I don’t watch football. I didn’t watch the Super Bowl, as much as I love a good commercial. I didn’t even tune into the half-time show. So what can I intelligently write about it? Well, I know that my personal opinion is a very small thing, and liking a performance is extremely subjective. But what I CAN write about is the social context based on facts and numbers.
It is still a mystery why Turning Point USA decided to be offended by a Spanish-speaking artist headlining the show. Or maybe it’s not a mystery. There are undertones of him sometimes wears gender-ambiguous fashion, but that doesn’t seem to be his only offense. Those prejudiced enough to align their thinking with TPUSA’s rhetoric seem to have objected to Bad Bunny being ethnically and legally “unAmerican” — being from Puerto Rico, not the United States. I shouldn’t need a news flash to point out that it makes him a US citizen. I shouldn’t have to point out that so many other artists were not citizens. And although I am ignorant of pop charts, Latin or otherwise, you can’t say he isn’t a national and international superstar if you do a quick search. In fact, he was the first Spanish-only singer to rise to such heights, ever. And he performed in the Super Bowl half-time show in 2020. The only reason he is less visible in the 50 States is because he won’t hold concerts where ICE could be snatching people. Heck, they could snatch HIM, as being a citizen or even having identification doesn’t seem to matter anymore.
The point here is that we hjave two half-time shows: one just doing what it usually does; and one pretending to represent America, claiming the other is somehow an insult to the NFL and America. Since the second rise of Trump, and the political capitalizing on Charlie Kirk’s death, this alternative show is emblematic of everything happening in America.
Alternate facts. Alternative morality, where empathy is a sin. A Christian Nation versus a nation for all of us. Western Chauvinism versus diversity and inclusion. Nativism versus an immigrant-strong nation. Cultural and ideological supremacy versus true equality and pluralism. Heavy-handed Law and Order versus social and political justice. One side is rooted in dominance and privilege, and the other is a Wokism set on cracking that egg.
America can be both. America is both. We should be a mix and spectrum of views. But we’re at an impasse of having an extreme regime and its followers against the rest of us. But which is more “American” — who we really are when the final call has to be made? And as everything is politicized, the lines have been drawn with this half-time show. Bad Bunny or Kid Rock? Tribute to diversity, or waving crosses and flags? Are the millions of people in the streets a loud minority, or the growing voice of America as a whole with a shrinking camp of holdouts supporting the Trump-coup?
When artists realized the nature and consequences of being involved in the “All-American Halftime Show”, many opted out. But those expecially favorable of the Man (you know who) stayed on. Their choice of artists was clearly — and narrowly — political. They also used the term “Super Bowl,” which is usually illegal. (Most advertisers and others who don’t have permission simply refer to it as “The Big Game”.) And then they claimed licensing issues and couldn’t get a network to show it. In light of all such foibles, they seem to have peaked at just over 6 million viewers online.
Mind you, the REAL half-time show had at least 135 million viewers, though we all know at least some were in the bathroom. (Water pressure changes can be noted in most municipalities.) About 12.8 million viewers tuned in to the Puppy Bowl.
These comparisons show no bold statement by red-hatted ‘Mericans. Maybe some of them couldn’t figure out how to use the Internet to see their preferred messaging. But the masses cheered for Bad Bunny while crowds booed JD Vance at the Olympics. This isn’t some final verdict, but a clear hope that the fringe White Christian Nationalism pimped out by TPUSA is not who we are overall as a people. In fact, they are the vocal minority clinging to a temporary surge in power, ever-threatened by a changing world where their prejudices — and policies — may not be welcome.