Together in Chaos
With the increase in ICE officer raids, the topic of undocumented immigrants has become a sensitive issue for most. With the majority of the targets being undocumented Hispanic immigrants, Bad Bunny headlining the Super Bowl Halftime show caused a huge uproar against the decision. Since Bad Bunny is a predominantly Spanish speaking artist, many people believe that he shouldn’t be the face of the most anticipated sports day in American culture. Having hate directed towards Bad Bunny, he decided to make his Super Bowl performance one where people would be left with an everlasting message.
To build anticipation, Bad Bunny released a teaser for his halftime show, showcasing people from different cultures all dancing to his song Baile Inolvidable. He mainly highlights the unity that is brought through music. With everyone dancing to his music differently, he shows that there is no right way to dance to his music, just the ability to be able to enjoy his music as a group. This message is the one that he wanted to leave the audience thinking about after his performance.
His performance started like any other performance, showcasing his Latin American roots, but nothing really tapping into what he talked about in his halftimeshow trailer. He brought in artists like Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin to sing Latin-influenced songs. It wasn’t until the end of his performance that he began to sing “Baile Inolvidable”. Through this song, he attempted to name every country in the American continent. As he exited the stadium singing the song, he left a message on the stadium jumbotron, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love”.
This final part truly encapsulated the overarching message of his performance. Through Lady Gaga, he was able to connect with the American audience. Introducing Ricky Martin, he was able to connect with the older generation of Latin Americans. By attempting to name everyone, he included everyone in the continent of the Americas in his performance. All of these meaningful moments in his performance all have one common denominator. They were all brought together through music, specifically Latin Music. He shows the power of music by unifying these different cultural backgrounds that you wouldn’t normally see performing together. Emphasising that love is stronger than the hate that was brought in by others.
In a time where the world is divided by politics, Bad Bunny uses the Super Bowl halftime show to send this message to the entire American population. His message not only talks about bringing everyone together, but also about how, despite coming from different cultural backgrounds, we are all a part of one big continent. Highlighting that Bad Bunny is simply an American artist and the same way as Gaga or Ricky Martin are American artists. Not because, throughout their careers, they both sang in English rather than Spanish, but because they are both artists who originated from the American continent.
Bad Bunny’s performance leaves hope and opportunity for oppressed communities. Even in times where legal citizens are viewed as outsiders by their skin color or political beliefs, Bad Bunny showed us that even a member of this community can be given these opportunities. He came into the halftime show as a predominantly Spanish speaking artist and left the halftime show as an artist that unified the entire American continent.