Dem
47
GOP
53
Yesterday was the Super Bowl, which means that the latest battle in the culture wars has concluded. We refer, of course, to the halftime show featuring Bad Bunny. If you did not see it, you should consider watching it, because it was bangin' (you'll have to click through, because the NFL has blocked embedding for this particular video).
(Z) has seen at least 30 or 40 halftime shows, all the way back to when they were a low-budget sideshow featuring such "A-list" acts as Up with People. This one outdid all the others, leaving even Bruno Mars (2014) and Bruce Springsteen (2009) in the dust. And if you don't believe us, maybe you will believe soon-to-be-NFL-Hall-of-Famer J.J. Watt:
Did I understand a single word of it?
I did not.
Was it a vibe?
It was.
That tweet was liked more than a quarter-million times by the end of the game.
For those who did not watch, the show was a tribute to Bad Bunny's native Puerto Rico. It started with a shot of jíbaros (rural workers), followed by the artist walking through a set decorated to look like a sugar cane field. There were elderly men playing dominos, there were Latin dancers, there was a low-rider truck, and there was even a wedding, in a tip of the hat to "family values." What was not widely known until after the show was that the wedding was real; the couple sent an invite to their (modest) nuptials to Bad Bunny, and he and his team invited them to be married in front of 100 million people instead. They even got a free (and very large) wedding cake out of it. Among the surprise guests were Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin and Pedro Pascal. Keep in mind that it is a law of the universe that any project involving Pedro Pascal must be good.
Bad Bunny himself simply radiated joy. He sang mostly in Spanish, of course, though that doesn't really matter, especially with music. Lest we forget, "Sukiyaki" (all in Japanese), "99 Luftballoons" (almost entirely in German, except for the phrase "Captain Kirk"), "Dominique" (all in French), "Rock Me Amadeus" (also entirely in German), "La Bamba" (all in Spanish), "Gangnam Style" (mostly in Korean) and "Despacito" (almost entirely in Spanish) were all huge hits in the United States. Anyhow, the man knows how to sing, how to dance, and how to put on a show.
It was clear that "don't get too political" was the order of the day. Green Day performed to open the Super Bowl, and they toned down all of the political lyrics in the songs they performed. As to Bad Bunny, his message was "unity." He avoided any overt political statements about the current presidential administration, ICE, etc. The most pointed that he got was during a portion of the dancing, which featured dancers on electric poles—a reference to the power outages in Puerto Rico during Trump's first term. At the end of the performance, he declared, in English: "God bless America" and then made clear that extended to all of the Americas, specifically naming Chile, Argentina, the United States and Canada. He was also carrying a football printed with "Together, We Are America," which he spiked at the very end. During the show, the scoreboard displayed the message, "THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE." That same message was sent out on the NFL's eX-Twitter account at the very end of the show.
Of course, there are some people who are offended by: (1) Puerto Ricans taking pride in their heritage, (2) unity, and (3) rating love above hate. One such person is Donald Trump, who predictably went ballistic on his forlorn and forgotten social media platform:
The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn't represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World. This "Show" is just a "slap in the face" to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day—including the Best Stock Market and 401(k)s in History! There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven't got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD—And, by the way, the NFL should immediately replace its ridiculous new Kickoff Rule. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP
For the record, Puerto Rico is part of the United States. So, celebrating Puerto Rico is... celebrating the United States. In any event, think for a moment about the job of a president, which is to represent all of the American people. Then think about Bad Bunny's message, and about the kind of president Trump is (and see below for more). Hence the headline for this item.
Incidentally, we also watched the video of the alternative halftime show for MAGA supporters. Readers can view it here, if they wish. It featured a fair bit of messaging on who is, and is not, a "real American." Their definition would not appear to include Puerto Ricans, it would seem. Headliner Kid Rock sang a high-energy version of what was probably "Bawitdaba," but it's hard to be sure because all of his songs sound like "Bawitdaba." He once again fell into the bad habit that has already made him the subject of several viral clips, namely forgetting that if you are lip-synching, the music keeps going even if you drop the mic down to waist-level and stop moving your lips. If readers wish to see for themselves, click here; in the span of about 15 seconds there are at least six different instances where he's clearly not singing, and yet you can hear him over the sound system.
And now, it's onward and upward to the Winter Olympics, which Trump is already carping about. (Z)