The Halftime Show Controversy

By INGRID KRISHNAN ‘22

The Halftime Show ControversyAs Super Bowl Sunday approached, I, like many other Patriots fans, felt a strong sense of apathy. Since I didn’t particularly care whether the Chiefs or the 49ers won, the game was the last thing on my mind. However, when the Halftime Show began, my eyes were immediately drawn to the glittery costumes, the upbeat music, and the overall star power of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. After the show was over, I knew that the internet would have very, very different views on whether the show was a success or not. But nothing could have prepared me for the amount of backlash I saw on social media platforms. This revelation led me to the following question: was the 2020 superbowl Halftime show too mature to be put on the air? I believe that the answer is no.

First, the show showcased female empowerment to a large audience during a culturally relevant time period. Some may argue that, in this day and age, when women across the globe are advocating for their lives free from sexual harassment and misconduct, two women dancing in what could be deemed a sexual manner is not appropriate. However, as Hannah Yasharoff writes for USA Today, “the #MeToo movement is about exposing wrongdoing and allowing victims to take back power.” Shouldn’t women be allowed to own their power and have confidence in themselves without being scrutinized for their every move? While objectifying women is a major issue in society today, objectification mostly comes when women cannot control the narrative surrounding their bodies. It occurs when others decide how a woman should present herself and see a woman’s purpose as to please others in society. By controlling their own narratives and being able to present themselves in the way they chose to, J-Lo and Shakira demonstrated female empowerment rather than objectification. 

Many fans also took to Twitter and other social media platforms to praise the message that two Latina women headlining at the Halftime Show sent. As Jon Pareles writes for the New York Times, the show offered “a no-nonsense affirmation of Latin pride and cultural diversity in a political climate where immigrants and American Latinos have been widely demonized.” By celebrating their culture on the Halftime stage, Shakira and J-Lo sent a message of self-love and acceptance in a current political climate where those messages can be hard to come by. This message should be affirmed and celebrated rather than cast aside in favor of trying to appease some members of the public.

Some parents, while not personally offended by the Halftime show, worried that their kids shouldn’t be seeing the material in the set. Gil Smart, writing for USA Today, argues that “if the Super Bowl is going to be hailed as family entertainment, or at least not marketed as adult entertainment, perhaps the NFL has an obligation to warn people with children.” This claim certainly has merit, but there have been moments at a similar or higher maturity level to the one seen in J-Lo and Shakira’s performance. For example, just last year Adam Levine performed a large portion of his act without his shirt on, after tearing it off to somewhat sexual lyrics. He was met with few cries from outraged parents and the general public, compared to this year where, according to the New York Post, one Ohio minister plans to sue the NFL for $867 trillion dollars for “[penetrating] the sanctity of [his] home.” Yes, a parental warning for all things on television that may not be appropriate for younger views is a fine idea, but the parents who are going to extremes about how appropriate or inappropriate the Halftime show is aren't okay. In the same article for USA Today, Gil Smart ponders if the Super Bowl ten years from now will be even more suggestive, predicting that “nudity [may not be] wardrobe malfunction—but the ‘wardrobe’ itself.” This extremist attitude towards the Halftime show demonstrates how polarizing the show was.

As Chris Willman wrote for Variety, “if you don’t hate spectacle, whiplash, multiculturalism or lessons in the importance of doing squats, it was a triumph.” To me, that is exactly what the Halftime show was this year: a celebration of women and self-love that came at a time when the world needed it. While the parental backlash seen is a fair concern, it is outweighed by the many people who were empowered by the performance and those who needed to see it the most.