's daughter adopted Moses and raised him in the palace as a member of the Egyptian royalty. This reference to Moses will be further developed later in the film, but here at the start, we recognize that by showing the basket floating down the river, Beyonce seems to be drawing our attention to the treacherous journey that led Moses, and by proxy, all black children to eventually be recognized as royalty.

Thus, within the context of the portraits we see of black people from both Africa and America, a basket floating down a turbulent river seems to allude to the diasporic history of kidnapped Africans crossing the Middle Passage to their enslavement in the Americas and other parts of the world. This history will be alluded to throughout the film, a presence never explicitly shown or stated, but nevertheless understood, an omnipresence, always there just beneath the surface. At the same time, the Nile River more generally holds deep, historic, and cultural significance to the continent of Africa. In ancient Egypt, the Nile was considered to be the holiest river because annual flooding of the Nile produced fertile soil, making life

possible in an otherwise arid climate. In this way, the Nile River can be credited as the mother that gave birth to the Egyptian civilization. Considering that Africa is the motherland that gave birth to all human life more generally, the symbolism of the basket in the Nile Kier at the film's start is potent. Representative of life, renewal, and rebirth, water will be a major motif that runs throughout Black as King, just as the Nile River runs throughout 11 countries in the African continent. Continuing to establish this motif of water,

the film continues with a sweeping aerial shot over the ocean to reveal Beyonce standing on the shore, dressed in a gorgeous, flowing white gown by designer Wendy Nicol. Given that we just saw a baby in the basket in the Nile, this image of Beyonce standing by a body of water calls to mind the daughter of Pharaoh who brought Moses into a royal African family. But more importantly, this opening shot of Beyonce establishes her presence as a spirit guide or ancestor who exists outside the physical world

and guides the protagonist on his journey through his life on earth. She will take many forms over the course of the film, and specifically here in the opening shot, we might wonder if Beyonce is embodying the Orisha Yamoja. In the spiritual tradition called Ifah, which originated in the Yoraba culture of West Africa, ancestors who pass away after accomplishing extraordinary endeavors are recognized as divine beings known as Orisha. According to the oral literature, Orisha are spirits who were sent to earth by Olu Dumare,

the Supreme God who created all things. The Supreme God sent the Orisha to, earth so that the orisha could guide humanity on how to live and be successful while on earth. Much like angels in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the orisha are intermediates between the human world and the supernatural. Each orishah has control over specific physical and metaphysical elements on earth, and their sustained existence is dependent on personal devotion and ritual practice by humans. During these rituals, the orisha mount their devotee and become manifest within their body.

We've seen Beyonce channel Orisha before, most notably as Oshun in both the visual album Lemonade and her 2017 Grammy performance. Here at the beginning of Black is King, it seems that Beyonce is now channeling Ye-Moja, the Orishah of motherhood, oceans, lakes, streams, wells, and pregnant women. In the Ifah tradition, one calls on Ye-Moja to help with infertility, the pregnancy process, and childbirth. Yeomoja has been linked to amniotic fluid because she, too, is very protective of her children. Yeomaja's prominence rose in the Americas and the Caribbean as enslaved Africans called on

Yeomja to relieve their suffering and provide comfort and hope. She is often associated with the moon and is typically depicted near water wearing blue or white. Fittingly here in the opening sequence, Beyonce is wearing a white gown while standing next to the ocean. Bless the body. Born celestial, beautiful is the color of my true love's skin, coils and hair, catching centuries of prayers spread through smoke. We joined Beyoncé on the beach shore where she now holds a newborn baby in her arms, presumably after drawing it from the water. This is in line with Yamoja being the Orisha of childbirth. She blesses the child, specifically its black body, which she describes as celestial and likens to dark matter,

making clear this child was a gift from the universe itself. Beyonce carries the child along the beach before kneeling in front of two black priests dressed in white. These priests gently swing gold censors that hang from chains. A censor is a small metal vessel that's used to burn incense and numerous spiritual traditions around the world. The smoke that emits from a sensor is often used to mark an object or person as holy. Within the Jewish and Christian traditions, the smoke from censors also symbolized prayers rising up to heaven, from those who are living and departed. This connection between smoke, prayer, and holy people

is reflected in Beyonce's voiceover. Precisely when the priest waved the sensors of the baby, she says, coils and hair catching centuries of prayers spread through smoke. The use of the word centuries reveals that these prayers come from the baby's parents as well as his ancestors. You are welcome to come home to yourself.

Let black be synonymous with glory. As we hear Beyonce continue to speak, we pan up on the legs of a man walking on the shores of the beach, his entire body painted blue. This is 22-year-old Nigerian dancer and musician Stephen Poppy Ojo. Ojo is painted in a blue-green tone called haint blue. This color of paint can be traced back to the enslaved people called the Gullahigi. The Gullagichi lived on the coast of southern states like Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia in the coastal plains and sea islands. As a result of being somewhat isolated, the Gullahigi were able to preserve some of the traditions of the countries from which they were stolen, including the use of the native indigo plant to create dye. This color was believed to keep away hate or spirits, thus the name Haint Blue.

This protective attribute falls in line with the blue man's role in the film, which Ojo commented was, quote, Simba's subconscious to lead and guide him through the different stages of life. Our subconscious is a realm of our brain that controls all of the parts of us that we don't actively think about, like breathing, blinking, and our heart rate. It also stores all of our memories, experiences, and beliefs, a guiding system that takes in what's actively happening around us and helps determine how our conscious mind will react based on past experiences. As Ojo stated, Blue Man represents Simba's subconscious or guide in the physical realm. though rather than Simba's own memories and experiences, it seems likely he's more a conduit for the memories and experiences of Simba's ancestors. Blue Man is a reminder of who he has been, who he is, and who he has the potential to be. This is why we see him introduced precisely when Beyonce says, you are welcome to come home to yourself. Blue Man will appear throughout the film at critical times, making clear that like our own subconscious mind, he is ever present,

when we don't see him. As Beyonce and Blue Man walk toward each other on the beach, we hear the opening moments of the song Bigger. If you feel insignificant, you better think again, better wake up because you're part of something way bigger. You're part of something way bigger. Not just a speck in the universe, not just some words in the Bible verse,

you are the living word. Ah, you're part of something way bigger. Bigger begins with Beyoncé performing a sequence of affirmations, singing, If you feel insignificant, you better think again, better wake up because you're part of something way bigger. Within the context of black is king, it appears Beyonce here addresses black people all over the world

who feel that their lives don't matter, perhaps due to Western culture's systematic devaluation of black lives. Beyonce encourages these individuals to zoom out beyond themselves and recognize their value and significance to a much bigger whole. This idea of an individual deriving value from their interdependence within a larger group runs counter to Western culture's tendency to focus on an individual's independence from the larger group. Beyonce's words reflect a traditional African perspective, one that mirrors Mufasa's statement that were all connected in the great circle of life.

Beyonce continues to affirm the significance of black individuals by singing, not just a speck in the universe, not just some words in a Bible verse, You are the Living Word. Beyonce here acknowledges that some black individuals may feel insignificant because of a few words in a Bible verse. She's likely referring to the ways in which Western culture has historically taken words from the Bible out of context and used them to justify slavery, white supremacy, and other forms of dehumanization. One such example is found in the early 1800s, when white Protestant Christians in the South began to appropriate the biblical story of Ham by making the unsubstantiated claim that black people were the cursed descendants of Ham,

and white Europeans are the descendants of Noah's favored sons. This blatant misuse of a Bible verse thus became one of the primary arguments that white Christians in the South used to justify enslaving black Africans prior to the Civil War. Beyonce works to dismantle these kinds of falsified claims by stating that, You are the Living Word. Biblically speaking, the phrase, living word, is a direct reference to Jesus. Most notably, the gospel according to John, opens by saying,

quote, And the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God at the beginning. Jesus as the Word of God represents his role as the living incarnation of the message that God intended to communicate through the Bible, a message historically distorted by those who seek to amass wealth and power. Meanwhile, Jesus as the Son of God represents his authority, integrity, to rule as a king who embodies God's perfection.

And so by saying that black children are the living word, Beyonce asserts that black people are not the misconstrued interpretations of the Bible, rather they are the royal children of God. As bigger continues, we get subtle hints at the specific reasons why some might feel insignificant and unworthy. Beyonce sings, bigger than you, bigger than we, bigger than the picture they framed us to see. Later, she sings, Life is Your Birthright, they hid that in the fine print. Take the pen and rewrite it.

In both lines, Beyonce speaks of an unidentified they who makes others feel small and hides their right to live in the fine print, obscuring it from plain sight. Although it will never be stated outright in the film, this unidentified source of oppression surely refers to the Western world's myriad of systems of oppression placed on people of darker skin tones throughout history. In the United States specifically, this includes slavery, Jim Crow segregation, redlining, mass incarceration, police brutality, the pay gap, and a litany of other systems that work in concert with one another for its ultimate goal. It's in these ways that they have tried to erase who we truly are, erase the memories and legacy of our cultures, and erase our ability to find

our way back home, back to ourselves. During the process, they have also attempted to change the narrative, making it seem that being discriminated against was our destiny. The idea of race was created by them and rooted in fiction in order to establish themselves as superior. They have told black people for centuries that our genetics made us unintelligent, uncivilized, unfit, unworthy of respect, and unworthy of existence. Over time, after everything had been stolen from us, our memory and our reality become an amalgamation of falsehoods. The system works to maintain those falsehood, and you try to just survive. Surviving in a system designed for your destruction. The line, life is your

birthright, they hid that in the fine print, is a reminder to us all with life comes our right to live freely and equally. Our existence is not a political statement. It is our right. Life is your birthright. They hit that in a fine print. Take the pen and rewrite it. Step out your waist of me, step in your essence and know that your excellent rise. Throughout the first half of bigger, we continue to see Beyonce dressed in white on the beach. At one point, she takes the baby she's holding to a group of three women also wearing white. Two of the women also hold babies while the other holds a large bowl. This bowl is made from calabash gourds, which are large, non-edible fruits native to Africa.

These gourds are split in half, hollowed out, dried, and used as musical instruments or utensils, like the bowl we see the woman holding on the beach. When we first saw the blue man, he was actually holding the same Calabash bowl, perhaps signifying it as an ancestral heirloom. Beyonce and the other women on the beach dipped their hands into the bowl, which is filled with water, and wiped the water over the babies in a ritual that seems akin to a baptism, some kind of blessing or symbolic cleansing. Keeping in line with Beyonce's depiction of Yamoja,

This ceremony might allude to practices by Yamoja priestesses. For example, at the annual Yamoja festival in Nigeria, Yamoja priestesses use a calabash to transport a substance from the spiritual realm, which takes the form of water. This water is said to be the concentrated powers of the Orisha, and is used to revitalize the Oba or king, and restore his right to rule. Andrew Aptor, who observed this festival two years in a row, said of this climactic ceremony,

quote, at no other time during the festival is female power so explicitly associated with kingship, unquote. This all sounds very similar to the water-filled calabash, the priestesses in white, Beyonce's depiction of Yeomoja,

and the emphasis on kingship we see in this ocean shore scene. It seems clear that these babies are being anointed kings and queens at birth, tying to the film's premise that kingship is inside us since the day we were born. As I'll be the roots, you'll be the tree.

That's on the fruit that was given to me. Legacy. We're part of something way bigger. As bigger continues, Beyonce sings of being the roots to her children's tree, and it's at this moment that we are introduced to a new setting. We see Beyonce dressed in blue with her daughter, Blue Ivy, sitting near a waterfall together. This is Avasu Falls, located in the Grand Canyon on the native

land of the Avasupai tribe. Earlier in the song, Beyonce sung, The Spirit is teaching, no, I'm not just preaching, I'm taking my own advice. Now seeing Blue Ivy exemplifies that Beyonce is quite literally taking her own advice, applying the message in bigger to her personal life. Blue is Beyonce's first child and the continuation of her familial legacy. She's calling on ancestors, community, and spirits like Ye-Moja for the resources needed to pass on life lessons. Hence, we get the lines, I'll be the roots, you be the tree, pass on the fruits that were given to me, legacy. Both times Beyonce sings legacy, we see a child, blue, or the baby she's holding on the beach. Despite the fictional, archetypal stories centered around Simba about to unfold over Black as King,

Beyonce is making clear that the lessons in the film are universal, ones that she applies in her own life, and ones that we can apply in ours if we so choose. Beyonce smiles at the baby in her arms as the music fades out and the scene cuts to black. We're then transported from this ethereal baptism scene to a village surrounded by red clay earth and vibrant green leaves on trees. The camera zooms in toward a grandiose beehive-shaped hut, embellished with cattlehorns topping the surrounding wooden gate. Two men wearing leopard-printed suits stand guard on both sides of the entrance,

with a royal lion crest hanging above the doorway. This is a film set called the Shaka Land Cultural Village, located in the South African province of Kwazulu-Natal. The Shaka Land Cultural Village set mimics a crawl or a traditional village of the Zulu tribe. This set was originally used to film Shaka Zhaqazulu, a 1986 television series that centered on the legendary 19th century Zulu king, Shaka. Shaka's 19th century reign united many disparate clans as one Zulu nation, and he created a a powerful army that served as a formidable opponent to British invaders. Today, the Zulu people number close to 11 million, the largest ethnic group of South Africa.

Inside this Zulu-inspired dwelling, we see the royal family surrounding King Mufasa seated on his throne, a royal lioncress behind him. Seated beside him are his daughter, his wife, and young Simba, aged around eight years old. Mufasa and Simba here are adorned with leopard pelts, a symbol of royalty in Zulu culture. This is our first view of our protagonist Simba in the physical world,

and we immediately come to see his own role within the circle of life as the heir to his father's throne. As we get this glimpse of Simba's royal family and kingdom, Beyonce continues to address the young prince. History is your future. One day you will meet yourself back where you started. Much stronger. Beyonce tells Simba that history is your future. When she says this, we see Mu-Future.

Fossa on screen, meaning that Simba will one day take up the legacy of his father and his ancestors by one day leaning his people as king. Simba must understand his own history and the legacy he inherits in order to perpetuate the glory of his people into the future. Inasmuch as Simba's journey serves as an archetype for her black audience, the message history is your future may also serve as a reminder of the rich history of people across Africa and the diaspora. We recall Beyonce's own words about her intentions for the film, quote, I believe that when black people tell our own stories, we can shift the access of the world and tell our real history of generational wealth and richness of soul that are not told

in our history books. And so this message to Simba doubles as a message to her black audience to understand the legacy and spiritual power for all descendants of people from the African continent. Beyonce continues, one day you'll meet yourself back where you started, but stronger. Again, we're reminded here of the circle of life, foreshadowing Simba's journey of leaving the kingdom and abandoning his role as king, only to return more hardened, mature, and with a better understanding of the balance required to rule as king. But there's also allusions to reincarnation here. According to writer Quasi Jones, many African religions, quote, tend to view life not as a linear biological process wherein a person is born and then dies,

but rather as a cyclical process wherein death is but a rebirth beginning life again. Yerba religious philosophy in particular believes that every living person contains the souls of their previous lives. With each new reincarnation, they come back wiser and with the lessons learned from previous life cycles, which is what Beyonce means by, one day you will meet yourself back where you started, but stronger. As the film continues inside the hut, we see Simba facing an older woman. The woman, who's played by the late South African actor and icon Mary Twala, wears white beads that cover her head and end with red beads just above her face.

These beads seem to designate the woman as a priestess within the African spiritual tradition, and a role seems to be the film's version of Rafiki from the Lion King. The priestess dips her fingers in a white clay and marks Simba, on his forehead and face. Face and body paint in traditional African cultures are typically made out of clay and combined with dried flowers and plants to create different colors. Each color can convey different meanings depending on the culture. Within the Ifa tradition, the color white symbolizes life, renewal, and connection to the spiritual

world. As such, practitioners of Ifa often wear white to various ritual ceremonies. Most notably, during the initiation ceremony which formally connects a person to their guardian Eresha, the person who is initiating will wear all white clothing and have their face covered in white face paint by the Eisha priest. These EFA practices seem to have been a key inspiration for the beach scene in which everyone is dressed in white. As Simba is anointed with the white body paint, the camera zeroes in on a painting hanging on the wall behind them. In the painting, Beyonce is holding baby Simba while wearing the same white dress that she wore when she depicted herself as

the emoji. The painting shows Beyonce wearing a crown of pointed light rays that form a halo above her head as she holds an infant in her arms. Within the context of Christian artwork, the image of a woman holding a baby is typically used to depict the Virgin Mary holding Jesus. It's also interesting to note that the halo that crowns Beyonce's head in the portrait closely resembles the halo that Beyonce wore during her 2017 Grammy performance. There, Beyonce wore a gold dress and a yellow cape, that many interpreted as the depiction of Oshun, the Euryshah of Rivers. The dress also revealed Beyonce's belly, which at the time was 20 weeks pregnant with Beyonce's twins, Sir and Rumi Carter. At one point in the performance, we see two versions

of Beyonce on stage, one wearing an Oshun outfit, and the other wearing a more circular halo and a scarf over her head, which more closely resembles depictions of the Virgin Mary. This well-established pattern of blending images of the Virgin Mary with female orisha like Oshun and Yeomoja is akin to the blending of Christianity and Ifha that occurred in the African diaspora after Yorba people were enslaved and brought to the Western Hemisphere. This synchronization between Christianity and Ifa primarily occurred in the Roman Catholic areas of South America and the Caribbean where Africans were forced to convert to Western Catholicism. Rather than giving up Ifah practices and beliefs, Yorba people in these areas develop new spiritual traditions such as Santeria in Cuba, candombly in Brazil, and voodoo in Haiti, all of which use various Christian figures as stand-ins for the Orisha.

Just as we saw Beyonce possibly representing both the Pharaoh's daughter in the Moses story and the Orisha Yemoja in the film's opening scene, the portrait of Beyonce as a black mother of God makes it clear that black as king will blend Beyonce's Christian roots with her renewed connection to the African spirituality she's expressed in her recent art. This fusion follows in the footsteps of the diaspora-ifa traditions, which incorporated elements of Christianity into practices that are rooted in African spirituality. From the scene of the priestess painting Simba's face, we return again to the beach shore to find Beyonce painting Simba's face in the same manner the priestess did. Simba is no longer a

baby, but the same age he was in the previous scene in the hut. The surrealist effect of this abrupt change in age again makes clear this beach scene is depicting some spiritual realm. Moreover, as a priest who connects humans to the spiritual realm, Rafiki's actions in the physical realm are mirrored by Beyonce's corresponding actions in the spiritual realm. As Simba receives this royal anointing, bigger resumes with the bridge. in line with channeling a mojewater liens the power of love to life-giving water

that flows between people, further establishing the water motif. She emphasizes the interdependence of family or members of a community singing, I pour into you and you pour into me. It implies a balance and symbiosis among all people, male and female, young and old, mother and child. These are just a few of the elements that make up the delicate balance of relationships

that Mufasa describes in the film's opening moments. It's through the respect of these mutual sustaining relationships that each person in a community develops their own power. There ain't no drought here. Blume into our actual powers. I'll be a sanctuary. You just don't know yet. You just don't know yet.

No matter how hard it gets, you got my blood. Beyonce continues to sing to Simba. I'll be your sanctuary. You just don't know it yet. Further cementing her role in Simba's life as a guide, who serves as a sanctuary or place of refuge no matter where he is on his journey. Visually, bigger ends with Beyonce guiding a young Simba along the beach at Twilight, showing him the emerging stars and preparing him for his journey.

These stars, like Beyonce herself, will see. serve as his sanctuary, an ever-present light that will always show him his way back home. More on that, right after the break. Welcome back to dissect. Before the break, we discussed Black as King's opening song, Bigger, which introduced Beyoncé as a guide to the young prince Simba as he discovers his larger purpose in the universe. Bigger ends with Beyonce leading young Simba along the moonlit beach with a procession of women in white following them. As they look upwards to the night sky, we once again hear Beyonce's words of guidance to Simba.

A journey is a gift, something to offer at the door to the rooms of your mind. This is how we journey far and can still always find something like home. Simba will soon embark on a hero's journey that will transform him. Beyonce encourages the boy to see the difficulties of this journey, not as something to fear, but rather a gift to learn from. This idea that a difficult journey is a gift from God is a central idea of the film. Its significance is highlighted by Beyonce's official album from the Lion King film titled The Gift, and the fact that Nala, the name of Simma's childhood friend and eventual wife,

voiced by Beyonce, means gift in Swahili. As the camera pans upward toward the immense full moon overlooking them, Beyonce continues, this is how we journey, far, and can still always find something like home. The moon is a symbol that will recur throughout the film, serving as a constant reminder of the sense of home Simba carries within himself, no matter how far he travels. The moon is also associated with Yamoja, giving a physical representation of the constant aid and protection she offers. We also observe the moon's circular shape, a visual symbol of the prominent circle of life

theme, and a reminder of our eventual return to the other side and reunion with our ancestors after our journeys on Earth reached their end. Beyonce's words and the moon visual might also hold a deeper significance in the historical context of the diaspora. For people of African descent whose ancestors were kidnapped and sold into slavery, there may be a sense of fragmented lineage or disconnect from their family's homeland. Many are unable to trace their roots to their original country or tribe of origin. When Beyonce says, this is how we journey far and can still find something like home, she offers the remainder of the film as a blueprint for her audience that are descendants of the African diaspora

to celebrate their own beauty and power through connection to their ancestors, pride in their traditions, and rediscovering the stories of their people. By remembering the ancestors in the past that colonizers suppressed, it can be possible to begin to recover what had been lost. As the camera moves upward into the star-filled night sky, Beyonce begins to tell Simba the stories of his history, and his people. The great kings were here long before us,

masters of celestial lore. We zero in on the night sky to see a supernova or an exploding star. From the stardust emerges the image of three great kings of the past, born from the universe itself. They wear pink grass skirts and wooden masks topped with a double-barred cross. These men are members of the Dogon tribe of Mali in West Africa. history's true masters of celestial lore. The Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge of the cosmos,

including the reported discovery of the white dwarf star Sirius B in approximately 3200 BC. This was an incredible feat, as Sirius B is invisible to the naked eye and ones that observed via telescope until 1862. By including the Dogon and highlighting their astronomical feats, Beyonce grounds the film in the celebration of real historical achievements of African people. The Dogan men featured here where masks called Kanaga mass. Kanaga masks include a vertical wooden beam that extend from the top of one's head and two parallel horizontal beams intersecting to form a double-barred cross.

This figure represents the Dogan's creator being Amma, with the crossbars forming his arms and legs. The crossbars also symbolize the differentiation between sky and earth. These masks are typically worn in a ritual called Damma, in which the souls of the deceased are transported into heaven. Donning the mask and dancing in this ritual is a rite of passage for Dogan boys. Once they participate in this ceremony, they can be considered men. And so this image of powerful Dogan men serves as an invitation to Simba's own coming of age into manhood.

Following the sequence, we transition back to Simba's earthly kingdom, where Mufasa and Simba also walk under the night sky. Let me tell you something my father told me. Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. Wufasa cites his own father's words and passes them down to Simba. Given that they're currently beneath a starry sky, we assume Mufasa's father is currently looking down upon them from those stars. The parallels between the three generations represented in this scene are alluded to as we see Simba, Mufasa, and the stars in the sky, all reflected in a large pool of water, creating a mere image, a visual representation.

presentation of how they are each reflections of each other. We then see Mufasa present young Simba with a chess piece. It's made of gold and topped with a crown, signifying it as the king piece. Mufasa is quite literally passing the kingship from himself to his son. The king chess piece will become a recurring motif throughout black as king, as will the game of chess more generally. While we'll be able to get into the significance of the chess symbolism in later episodes, it's interesting at this juncture to consider the role of the king and chess. The value of the king piece is infinite because a game of chess is one or lost when a king piece is captured. But in terms of its capabilities and mobility, the king piece is arguably

the weakest piece of them all. It can only move one square at a time, and is only as strong as the people or pieces around it. This seems to be a metaphor for Simba's eventual role as king and his understanding of the balance, the circle of life, and respecting all creatures. the very things Mufasa spoke of. So whenever you feel alone, just remember, those kings will always be up there to guide you. And so will I. We see first a group of women walking through the desert,

filmed on what seems to be a grainy, home video-style Super 8 film. These grainy shots are contrasted with high-definition shots of the Earth and cosmos, implying that while the universe is vast, it's truly our home. Looking to the stars and moon connects us with our ancestors wherever they stand, as they once stood where we did looking up at the same universe.

Next we see Simba suspended in space floating just above Earth as depicted on the black-as-king cover. With the high-pitched sounds of a synth pulsating, a bright light forms behind Simba and then bursts, sending him soaring through the atmosphere

down to the earth below. This image recalls Beyonce's opening passage in which she says, bless the body born celestial, beautiful in dark matter. Just as we saw the image of his ancestors form from stardust, the same stellar lights forms and accompany Simba on his path. As a child of God, Simba is born of the same stars as his ancestors, and as such, he shares their spirit and essence as an inner guiding light. As Simba approaches the earth, the clouds part to reveal an aerial shot of Beyoncé's standing in a vast desert wearing a black sparkled cat suit, headband, sunglasses, and a

crystal choker. This choker is a reference to the DeBelle tribe and their culture of neck stretching. It's here in the desert that we hear Black is King's next track. Find your way back. The second verse of find your way back the song. It's been a long time for him. Circle the life. And one day I might not make it. The second verse of Find Your Way Back captures the essence of the song and video. It's here that Beyonce reiterates Mufasa's message to Simba, that he can always look to the stars to find his way back home, even in the case of Mufasa's eventual death.

The stars serve as a constant reminder to. Simba of his true identity, even when he himself has forgotten. Visually, the stars are represented by Beyonce and six other women traveling through the desert in black bejewel costumes. Beyonce and this chorus of women appear as celestial beings, representations of the stars themselves that guide Simba along his way. Later we see these women holding lanterns, again confirming their purpose as guiding lights. But the lantern itself has a deep historical significance, as a deep historical significance, as As lanterns were used as a signal to aid the enslaved attempting to escape the South using the

underground railroad. Lanterns were hung on hitches outside of houses. A dark lantern meant it was too dangerous to stop while a lit lantern meant it was safe to rest there for the night. Symbolically, these lanterns and their guiding light came to represent enslaved Africans' hardwant journey to freedom. The bridge of Find Your Way Back has performed my Nigerian singer-songwriter Ben Kuli. What he sings is akin to scat and jazz, impromissatory-style vocals using sounds that aren't quite words.

These vocals were actually inspired by a dog that was in the studio while he was recording the track, a story he told to The Guardian. While in the studio, one of the writers came into the studio with a Chihuahua dog. The dog's name was Ricky. So I started disturbing the dog. Ricky, the dog's well-trained, cultured, would come to me, will shake, still, I would drive it back. So when they play that Find Your Way Back song, I was like, okay, what am I going to do now? So I remember when I was going back and forth with the dog, Ricky, Ricky, Ricky, Ricky, Ricky Robo, Robbe, Rebe. Ricky Robo, Robbe, Ricky, which is Fuji, you know.

As Black as King continues, Find Your Way Back cuts to halftime. This shift in time is reflected in a shift in the setting of the film. We again see Beyonce in the desert where she began the start. song. The camera then ascends into the sky, and we, the viewing audience, ascend along with it. Beyoncé appears smaller and smaller as we ascend higher and higher, leaving the spiritual realm. We then returned to the same Zulu village first introduced as Mufasa's kingdom and bigger. It would seem that Simba's consciousness has traveled to the physical world, where his journey will now begin. Simba and his parents process from their beehive-shaped hut through two lines

of dancing Zulu warriors. It appears this is Simba's coronation, similar to to the Lion King's famous coronation on Pride Rock that begins the film. However, the lyrics of the half-tempoed find your way back are soon drowned out by the sounds of drumming. We see a tall man wearing a coofy cap and a black suit standing behind the royal family beating a drum, which is decorated with red devilish horns. This is Scar, based on Mufasa's jealous brother who aims to steal his throne in the original Lion King film. A menacing, stone-faced scar forcefully beats the drum, almost as a man. as if he's attempting to entrance Simba. We then hear the vague sound of motorcycles,

and the scene quickly cuts to the image of a red motorcycle gang encircling the village at night. These shots of the motorcycle gang are quickly interspersed with Scar, as well as a frightened Simba heading out into the world to finally embark on his journey. Go back to your den, Simba. I don't babysit. The music stops, and we see an aerial view over a present-day African neighborhood, filled with dilapidated buildings while we hear the voice of Scar, establishing this land as his territory. How will Sima do outside the safety of home?

How will he react when Scar's gang tempts him with material goods and money? And most importantly, how will he respond to the murder of his father? We'll answer these questions and more. Next time on Dissect. Today's episode was written by Maggie Lacey, Titi Shodia, Femi Olutade, and Me. Our series intro was scored by So Wiley, audio editing by Eric Bass and me additional research by Gail Acosta

Song Recreations by Andrew Ratwood Theme music by Bureaucratic Be sure to follow us on social media at Dysect Podcast and check out our limited merch for this series on our website, dissectpodcast.com. All right, thanks everyone. Talk to you next time.