You know, since he mentions In Living Color, I’d like to remind my fellow X-ers that back in the 90’s, the halftime show had such a rep for sucking that they’re were often alternative half-time shows, one put on by In Living Color. Of course that wasn’t political, just a general feeling that the halftime shows always sucked before they realized they should just hire the biggest names in music to do it. I remember the ILC halftime show being funny, featuring jokes that would so get them cancelled today, whether or not they were black
On my group chat at work, a solid handful of (younger) people claimed they were only watching the Super Bowl to see Bad Bunny, the biggest pop star in the world, so maybe his selection for the halftime show was merely the marketing equivalent of a no brainer.
The clearest expression I've heard is that they wanted people who like the more popular football to watch. And they were right. While it's true that there are artists that would potentially pull a more white audience, I think it's obvious that there is a far greater group of people who listen to Bad Bunny and don't already care about the Super Bowl. That's simple demographic judgment. No other morality required.
It's like the most recent big Folding Ideas video. You get Jarhead sequels because it makes cheap money. You get Bad Bunny Halftime shows because it gets easy viewership. That people have thoughts racist and ecstatic about the thing doesn't change the mechanics of the NFL from firstly and lastly about money.
@Sam, I think you are 100% right. I made a similar point to someone (that the NFL chose Big Bunny because he is a superstar, not because he is Boricua). And that someone harrumphed, "I've never heard of him." hahahahaha
It’s about politics far more than money. And yes non elite whites are butt hurt and likely revanchist at a decades long cultural revolution that’s seen their social prestige decline in step with their economic opportunities. Also, to have no white artist play the superbowl since 2019 is outrageous because political
Without knowledge into the actual decisionmaking, we're just throwing assertions out about motive. From my side, I'll point out that since 2019 those non-white artists have tended to be very big acts. I also think they'd get Taylor Swift if they could and my evidence for that is the media did everything they could to make 2024 (I think) about Swift's romantic relationship anyway.
All that said, I don't doubt that some non-elite whites grouch about the whole thing. I hope they felt seen and affirmed by Maroon 5.
The massive built-in non-football audience for him is certainly why NFL execs could easily ignore Trump’s pathetic whining about it. There was never even a whiff that they’d change the show to please him and the white nationalist C.H.U.D.s on Truth Social, because eyeballs (and money) are unassailable.
Yes people that is the US federal government threatening to get the FCC involved in Bad Bunny lyrics. Nothing will come of this, but I don't think the curve on what will come of government malfeasance should redound to the government's benefit. We should treat them like they want to do what they say, and that's why MAGA's racialized rejection to Bad Bunny is inherently worse than any racialized approval. One of these things has guns and jails, one of them does not.
Or that people are just too, I dunno, dimwitted? to watch a show unless it has someone “just like them” in it. Also applies to shoehorning a kid into a movie, or else kids won’t watch it (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom comes to mind).
Idk, I've been trying to remember what I was watching when the following happened...and I just figured out it was last year's Kendrick Lamar halftime show. I had some friends over along with my mother-in-law for a super bowl party and when we get to Kendrick's show halfway through she goes "where are the white people?" I was really embarrassed, wanted to sink into the couch, and hoped nobody else heard what she had just said. So that's one person expects entry points...or at least has been trained to expect entry points. This essay just reminded me about that incident!
The logical next step isn't an act designed to make white people happy. The logical next step is a group targeted at East Asians. Not because it's morally praiseworthy to represent them but because there is more room for growth in Super Bowl viewership there than there is from MAGA. It so happens that a k pop act would make a lot of white people happy because a lot of them enjoy k pop.
I'm not sure that will happen, but it would do the same thing selecting Bad Bunny did, including resulting in people claiming despite the artist's absolute numbers that their act is mostly a result of moralist race balancing.
If it’s any consolation, Trump’s attention can be distracted by pretty much the same list of things that distract Troy Barnes: shiny things, women’s boobs, the color red, anyone shouting “Look over there!” etc.
I thought this was a great line: "to deemphasize the importance of race and to see culture as different expressions of similar experiences, not as a marker of fundamental difference."
Our politics would be a lot less toxic if more people thought this way.
There’s an episode of “The Studio” where they are casting the Kool-Aid movie. Questioning whether it’s okay to have a black guy (Ice Cube) play Kool-Aid Man leads to a domino effect of racially obsessive recasting. It’s the ultimate mockery of race balancing, especially when you consider what an “insider” show it is, and how closely it must reflect actual conversations Rogen and the other writers/producers have heard.
Not to nitpick, but the Eagles’ fans threw icy snowballs at Santa not batteries. They would have, but that’s not the same thing. I admit batteries is funnier.
I wonder if there's something extra at stake this year. I wonder if the MAGA enthusiasts will use the idea that the Super Bowl is full of people who sing in Spanish as evidence to share with True Americans, who don't really pay much attention to politics, that everything about Patriotic America is lost unless they vote Republican.
It’s a bit like Kamala telling trans prisoners that the US government will pay for their surgery is evidence that the Democrats want to turn your sons into daughters. It’s not true, of course, but it is effective in commercials a few days before an election.
A comedic plot line would be a teacher arrested by Trump's government police for speaking Spanish in class when all she said to her students was "essay."
The over-emphasis on representation in entertainment bugs me (b/c I see it as far down the list of important problems) but I do think there have been benefits to having racial and gender minorities have a bigger presence and play a wider variety of roles than in the past. I think it plays a positive role in humanizing and normalizing people that are otherwise subjects of some combination of ignorance or stereotypes.
I love seeing more kinds of people. I loathe the idea that "only an X actor can play an X person" or "only an X actor will appeal to X audiences." The arts are valuable because they open our hearts and minds to other experiences that are not our own.
It really bothers me when oversensitive people flip their lids over the race or ethnicity of a particular actor. (I mean, I get the anger over extreme cases like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany, but it seems to take a lot less to trigger the outrage nowadays.)
I go back and forth over this because the identitarian movement has been so bad for relations between groups of people generally. There is a lot more hostility and distrust than there used to be. HOWEVER, I agree with you. It's cool to see a wider range of performers and creative people involved in mass media. It feels more American.
I doubt there will be a Halftime Show catered for MAGA unless it turns out that TPUSA program significantly cut into the viewership of the NFL approved show. I'm literally old enough to remember when the half-time show was 'Up With People', college bands, and Carol Channing. The Rupert Murdoch's Fox Channel let 'In Living Color' do an alternate halftime broadcast. The ratings for that show were so high that the NFL ran out and got Michael Jackson to headline the following show.
The only time the NFL has been reactionary to a previous year's halftime show was Nipplegate, when they did about 4-5 years of Dad Rock acts after that. I'd say that was far more controversial and met with far more outrage than this.
(For a fun ironic twist, know who else performed in that halftime show? Kid Rock!)
I'd forgotten about Kid Rock in that show! I actually was working during the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake show and later I asked my spouse how it was. And my spouse said, "Forgettable." Clearly SOMEONE didn't watch very carefully
So much common sense, such simple human wisdom, so little hope: "deemphasize the importance of race and . . . see culture as different expressions of similar experiences, not as a marker of fundamental difference."
Love this …”Truly all things on Earth other than the halftime show are alternatives to the halftime show.”
You know, since he mentions In Living Color, I’d like to remind my fellow X-ers that back in the 90’s, the halftime show had such a rep for sucking that they’re were often alternative half-time shows, one put on by In Living Color. Of course that wasn’t political, just a general feeling that the halftime shows always sucked before they realized they should just hire the biggest names in music to do it. I remember the ILC halftime show being funny, featuring jokes that would so get them cancelled today, whether or not they were black
On my group chat at work, a solid handful of (younger) people claimed they were only watching the Super Bowl to see Bad Bunny, the biggest pop star in the world, so maybe his selection for the halftime show was merely the marketing equivalent of a no brainer.
The clearest expression I've heard is that they wanted people who like the more popular football to watch. And they were right. While it's true that there are artists that would potentially pull a more white audience, I think it's obvious that there is a far greater group of people who listen to Bad Bunny and don't already care about the Super Bowl. That's simple demographic judgment. No other morality required.
It's like the most recent big Folding Ideas video. You get Jarhead sequels because it makes cheap money. You get Bad Bunny Halftime shows because it gets easy viewership. That people have thoughts racist and ecstatic about the thing doesn't change the mechanics of the NFL from firstly and lastly about money.
@Sam, I think you are 100% right. I made a similar point to someone (that the NFL chose Big Bunny because he is a superstar, not because he is Boricua). And that someone harrumphed, "I've never heard of him." hahahahaha
It’s about politics far more than money. And yes non elite whites are butt hurt and likely revanchist at a decades long cultural revolution that’s seen their social prestige decline in step with their economic opportunities. Also, to have no white artist play the superbowl since 2019 is outrageous because political
Without knowledge into the actual decisionmaking, we're just throwing assertions out about motive. From my side, I'll point out that since 2019 those non-white artists have tended to be very big acts. I also think they'd get Taylor Swift if they could and my evidence for that is the media did everything they could to make 2024 (I think) about Swift's romantic relationship anyway.
All that said, I don't doubt that some non-elite whites grouch about the whole thing. I hope they felt seen and affirmed by Maroon 5.
The massive built-in non-football audience for him is certainly why NFL execs could easily ignore Trump’s pathetic whining about it. There was never even a whiff that they’d change the show to please him and the white nationalist C.H.U.D.s on Truth Social, because eyeballs (and money) are unassailable.
But they will try to assail!
https://www.rawstory.com/stringr/house-gop-investigating-bad-bunny/
Yes people that is the US federal government threatening to get the FCC involved in Bad Bunny lyrics. Nothing will come of this, but I don't think the curve on what will come of government malfeasance should redound to the government's benefit. We should treat them like they want to do what they say, and that's why MAGA's racialized rejection to Bad Bunny is inherently worse than any racialized approval. One of these things has guns and jails, one of them does not.
Dang, than they should have offered me an alternative halftime show I'd actually want to watch, not some dried out old pedo.
I’ve always thought the whole “entry points” thing was deeply insulting to audiences and performers.
Yes it assumes that most people are inveterate racist and there are lots of examples (The Cosby Show, Friends) suggesting it’s not true.
Or that people are just too, I dunno, dimwitted? to watch a show unless it has someone “just like them” in it. Also applies to shoehorning a kid into a movie, or else kids won’t watch it (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom comes to mind).
Idk, I've been trying to remember what I was watching when the following happened...and I just figured out it was last year's Kendrick Lamar halftime show. I had some friends over along with my mother-in-law for a super bowl party and when we get to Kendrick's show halfway through she goes "where are the white people?" I was really embarrassed, wanted to sink into the couch, and hoped nobody else heard what she had just said. So that's one person expects entry points...or at least has been trained to expect entry points. This essay just reminded me about that incident!
Why not call a shot? Jeff does.
The logical next step isn't an act designed to make white people happy. The logical next step is a group targeted at East Asians. Not because it's morally praiseworthy to represent them but because there is more room for growth in Super Bowl viewership there than there is from MAGA. It so happens that a k pop act would make a lot of white people happy because a lot of them enjoy k pop.
I'm not sure that will happen, but it would do the same thing selecting Bad Bunny did, including resulting in people claiming despite the artist's absolute numbers that their act is mostly a result of moralist race balancing.
Goodell: can we get that band from Kpop Demon Hunters? My grandkids love that movie. Huntrix or something?
Assistant: Sir, that's not a real band.
Goodell: ugh fine. What's the closest thing that exists?
Assistant: I guess Blackpink?
Goodell: Done!
Whatever happened to that band with the documentary, Spinal something?
In this house, we went through a no Google round of "Who played at the half time show last year?"
No one won.
Meanwhile, Trump has turned his attention to our bridge, so maybe Bad Bunny is just a controversy in the past now.
If it’s any consolation, Trump’s attention can be distracted by pretty much the same list of things that distract Troy Barnes: shiny things, women’s boobs, the color red, anyone shouting “Look over there!” etc.
Good luck with the bridge!
I thought this was a great line: "to deemphasize the importance of race and to see culture as different expressions of similar experiences, not as a marker of fundamental difference."
Our politics would be a lot less toxic if more people thought this way.
There’s an episode of “The Studio” where they are casting the Kool-Aid movie. Questioning whether it’s okay to have a black guy (Ice Cube) play Kool-Aid Man leads to a domino effect of racially obsessive recasting. It’s the ultimate mockery of race balancing, especially when you consider what an “insider” show it is, and how closely it must reflect actual conversations Rogen and the other writers/producers have heard.
Jeff literally links to that exact episode in the piece…
I read most of it, I swear
Happens to me all the time
"Are your ready FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!"
-Hank Williams Jr
"Actually, tonights not good for me.."
-The Pats
(It's not an old joke, it's a classic 😁)
Not to nitpick, but the Eagles’ fans threw icy snowballs at Santa not batteries. They would have, but that’s not the same thing. I admit batteries is funnier.
Yeah it was Phillies fans and they threw batteries at J.D. Drew.
I wonder if there's something extra at stake this year. I wonder if the MAGA enthusiasts will use the idea that the Super Bowl is full of people who sing in Spanish as evidence to share with True Americans, who don't really pay much attention to politics, that everything about Patriotic America is lost unless they vote Republican.
It’s a bit like Kamala telling trans prisoners that the US government will pay for their surgery is evidence that the Democrats want to turn your sons into daughters. It’s not true, of course, but it is effective in commercials a few days before an election.
Spanish for everyone. The schools are forcing your kids to speak Spanish. Teachers aren't even allowed to tell parents that their kid said, "Ese."
A comedic plot line would be a teacher arrested by Trump's government police for speaking Spanish in class when all she said to her students was "essay."
South Park (sorta) did it!
The over-emphasis on representation in entertainment bugs me (b/c I see it as far down the list of important problems) but I do think there have been benefits to having racial and gender minorities have a bigger presence and play a wider variety of roles than in the past. I think it plays a positive role in humanizing and normalizing people that are otherwise subjects of some combination of ignorance or stereotypes.
I love seeing more kinds of people. I loathe the idea that "only an X actor can play an X person" or "only an X actor will appeal to X audiences." The arts are valuable because they open our hearts and minds to other experiences that are not our own.
It really bothers me when oversensitive people flip their lids over the race or ethnicity of a particular actor. (I mean, I get the anger over extreme cases like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany, but it seems to take a lot less to trigger the outrage nowadays.)
I go back and forth over this because the identitarian movement has been so bad for relations between groups of people generally. There is a lot more hostility and distrust than there used to be. HOWEVER, I agree with you. It's cool to see a wider range of performers and creative people involved in mass media. It feels more American.
I doubt there will be a Halftime Show catered for MAGA unless it turns out that TPUSA program significantly cut into the viewership of the NFL approved show. I'm literally old enough to remember when the half-time show was 'Up With People', college bands, and Carol Channing. The Rupert Murdoch's Fox Channel let 'In Living Color' do an alternate halftime broadcast. The ratings for that show were so high that the NFL ran out and got Michael Jackson to headline the following show.
I don't think that's going to happen here.
The only time the NFL has been reactionary to a previous year's halftime show was Nipplegate, when they did about 4-5 years of Dad Rock acts after that. I'd say that was far more controversial and met with far more outrage than this.
(For a fun ironic twist, know who else performed in that halftime show? Kid Rock!)
I'd forgotten about Kid Rock in that show! I actually was working during the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake show and later I asked my spouse how it was. And my spouse said, "Forgettable." Clearly SOMEONE didn't watch very carefully
Actually, I'd rather watch the volunteers.....
(yes, volunteers! the amount of stuff the NFL DEMANDS and gets for free from the host community is astounding)
.....setup the stage in real time, which is around 10 minutes, which blows my mind.
In fact, a documentary on the
Patriotic Americans who practice
this feat for weeks (for free!) would be most appreciated.....
So much common sense, such simple human wisdom, so little hope: "deemphasize the importance of race and . . . see culture as different expressions of similar experiences, not as a marker of fundamental difference."
Now I want to see Ben Franklin whipping batteries at Santa.
You are not alone.
« Some whites are upset about becoming the Dallas Cowboys » brilliant line!
I'm an idiot because I don't get it.
The once-dominant Cowboys (they deemed themselves America's Team) have been irrelevant for 30 years.