This past Sunday’s Super Bowl was one for the books: Peyton officially became the favorite Manning son when he earned his second Super Bowl victory ring; Lady Gaga channeled her inner Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games; and people seriously freaked out over the puppy- money-baby commercials. Yet, would it even be a real conversation about the Super Bowl if we did not mention the halftime performances by Bruno Mars, Coldplay and Beyoncé? The day before the big game, Beyoncé released the music video for her new hit “Formation,” which includes references to Hurricane Katrina, Black Lives Matter, and aspects of African American culture such as cuisine and fashion.
Her performance on Sunday night was surely nothing short of ~FLAWLESS~ as predicted by fellow staff writer Elise Miner ’16 in the February 5 edition of The Hill News. Queen Bey led a group of all black women in berets that paid homage to those worn by the Black Panther Party as she sang her new hit and eventually joined the other musical acts as the performance came to a close. While Beyoncé has been buzzed about constantly for the past week, let us not forget that there were other aspects of the Super Bowl Halftime Show that were also very political. Did you catch that Coldplay’s front man, Chris Martin, sported an arm band that read “Global Citizen”? This organization has pledged to end extreme world poverty by 2030. Martin also saluted LGBTQ pride when cameras captured him hugging a fan who waved a rainbow flag over his head. Bruno Mars performed his hit “Uptown Funk” that blatantly pays tribute to funk music, which originated in the 1960s when African Americans combined sounds from jazz, R&B, and soul music to create danceable songs. His song, in combination with his duet and dance-off with Beyoncé, are clear examples of his support of her advocacy for Black Lives Matter.
And who can ignore the finale, when the stadium turned rainbow and read “BELIEVE IN LOVE”? The font of the message appeared to resemble popular hippie imagery, such as concert posters for Jefferson Airplane or Jimi Hendrix and the record cover for the Beatles’ Rubber Soul album. These musical artists often sang of revolution, change, empowerment and furthermore, love. This closing statement made by all of the Halftime performers suggested that their advocacy for respective social issues and causes have a common theme: love. It may seem abstract when first considered, but if you did not love the performances, songs or artists, the Super Bowl Halftime show gave you a big dose of political and social issues to contemplate between licking chicken wing sauce off of your fingers and cracking open another brew.