Victor Davis Hanson
I consider myself an alien from outer space, as far as a lack of knowledge of the supposedly premier Super Bowl halftime entertainers. I usually skip the game and especially the half-time show. This year for some reason I didn’t.
I have no real idea who “Rihanna” (Robyn Rihanna Fent) is, other than I read she is the second best-selling female recording artist in history (following Madonna?).
The Barbados native supposedly began her career bringing fresh improvisations of Caribbean music to the U.S. I recall that is how Harry Belafonte some sixty years ago broke into the American music scene. So more power to Rhianna—before she went full American hip-hop.
But all that said I saw no evidence of any such talent at her half-time show. In general, anytime an entertainer depends on an army of wildly clad dancers, or hydraulically powered fluorescent platform props that rise and fall, or a stadium of strobe blinking lights, I’m skeptical.
That is, would it not be simpler to showcase talent by just getting a chair, a guitar, and singing like a Joan Baez or Otis Redding and ending the distractions (or are the circus atmospherics designed to deflect from poor performance)?
Instead, it was the usual Neronian Super Bowl show everything in excess, with lots of light, noise, and movement substituting for musical talent.
As far as Rihanna’s “songs,” I was surprised to see that most(?) were seemingly lip-synched—and yet very badly so. How many times has she sung her repertoire—10,000 practices and performances? Does the Super Bowl crew not have enough skilled audio engineers who professionally could transmit live singing? Cannot such a megastar simply sing one of her trademark songs rather than just lip synch it?
In contrast, if one wished to hear a recording, why have the performer on stage at all? Why not use a hologram and phone it in?
I don’t think I have ever watched a performer put on fresh make-up while on stage, but then again, I am not sure I’ve ever seen someone who sold over 250 musical “units” either.
Rihanna announced she was pregnant. But that had the odd effect of making her obscene frontal grasping of her crotch before 118 million American viewers all that more unsettling. Motherhood and publicly stroking one’s vagina are not compatible. They certainly are not erotic. If a male choreographer suggested she do that as part of her dance routine, no doubt he would be condemned as sexist or worse.
Such a strange post- and pre-modern culture we have developed.
Never has a society been more openly pornographic and raunchy in matter of sex, and yet never more prudish and Victorian at the same time. Never have the sexes so publicly emulated coitus in their gestures and dances, and yet attempted to identify victims and victimizers in almost every act of intercourse.
Discussion (17)
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Log In to CommentI spend a lot of time with music and have done so all my life. For me, what passes as popular music these days is pretty sad. Gone is the creativity of people like Lennon-McCarthy, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Eddie Vedder, Taj Mahal and others far too numerous to mention. Creative musical structures, some following “the rules” others coloring far outside the lines used to be everywhere. Classical, jazz and rock composers and musicians constantly widened the musical experience. Some periods of time were better than others, but creativity in music these days seems to have hit rock bottom. It is very difficult finding new artists these days that have something interesting to say musically. The biggest selling music today lacks any real originality or creativity. One genre is mostly made up of angry lyrics and samples of other people’s music. It is all so homogenous, generic and boring. People focus on the artists’ clothing, cars and who they are sleeping with, anything but the music. I hate to sound like my grandmother (a concert pianist of the 20’s and 30’s), but what people seem to like listening to these days is so bland it could almost pass for static. I believe this is one of the main reasons there are costume malfunctions and crotch grabbing……there is not a lot of anything else going on up on the stage and the performers need to do something to focus concert goers' attention on them.
Regarding the simultaneous porno / victorian behavior; probably beginning in the 1950's, Coppertone suntan lotion launched its now iconic image of a toddler age female's underwear being partially pulled down by a small dog, exposing the toddler's tan line between her back and clothed rear end. Coppertone still uses this image to this day with one modification; her underwear exposes none of her untanned bottom. This is a perfect example of Victor's point about porno / prude conflict.
I down to watching little league now
The collective "they" are turning our sports into games we simply never played. A baseball game is supposed to take 2 to 3 hours. The managers are supposed to argue bad calls with the umpires. I wonder how many acts of violence and vandalism were averted by conniption hissy fits thrown by Billy Martin, Tommy Lasorda, or Earl Weaver. Remember George Brett's fit, classic. Football is supposed to be tough. Rules changes and politics make both a poor reflection of great histories. Sports now just seem to emphasize societies problems rather than providing an entertaining escape for a few hours. I get much more accomplished around the house now since I no longer watch. I see society's mess all day, so I really don't need more of it disguised as entertainment.
Frank would say you got what you deserved
I wonder what Frank Zappa would say.
When she appeared clad in “devil red”, my expectations could not have been set lower.
As a musician and songwriter that started fronting "heavy" bands in the 90s and still works in the demo biz, I can confidently say that whatever is produced now isn't "music". It's a monotonal product designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator, with the same tempo and key applied across all genres. I would say that since the turn of the millennium American culture has been on a steep decline, and the audio product being consumed is a good measurement of that decline.
The 2002 half time featuring U2 was the last good half time performance. It had the power of a Rock Band in their prime, the song Where the Streets Have No Name performed with the names of the 911 victims rising on a projection behind the band was very special.
Glad I don't waste a second of my time on professional sports.
I agree with your criticisms. People should just read the lyrics to these songs. If anyone 'spoke ' these words, they would be, or should be, arrested. Also, you didn't mention the Black National Anthem which also is a disgrace at a national sporting event.
I played football in high school, not that I was more than mediocre at best. But that was in the early sixties and I could some kin to the college players and even with the pros of my time. But by the time the eighties came I no longer felt any kinship with those who played at the college and pro level. I remember watching a college game back about 1961 and the television announcers were identifying the starting line up. Some of the players were physical education majors while the rest majored in accounting, economics, biology, and etc. When did college sports and now in some communities high school sports become the education majors rather than any academic training? In the eighties I turned off all professional sports and have rarely watched more than a couple of highlights a year of any game. I stopped supporting the Olympics in the eighties as well since those athletes appeared more professional than armatures. As for half time shows, they're all garbage now and have been for decades.
Having grown up at Lake Tahoe and lived there until I was 53, I had access to the greatest entertainers of the 60's through today. During the summer of 75, I got comped to see The Carpenters. Bubble gum music right? When Karen Carpenter opened her mouth I was truly stunned with the beauty of her voice and the femininity of her manner. There was no lip syncing. Richard Carpenter's rendition of The Warsaw Concerto was equally inspiring. The Beatles lyrics became nursery rhymes put to music. The Stones solidified in my mind as evil. In 1990, at the Bear Valley Music Festival, I walked into the show, a tribute to the Gershwyn brothers, just as "Rhapsody in Blue" began. Again, stunned. And again, a further distancing from anything remotely related to Rhihanna. We danced in the early seventies to The Guess Who and Santana live at "The Sanctuary" our local dance hall in South Lake Tahoe. Watched Bill Medley, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Maria Muldaur, and others in the lounge shows; cost two drinks. Sammy Davis, Junior - unbelievable showman. Dionne Warwick, so sweet and approachable back stage. Gordon Lightfoot - him and his guitar, that was it. Joan Baez in the park in Gardnerville, Nevada.... I still enjoy, of course, the music of our generation, but, oh, the difference en masse between then and now. Pandora is now turned to the Andy Williams station - a great mix of voices.
Her act was more suited for the opening ceremonies of the winter Olympics
Amen!
It's been a long time since i watched a professional football game, having given up after watching guys like Nitschke and Butkus come to tears over no longer physically being able to play the game they loved and put their hearts into. Half time entertainment seems to have lost its meaning when humor left the scene, admittedly, it was only momentary. Recent acts sound more like a competitive display of distaste and gutter life. Watching an old video of Nitsche or Butkus or the toothless Lambert brings back some of that admiration for heart and helps to ignore the decline.
....let me know when superbowl supporters bring back marching bands. That's entertainment!