Apparently there was some drama preceding the game about Maroon 5 performing. Enough that Adam Levine was interviewed about it on TV. I never got an explanation of what the controversy was. Does anyone know?
Because the show itself didn’t give any clues.
I believe some other acts declined the offer to perform at the SuperBowl due to the NFL’s treatment of Colin Kaepernick. So, there is some disappointment that Maroon 5 seemed okay with it.
I believe it’s exactly what Drum God said, plus huge disappointment that they didn’t choose Spongebob.
Gladys Knight sung the national anthem and caught flack for the same reason according to an article I read two weeks ago.
And here I was thinking it was because they suck. Silly me.
There was also some speculation that the reason they went with Maroon 5 in the first place was to get Cardi B on the show for a performance of “Girls Like You”, and she wasn’t having any of it.
This is the first I’m hearing of this. I’m not American.
So there’s backlash against the performers for choosing to perform at the super bowl, but not at the dozens of players, the thousands of fans who went to the game, and the millions of fans who watched it on TV?
Why?
Or the myriad companies that did ads…
It’s one of those stupid things that people get into. The people who care about the kneeling thingy one way or the other seem to be the vocal minority, everyone else seems to shrug and go on. I don’t really get American football, to be honest, or why people enjoy watching it. Generally, I go to or host a Superbowl party to eat, drink and be merry. I sat out in my backyard with a good fire in my kiva, a cigar in my hand and some excellent tequila in my glass for most of the game, only going in from time to time to eat some tamales, grab some cheese and crackers, have some chips and salsa and watch some of the commercials. I did watch the halftime and it was about as meh as the game, to be honest.
Righteous indignation has become the favored pastime for a good number of Americans, egged on by a variety of internet trolls.
I’m all for unjustified righteous indignation, but why not apply it liberally to all those who are supporting the NFL? They’re severely squandering their indignation potential by only applying it to the performers.
The performers are convenient targets of the indignation. Applying it liberally, as you suggest, would require actual consideration of issues and discussion of ways to confront the underlying cause of the indignation. Most of those who are worked up about this have little to no interest in anything that complex. That would involve actual effort. Much easier to rant.
Thanks. Adam said he’s not a public speaker, but would speak through his music. I didn’t get that message, but maybe it has something to do with the choice of additional acts that joined them - black rappers.
So popular performers have decided they have a platform for expressing their opinions, and one way to use the platform is by selecting at which venues to perform, and making rejections publicly. Once one performer makes a big rejection, it puts acceptance out rejection over that issue as a symbol.
As for limiting the indignation just to performers, people are good at compartmentalizing. It keeps from having to analyze it rationally.
I don’t really follow the Colin Kaepernick matter, nor football in general, but this seems illogical.
Mr. Kaepernick was deprived of his livelihood; you seem to be suggesting that other players and fans should show solidarity with Kaepernick by … depriving other NFL players of their livelihood? Should professional athletes in the U.S. all be white as in bygone days?
Musicians and dancers are not as dependent on NFL games for their livelihood as NFL players are. Does this help answer your question?
Good for you. I’m trying to understand the relevance to the GQ topic. Were you wearing a MAGA hat?
The players are not targeted because there’s a power imbalance. They are dependent upon the NFL for their livelihood.
Fans are certainly being encouraged by many groups to boycott the NFL, but it’s such a cultural behemoth that it doesn’t appear to be making tons of headway. Viewership has dropped, but a big part of that was actually MAGA backlash led by Trump. Black and white viewers are both down, but Hispanic viewership has remained relatively steady and Asian viewership has increased, particularly among young males. I don’t really know the takeaway from that, but those are the stats.
Companies do feel a certain degree of pressure. Notably this year, Nike, Reebok, Ford and Chevy declined to play ads at the Super Bowl. I think a big part of that is economics, but companies often shy away from controversy. It looks largely like Silicon Valley tech companies picked up the slack and took their place. My guess is that they largely feel immune to consumer pressure. Don’t kid yourself. You may think Kaepernick is the Messiah, but you’re still going to use google and they know it.
Performers take a lot of pressure largely because the Super Bowl is seen as extraneous to them. They actually don’t even get paid for their performances and end up losing money on the deal when all is said and done. So the only reason to take the gig is for media exposure. This year, what happened was that a lot of the highest profile performers publicly announced their boycott. The NFL delayed their announcement of the halftime act by quite a bit. Typically they announce it in October and it wasn’t until mid-January this year. That led many to believe that they were having a difficult time procuring talent and the hope was that there would be quite a bit of egg on their face. It appeared to be a performer boycott so that when they did finally announce the acts, it felt like the acts were crossing a picket line. If the NFL had announced Maroon 5 earlier, it likely would not have been quite as big of a deal, but the appearance (though not necessarily the reality) was that the NFL was reaching and Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Big Boi bailed them out.
:dubious: Right, she only did about a dozen promotional events in Atlanta over the weekend for the benefit of one of the game’s biggest sponsors, and then had the audacity to bad mouth the performers at the actual game.
[quote=“Riemann, post:3, topic:828978”]
I believe it’s exactly what Drum God said, plus huge disappointment that they didn’t choose Spongebob.
[/QUOTE]Yeah Stephen Hillenburg, creator of Spongebob Squarepants, died recently. Over 1 million fans signed a petition to have the song Sweet Victory from the Band Geeks episode of Spongebob be played at the Superbowl halftime. Maroon 5 dropped a few hints that it would actually happen. Instead apparently all that happened was a short clip of one Spongebob character that would have been an introduction to Sweet Victory, but then no one played the song.
Post-show there was another tempest in a teapot. Seems no one thought Adam Levine taking off his shirt was scandalous. Which makes some people unhappy that it’s okay for a man to show a certain body part that males and females both have at a Superb Owl halftime show but not a woman such as Janet Jackson.
Some people did - my girlfriend for one and me. It wasn’t scandalous - it was gratuitous and unnecessary. He looked like a complete douchebag.
I wasn’t upset about Maroon 5 performing. Why would I be? I had never heard of them before and still couldn’t tell you what they played. It was also ridiculous that the rapper act kept getting bleeped out. That brings more attention to it. What do you expect lesser known rappers to do when given a microphone and an international audience?
I think that most people were were just disappointed that they booked no name talent for the half-time show. It is supposed to be for really famous performers that appeal to a large age range. The commercials were even more boring than the game itself. I am sure there was a soccer game in a third world country somewhere that was more entertaining. I love NFL football in general but their entertainment execution was piss poor for everyone involved. They should be able to do much better for one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
You mean there is a social custom that men can expose their chests in public but not women??!? When did this shit start?
This is 2019, someone is outraged about everything:
the animal rights group PETA is outraged that the rapper Big Boi wore a fur coat during his performance.