Janelle Monae is an American artist, producer and actress who identifies as non-binary. Their intersectional identity is portrayed through their music as it is inclusive of black, queer and feminist influences. Monae is known for their artistic ability to produce Afro-futuristic music, which depicts African culture through futuristic means. (Crumpton, 2020) The beginning of the short film “Many Moons” by Janelle Monae, introduces Metropolis, a futuristic city, in the year 2719. The exhibition being held is referred to as the “Annual Android Auction” in which upper-class citizens of Metropolis can bid on technologically advanced androids. The citizens biding, all have the financial ability to pay billions for the androids of their liking.
Monae often plays the character Cindi Mayweather, an android nicknamed the “Alpha Platinum 9000”, who is the lead singer of the band hosting a concert during the auction. Monae’s band is made entirely of black musicians. It can be assumed that the event at hand is exclusive, as the act of bidding on androids is not one that is available to the general public. Throughout the video, androids are being held as personified auction pieces and can be seen walking down a catwalk, while bids are being placed.
Monae implements flashing scenes into the film, to catch the viewer’s attention. For example, the lights behind the concert stage continuously flash to emphasize the screens playing videos behind Cindi Mayweather's (Monae’s) band. The same flashing technique is used later in the video, as Monae describes name callings that the black community faces. During this, historical videos that represent injustices and segregation that the black community has experienced are shown to provide awareness.
The characters in the video are wearing primarily black and white to symbolize segregation and racial injustices, with few exceptions. Monae made a point of choosing a small variety of colour bursts to grab the viewer’s attention to certain characters. The bidders in the video are seen wearing black and white, with small pops of colour, such as pink to accentuate their privilege. Monae used red, white, and blue clothes as symbols of colonizers in America. Lady Maestra, also played by Monae, is seen multiple times throughout the video, wearing a bright red rider’s coat, as part of an equestrian outfit, while riding in on a big white horse. This foreshadows the idea of freedom without restraint in the final scenes of the short film, where Cindi Mayweather the “Alpha Platinum 9000”, is freed from its droid, freeing its soul. (Palmer).
Monae’s short film is an artistic depiction of oppression faced by the black community. The first two lines of the lyrics read “We’re dancing free but we're stuck here underground and everybody trying to figure their way out”. Meaning that although the black community is deemed to be free within the world today, systemic racism and oppression are still experienced and are still prevalent among the black community. As the song advances, Monae begins to list words that are related to issues on a systemic level such as “Civil rights, civil war”, and “White House, Jim Crow” (Monae). Which all relate to historical events that have been important in the black community. Monae then lists off a series of words including, “black girl, bad hair,” or “hood rat, crack whore” which directly references negative stereotypes that the black community falls victim to (Monae). The last verse expresses Monae’s inclusive character - “When the world just treats you wrong, just come with me and I'll take you home” (Monae).
Both the lyrics and short film for “Many Moons” highlight the history of slavery, oppression and racism prevalent in the west, specifically the United States, and its lasting effects in the present day. Slavery in America began around 1619 and continued until emancipation in 1863. Despite slavery being abolished well over 100 years ago, long term generational and systemic effects continue to affect the black community. Following the abolition of slavery, many laws were put in place to restrict the freedoms of former slaves known as “Black Codes”, Black Codes were the beginning of a long history of oppressive Jim Crow laws. In response to a growing number of Black activists, white power groups such as the KKK were created to prevent black people from gaining power and freedom. Jim Crow laws were put in place until 1968 to ensure segregation between black and white individuals. As a result of the oppression, racism and segregation faced, black people, continue to be an extremely marginalized group and still experience systemic racism and generational trauma. The short film can convey the metaphor that despite slavery and Jim Crow’s being things of the past, they still have a long-lasting effect on the black community. The strong use of afro-futurism in the video is used to show that things we think of as something of the past, can still happen in our modern-day.
Janelle Monae’s “Many Moons”, relates to many of the topics we have covered in class; most prominently stereotypes and intersectionality. In “Many Moons”, Monae emphasizes the marginalization and oppression of black people through powerful lyrics, costumes, setting, etc. That relates to our unit on stereotypes and their power, one way Monae does this in their lyrics is through stating labels such as “Stepchild, freak show/ Black girl, bad hair” (Monae). When people stereotype individuals and communities, they place labels on them to oversimplify or marginalize them in society. “Many Moons” takes the setting of the “Annual Android Auction” the way in which Monae uses androids could be interpreted as a symbol of the oversimplification of stereotypes and labels put on people. Stereotypes are created by those who hold positions of power and the androids in “Many Moons'' appear to be created by wealthy people, for wealthy people. It could also be interpreted as a reflection of structural injustice. As well as this, Monae identifies as non-binary and represents an intersectional identity, which is reflected in their music.
Works cited
Crumpton, Taylor. “Afrofuturism Has Always Looked Forward.” Architectural Digest, Architectural Digest, 24 Aug. 2020, www.architecturaldigest.com/story/what-is-afrofuturism.
Monae, Janelle, et al. “Many Moons.” LyricFind, 2009, www.google.com/search?q
=Janelle+Monae+-+Many+Moons+%5BOfficial+Short+Film%5D+lyrics.
Monae, Janelle. "Many Moons" Official Short Film (HD). Many Moons" Official Short Film (HD), 4 Apr. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZyyORSHbaE.
Palmer, Jessica Dawn. “Prior Lake, MN - Dog Training Classes.” Horse Symbolism, www.pure-spirit.com/more-animal-symbolism/232-pure-spirit-minneapolis-st-paul-dog-training-and-international-all-species-animal-communication-horse-symbolism.