Halftime show 2020

Controversy over the excitement during Super Bowl 54

The+Super+Bowl+halftime+show%2C+%0APicture+courtesy+of+Wikimedia+Commons

The Super Bowl halftime show, Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

From the University of Arizona and Grambling State marching bands in 1967, to Boyz II Men and Katy Perry, the Super Bowl halftime show is always expanding the entertainment. However, this year, many criticize it was a little too entertaining. 

While many avid fans preached joy over two Latinas being on stage for one of the biggest games of the year, many criticized the level of sexiness that was reached, especially spectators with children. “I think that’s honestly silliness,” Jennifer Lopez says to Cinema Blend in response to criticism. “Both of us are really respectful performers who are moms and have kids and are very conscious of what we do. We (put on a show) that I believe was a celebration of women and our culture that I think was very well reserved. And that small faction of people who want to be negative about it, I can’t even let in.”

One of the criticizers of the two women, Cynthia Allen, writer for Fort Worth Star Telegram says, “..I’m older now too, and wise enough to see that while their performances were perfectly acceptable for paying concert audiences, pelvic thrusting, crotch grabbing, and pole dancing while wearing what is effectively glittery underwear, isn’t the ideal choice for the television event of the year— one that attracts a wide and varied audience, including lots of children and adolescents.” Even though everyone wants to know what Lopez and Shakira’s workout routine is, lots of mothers believe that the Super Bowl entertainment has taken a turn for the worse.

Alternatively, the media is booming with young adults praising Lopez and Shakira for their exhibition of culture. “Shakira and Lopez were Latina superwomen, smiling pop conquistadors backed by phalanxes of dancers,” Jon Pareles, a writer for the New York Times says, “They sang, shimmied and thoroughly outshone the brief appearances by their guests, both reggaeton stars..” In all 54 years of the Super Bowl, Latinx artists have never performed Spanish music, so Pareles and many others believed the two women opened a door to more opportunities to other Latinx performers in the future.

Many viewers of the Super Bowl halftime show were neither disgusted nor impressed. “I feel like (their performance) was just them, and that’s what their whole career is really based on so I wasn’t really expecting anything else.” Joanne Dimashi, a junior at Battlefield High School says. Either way, the Super Bowl has developed greatly over the past few decades and will continue to change for the decades to come.