FORT WORTH, Texas – I didn’t watch the Super Bowl this year. There are several reasons for that, but the two big ones are the commercials and the halftime show.
The commercials used to be an incentive, a secondary form of entertainment. But I have kids now, and having to explain some of the advertisements to them is an exercise in frustration, especially since commercials, as a phenomenon, are mostly foreign to them. After all, their generation is growing up in the era of commercial-free streaming services. Thank you, Disney+.
But the real reason for avoiding the Super Bowl altogether is the halftime show, which this year featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, Latina performing artists whom I can remember jamming to, windows rolled down, in my youth.
They’re older now, although still extremely popular and, let’s be honest, in tremendous physical condition. More than one of my friends commented on Facebook about how they need J-Lo’s workout routine ASAP. She’s 50, by the way. Sign me up.
But 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.