In recent years, the Super Bowl has become a family affair for us, and it isn’t because of the football. The Chiefs have lacked a little...success over the past few years (or decades) so obviously we can’t watch them in the championship game. So we huddle around the TV with our snacks and cheer on our favorite commercials and watch the half-time entertainment, a fun light-hearted event without the seriousness or intensity of March Madness.
I must admit, this year I was too busy gabbing to pay much attention to Sunday’s big event, but when I did, I started wondering if we might have to rethink this as a “family” event.
Now there were a few great commercials; in particular I really liked the Dodge commercial with the Paul Harvey voiceover. That was classy. Go Daddy’s make-out session with Bar Refaeli and Jesse Heiman (whoever he is), on the other hand, lacked taste (no pun intended) and was a spectacle that I would have rather avoided seeing. But a bad commercial every now and then is to be expected, so really there was no surprise there—and I was glad at least they kept their tongues in their mouths.
No, the really shocker for me was the half-time show. Now, I must admit upfront, I’m not really a modern music lover. There are a few modern songs here or there that I like from a variety of genres, but usually my radio is set on the contemporary Christian station or the 50s, 60s or Sinatra channel on my Sirius radio. But I do know who Beyonce is, I am even vaguely familiar with some of her music and even like it better than some other modern performers. I guess what I was not familiar with was her performance style.
Beyonce’s half-time performance surpassed Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction from a few years ago in inappropriateness for general audiences. Why such a beautiful, talented woman, with such a great voice would have to put on such a provocative display is beyond me. All she lacked was a pole and a bunch of sweaty drunks waving dollar bills. We ended up changing the channel—there were too many children watching with us and we didn’t need them thinking that type of behavior was appropriate under any circumstances.
Whoever would have thought that a G rated event could end up with a PG-13 rating? Next year I hope the powers that be select a more family friendly performer. And I’m not suggesting the latest bubble gum band either. But even a repeat of last year’s performance with the Black Eyed Peas would be a huge step forward.
I wonder why, if this is Beyonce’s normal performance style, she was selected in the first place? If it’s not, didn’t the organizers know what was going on?
When selecting entertainers for this diverse of an audience, obviously talent counts for something, but shouldn’t decency matter as well? With sexually explicit content continually being pushed on our children, perhaps it’s time we rethink what we deem acceptable. Or at least turn the TV off in protest.