Through her documentary, “Life is but a Dream”, Beyonce tries to express a lot about her private self that she never expressed before to her audience and fans. She reveals a lot about her personal life, such as her marriage to Rapper Jay Z, as well as details about her miscarriage as well as termination of her professional relationship with her father. Throughout the entire process of making the documentary, which she also directed herself, she faced a lot of problems in terms of deciding what she would show true to the fans, and what she didn’t want to show. She wanted to show her private self, but did not want to give away everything. As Beyonce is known as someone who has always maintained her privacy, this documentary was a fantastic opportunity for fans to finally gain a glimpse of her life beyond the stage. Throughout the documentary, fans see what is essentially archived footage and videos of her career that has never been seen before.
In Stanley’s article “Another Cog in the Machinery of Divahood”, she talks a lot about Divas in the past and how Beyonce’s actions compared to theirs. Stanley argues that the portrayal of Beyonce in the documentary while shows footage of her past and her private life, does not depict the entire truth. What you see in the documentary is a depiction of what Beyonce herself wants the audience and her fans to see and understand about her life. Although it reveals a lot about her private life, as a director of the film, Beyonce is able to dictate the footage in a way so that it portrays her in a light that she wants to be seen in. Stanley compares this to how other Divas in the past has done this, such as Madonna. I find this argument valid for sure as many documentaries or auto biographies are like this. Obviously, the person writing or filming about themselves would want to depict themselves in the best light possible to their fans. It makes perfect sense that while the documentary served to show the private life of Beyonce, it is also a form of publicity that helps Beyonce’s image. I feel that the best documentaries are those that are directed and made by a group that are unrelated to the person or subject the documentary is about. This way, there are no biases in the depiction.