Those who liked the performance were quick to level charges of hypocrisy against its detractors for various reasons. Several claimed it was hypocritical for anyone to be outraged by the show while supporting a president who has bragged about assaulting women.
Only in America will you find people like the MAGA crowd who think cheating on your wife with a porn star is no big deal, but two strong and proud Latina women singing and dancing is outrageous.
— Shane Holmberg (@shane_holmberg) February 3, 2020
Others have pointed out that NFL halftime shows have been racy in the past (e.g., the notorious Janet Jackson moment in 2004), people tolerate the NFL cheerleaders, and last year Maroon 5’s Adam Levine performed with his shirt off without people getting upset.
Questions to Ponder
There’s no doubt that JLo and Shakira are talented, confident performers, and it’s not difficult to see why people admire them. But it’s also not hard to understand why so many were bothered by their show.
The debate raises relevant questions that are worth pondering. How much of this controversy is a case of cultures colliding? What exactly does it mean to empower women? Does being proud of your age and your body mean displaying most of yourself to the watching world? While scantily-clad dancers doing provocative moves is not exactly new to the Super Bowl, does that mean such performances should be a normal part of the event?
It’s worth noting that not every Super Bowl halftime show is sexualized. Certainly sexualization is nothing new, but many (even recent) halftime shows have not been characterized by that type of content. See the performances of Paul McCartney, U2, Tom Petty, or the Rolling Stones as examples.
And speaking of those examples (setting aside the actual lyrics of the artists’ songs), does it seem odd that so many male artists have had successful Super Bowl performances by simply playing their music? While people were quick to bring up Adam Levine—and the point is worth mentioning—a man being shirtless on stage for the final two minutes of a show hardly seems equivalent to the sexual nature of this year’s content. Do female artists have to sexualize themselves in order to be successful?
Still, whatever you might have thought about the show, this user’s words are worth considering: “Why are we shocked when the world acts like, sings like, and dances like the world? An excellent reminder that Christians are sojourners, and we’re just passing through.”
