The Revolution Has Been Televised
The Super Bowl is one of the most-streamed sporting events in American culture. Everything from the football game, halftime show, and commercials brings the entire country of the United States together to watch, even if you aren’t caught up with the National Football League (NFL). Almost like a holiday, the second Sunday of February is always reserved for the Super Bowl.
However, more iconic than the game itself is the halftime show. A great halftime show can be discussed for decades. A horrible halftime can derail an artist’s career. With a halftime show, there comes a lot of preparation and careful consideration for the artist.
The annual Super Bowl LX concluded this year with the Seattle Seahawks coming out on top. Even so, after the game concluded, the game results weren’t the spark of conversation after the Super Bowl. The halftime show performed by Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny became the talk of the town as controversy struck the artist even before his performance.
The controversy began when a Latin American artist was chosen to headline the Super Bowl Halftime show for Super Bowl LX. This raised many concerns from audience members, stating that the halftime show should be performed by an American artist, not a Latin American one. However, this wasn’t the first time an artist of latin descent had headlined for the superbowl. In 2020, Colombian artist Shakira and Puerto Rican artist Jennifer Lopez headlined the halftime show for Super Bowl LIV. Even bringing Bad Bunny as a guest performer in their halftime show spectacle. Even so, their halftime show didn’t bring as much controversy as Bad Bunnies halftime, so what was different?
For starters, even if JLO and Shakira were both of Latin descent, their music captured both American and Latin pop culture. With a discography in English and Spanish, there was a choice to pick which language they could sing in during the Super Bowl halftime show. This fact isn’t true for Bad Bunny, priding himself in his latino heritage. He has chosen to stay true to his roots and only write songs in Spanish. This fact is what caused the American people to respond with such negative commentary. With Spanish-speaking only artists, many people claimed Bad Bunny is a horrible option for an event that is a staple in American culture. Stating that no one will even be able to understand what he is singing. Regardless of these comments, Bad Bunny stayed as the headliner for the Halftime show, even influencing the overall message that he wanted to leave the American people with.
The day of the performance was exactly what people expected it to be. A collage of Latin American culture and music, specifically in Spanish, with the exception of guest artist Lady Gaga performing “Die with a smile” with salsa flair added to the beat. Focusing on this portion of his performance, at first glance, knowing the popularity that Lady Gaga carries she was brought in to make his performance more memorable. However, there is a lot more at play when it comes to this specific portion of the halftime. Before presenting Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny concludes his song “Monaco” with the line “Esto era lo que tu queria”, translated to is this what you wanted. Then panning over to the end of a wedding, followed by Lady Gaga in a lovely blue dress and luscious blonde hair.
Although the appearance of Lady Gaga is shown to be an attention grabber, as people hear a familiar voice. This would have worked as a theatrical act if it weren’t for Bad Bunny’s words prior to her appearance. With his words, he speaks out against the hate he received for being a Spanish-speaking artist. Directly calling out these comments, showing the stereotypical beauty standard in America, in the form of Lady Gaga dressed as a “blonde bombshell”. Ultimately, the inclusion of a familiar American icon served as a sharp rebuttal to the backlash against his Spanish-language artistry, transforming a ‘theatrical act’ into a powerful commentary on cultural standards. Through the symbolism of the performance, Bad Bunny transitions to the broader impact he wishes to convey in his show. Going from directly addressing the negativity surrounding his performance to the ever lasting message he chose to leave the audience.