Like most of my fellow Americans, Dave and I decided to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday by inviting some friends over to watch the game. I spent most of the afternoon chopping and mixing to get most of the dinner prep out-of-the-way prior to our friends’ arrival and by kick off time, I was fully organized, with a glass of red wine in hand, ready to be entertained.
Mind you, I am not now, nor ever have been anything close to a fan of professional football. In fact, through the years you could say that I’ve moved from a complete abhorrence to a respectful tolerance of the NFL. So for me, the attraction of the Super Bowl has always been the commercials and half-time show. It seems that the best and worse talents Madison Avenue has to offer are presented in the breaks in play. Some of my favorites over the years only played a couple of times and then disappeared. Not surprisingly, one of my all time favorites is the EDS spot featuring the cowboys herding cats. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8)
This year, I saw most of the ads in advance on NBC’s Today Show. I have to say, seeing the ads in advance really ruined that aspect of the event for me. Not only was the element of surprise taken away, but in some cases, there was such an obvious attempt to stir the pot and create controversy over a couple of the commercials, that it practically sucked the fun right out of them. The ad that I think was made way too much of was the VW ad featuring the tall white guy from Minnesota speaking in a Jamaican accent because he was happy. There were some who asserted the ad was racist. I think VW counteracted very well by putting the additional spot later in the game with an actual Jamaican. At least he looked more the part – if you believe only black people live in Jamaica. Now who’s being racist? (According to the last census, 25% of Jamaicans are not black.)
As it turned out, my favorite commercial this year featured the boy and the baby Clydesdale. It touched my heart. I also especially liked the pistachio ad featuring Psy and a chorus line of nuts dancing Gangnam Style. I don’t know why, but I love that catchy little song and the dance that does with it. It makes me feel happy – sort of like Bobby McFarrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. Not only was it simple and up beat, but it fed right into the many parodies of the song on YouTube. I enjoy someone who can laugh at themselves.
By the time we finished our delicious Shrimp and Grits, the first half was over. The Ravens were leading (I was pulling for them since they are from the East Coast, I like purple and Michael Oher plays for them and I liked “The Blind Side”.) After much ado and flourish, Beyoncé took the stage for the half time show. Again, there was a great deal of conversation in the press regarding whether or not her singing of the National Anthem at the Obama inauguration last month was live or recorded. A big “who cares” in my book. It was her voice, it was lovely, enough said. I’ve always like Beyoncé. She has a wonderful voice and I enjoyed her in the last Austin Powers movie.
Her performance honestly surprised me and not in a good way. The sound quality wasn’t good and I could barely make out singing at all. In fact, if I’d had my eyes shut, I’m not certain I’d have known there was music at all. But, since my eyes were open, I had the sad misfortune of witnessing twenty minutes (give or take) of bumping and grinding.
I don’t consider myself a prude and maybe all prudes say that but I don’t find that entertaining. After making a few comments about the jerking and gyrating, Dave remarked that the act wasn’t geared towards us; we weren’t the target audience. Okay, then who was? I read on Facebook that my nine-year-old grandson remarked to his mother that he thought the show was inappropriate. So, I guess the target was somewhere between nine and fifty-seven.
This morning on Today, the reporter covering the half-time show gushed with praise about Beyoncé’s performance and showed clips of interviews with women who saw it live who thought it was wonderful as well. What am I missing? Am I really that out of touch with American culture or are we all being told what to like by a network with ties to the entertainment industry engaging in self-promotion of its interests under the guise of news reporting?
I think what I really missed was watching an episode of Downton Abbey to spend four hours watching a sport I don’t like, seeing commercials I’d already seen and witnessing a “musical” performance that I found tasteless and as Caleb so eloquently put it, inappropriate.
I don’t think I’ll feel the same about entertaining on Super Bowl Sunday next year.