By Jacqueline Ayala, Editor
Super Bowl Sunday, when every place that sells wings within a 50-mile radius gets overfilled with eager football fans. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no interest in talking about the actual football aspects of the Super Bowl. Rather, I would like to speak about this year’s halftime show, another part of the game that fans look forward to.
If you’re expecting me to go into detail about the Turning Point USA “halftime” show, you are gravely mistaken. Don’t worry, it will be talked about, but maybe not in the way some of you are hoping. This year’s actual Super Bowl halftime show was performed by Bad Bunny, a winner of six Grammys, and recognized as the top Latin singer of the 21st century. His performance marked one of the most controversial halftime shows simply because of his Puerto Rican ethnicity. And it was far from a simple performance.
Now, some opinions may be stronger than others, which will be discussed later on, but my opinion is formed as a proud daughter of immigrants, in a place where I watched immigrants build and improve this country, and as a girl who grew up speaking Spanish her whole life. I admittedly have no interest in American football, nor did I glance at the score the entire game. My interest in the Super Bowl was purely from seeing an artist who has helped hundreds of Latinos to not be ashamed of where they come from.
So let’s break down the halftime performance and try to understand how a show full of love and unity got so much backlash. Despite threats and consistent criticism over his upcoming performance, Bad Bunny fully embraced who he is and brought attention to what America should be: united.
Halftime Show Breakdown
This year, the halftime show ran for 15 minutes, relatively shorter than most due to a safety risk for Bad Bunny. Once it was confirmed he would be performing this year, several heinous comments including death threats made their way on the internet. Bad Bunny remixed multiple of his hit songs, beginning with “Titi Me Pregunto” as the opening song and going into “Yo Perreo Sola,” followed by “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR,” before a surprise guest took the stage. Bad Bunny then performed several of his iconic songs such as “MONACO,” “BAILE INoLVIDABLE,” and “NUEVAYoL.”
The style of the music switches with another surprise performer, Ricky Martin, who sings “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii.” Bad Bunny starts to wrap up the performance with “El Apagón,” “CAFé CON RON,” and finally “DtMF.” Even with the short time he was granted to do his performance, he gave the world a show of a lifetime, and the details in the staged scenery only added to this.
I could go into detail of every single aspect of the set, how every single piece was intentional, and the hidden Easter eggs, which are a representation of Latin culture. However, I have an entire separate section dedicated just for that. Bad Bunny wrote every song in Spanish and sang every word in Spanish. If your inability to understand the lyrics upsets you, may I suggest Duolingo?
Livin’ La Vida Loca
Halftime shows are meant to wow the audience from the stands to their living rooms. And Bad Bunny did just that, specifically with his special guests, who left the audience in shock. Some of these cameos were Karol G, Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, and Jessica Alba, all of whom are notable Hispanic and Latino celebrities. Even Alix Earle made a special appearance. They only appeared for a few moments, dancing on screen while Bad Bunny sang a mixture of his songs, “Yo Perreo Sola” and “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR.” Of course, this isn’t the only special guest appearance.
Lady Gaga appeared on our TV screens with a salsa remix of her recent collaboration “Die With A Smile,” originally featuring Bruno Mars. She sang this while a real wedding (yes, Bad Bunny got a real couple to get married during the halftime show) was taking place on the field. It’s no secret that Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga are good friends, and the smile she gave Bad Bunny as he was performing really was to die for.
Bad Bunny wanted everyone to be recognized, including our Latin mothers who grew up listening to one of the most popular Latin artists in the 90s: Ricky Martin. The guy who always lives in la vida loca made a surprise guest appearance singing a part of Bad Bunny’s song “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” a song about gentrification, colonialism, and how one wishes their country won’t get taken the way Hawaii did by the United States in 1898. Why did Bad Bunny have Ricky Martin sing this specific song?
The song “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” is a warning to keep watch on the U.S., as they may try to make Puerto Rico a state, in a similar way they colonized Hawaii. This song sends a message to Puerto Ricans to be proud of where they come from and to stay consistent in fighting for their homeland. Ricky Martin is a notable Puerto Rican singer who sang in English to make it big in the music industry; he was trying to fit into American standards, instead of singing for himself in his native language. Not only that, but he is one of the first Latin singers to come out as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. To bring on stage a singer who changed his entire music style to adhere to expected standards, and to have him only sing in Spanish, brings out the pride of being Puerto Rican.
Latin-Representation
Bad Bunny incorporated vital moments and memories of Latin culture into his performance. From the start, he honors Hispanic workers of all kinds. Jíbaros, agricultural workers, open the show as Bad Bunny walks through the field they are working on. He passes a nail artist, a joyeria (a jewelry stand which is more common to see in Latin American countries), a barber shop, and other common occupations which can be seen throughout the entirety of America. But the representation of different jobs wasn’t the main thing that caught my eye.
When Bad Bunny woke up the little boy at the wedding while he performed “Yo Perreo Sola,” he was referencing a vivid memory I can safely say most Latinos have either witnessed or experienced. I myself remember being a little girl at a quinceañera or wedding, falling asleep as the party was going past my bedtime. How did I manage to fall asleep amidst the loud music? Growing up around the music, you get used to it.
Controversy Uproar
It’s hard to ignore the split opinions on the halftime show this year. When the Super Bowl announced Bad Bunny would be performing, several football fans were enraged at the thought of a Puerto Rican singer being the headliner. Now, several excuses were made to deny the blatant racism they were throwing at Bad Bunny. But it was clear (both through people admitting it and floppy excuses) the reason they were angry: he isn’t white.
After all, several halftime performers in the past were not Americans. Paul McCartney and Coldplay performed and are from the U.K., Rihanna is from Barbados, and The Weeknd is Canadian. This is not even the first time a Spanish-speaking singer has performed at the Super Bowl. Enrique Iglesias, a Spanish singer, performed at the Super Bowl, as well as Colombian singer Shakira, who co-headlined with Jennifer Lopez. In fact, Bad Bunny was a special guest star for Shakira’s set, so it’s not the first time he has been on the Super Bowl field.
The main excuse people use to criticize Bad Bunny is that he isn’t American but, in fact, he is American. If anything, he’s the most American out of all the foreign performers. Most people are ignorant of the fact that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory; Puerto Ricans are granted automatic American citizenship due to the Jones-Shafroth Act, granting citizenship to those born after April 25, 1898.
With the U.S. being overrun with ICE agents and deportations, these current events only fueled the hate for a once-adored singer. To many people’s dismay, his Grammys speech began with “ICE out.” Instead of adding fuel to the fire and spreading hate, Bad Bunny talked about love and pride, a theme he remained committed to throughout the Super Bowl halftime show.
Turning Point USA
How much hate does there have to be for people to make an entirely separate halftime show? Well, Turning Point USA certainly has enough hate in their hearts, despite their mission to share “knowledge, skills, values, and motivation.” To protest against Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl, they decided to create their own halftime show with Kid Rock headlining. And for someone who is named “Kid Rock,” … I guess we couldn’t be surprised when he was rocking with underage girls.
Two other performers took the stage, including Brantley Gilbert and Gabby Barrett. Who are they? In all honesty, I have no clue. But people were looking forward to seeing them, so the assumption can be made that they aren’t as unknown as they are to me.
Those in support of Turning Point USA’s halftime show are typically the same people who claim that Bad Bunny is not an American citizen – but we already fact-checked this excuse. Another excuse used against Bad Bunny’s performance is how he is solely a Spanish-singing artist with very minimal songs in English. Though when “Gangnam Style,” “La Macarena,” or “Despacito” is played at a function, there seems to be no problem.
Personally, the only valid alternative game and halftime show to the Super Bowl is, in fact, the Puppy Bowl. At least their reasoning for having a separate show is based on raising awareness for adoption and animal shelters, not trying to make an “All-American” show because they’re mad a Puerto Rican singer took the stage.
United as One
In a time where people are turning against him, Bad Bunny chose love. The Super Bowl took place only a week after the Grammys, where he won “Album of the Year,” becoming the first Latin singer to win the award. His speech at the Grammys included him saying, “The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love.” The message only got stronger in his halftime performance.
Not only did he share his love for the U.S., but he shared it for all of America – North and South – by naming every country in the continent. The end of the halftime performance had the screen focus on the football in his hand. Written on the ball were the words, “Together, we are America.” Now that seems like the true All-American halftime show that people wanted.
