Janelle Monae’s visual album shows the everyday problems people of color face in a way that fuses past and present. The visual album consisted of a series of music videos that contributed to the overall story or theme.
In this visual the character Jane 57821 is identified as a “dirty computer” she is seen as dirty because of how she expresses herself from the way she dress to her two love interest in the album. As as result the authorities in the video are scraping her individuality and conditioning her to be a “good computer” with no individuality at all. I think that Monae’s album addresses the problems we face in today’s society and fuses it with futuristic creativity. Which overall I believe makes Monae’s visual album afrofuturistic. In the visual addresses sexuality, racism as well as feminism. These are all things that are controversial in society. What really captivated me is her message of sexuality. In the black community especially, we often mute the homophobic tendencies our community has. I liked that Monae used her platform to bring awareness to that.