Let's Argue About the Super Bowl Halftime Show
I thought the Super Bowl halftime show was very entertaining, as did the group of 45-55 year old suburbanites that were at our Super Bowl party. The teens and tweens who were there enjoyed it, too.
The reaction on social media, however, seems to be split.
I'm seeing younger people complaining about the acts all being old or "washed up."
Also seeing complaints from the type of people who think only classic rock bands should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
What say you?
February 14th, 2022 at 12:28 PM ^
The Weeknd was awesome, IMHO.
February 14th, 2022 at 9:52 AM ^
My 14 year old went to a watch party hosted by his basketball team and was the only one who knew how to Crip Walk. The future is in good hands, my friends.
February 14th, 2022 at 9:54 AM ^
There wasn’t enough diversity in the participants of the halftime show.
February 14th, 2022 at 11:37 AM ^
Forget the /s?
February 14th, 2022 at 12:36 PM ^
shouldn't need it .... obvious sarcasm is ... obvious.
February 14th, 2022 at 9:57 AM ^
Between the halftime show and the commercials, it’s pretty clear that people really love to complain.
February 14th, 2022 at 11:00 AM ^
Fair point, but the bast majority of commercials were (like every other year) awful. The only one i can really remember is the Larry David crypto commercial, which was quite good imo
February 14th, 2022 at 11:59 AM ^
It would have been good if he had advised against it. Using celebs to push crypto narratives is dangerous and stupid.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:13 PM ^
The phrase "jumped the shark" should be permanently banned from the English language, but that said the one thing I kept thinking during the various crypto commercials was that someday we'll look back on this Super Bowl as when crypto as we know it jumped the shark.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:46 PM ^
Definitely not saying that investing in crypto is a good idea, but that doesn’t change the fact that the ad was funny/memorable.
February 14th, 2022 at 9:58 AM ^
It was fine, although "Lose Yourself" is way overplayed. I didn't like the lady predicting it would be the best halftime show ever before it even began, but I tell people who call players "future hall of famer" to get off my lawn.
Had one person meme me that George Strait would be a "real halftime. show." You can guess where she gets her news.
February 14th, 2022 at 11:01 AM ^
When they announced Eminem was going to be part of the lineup, I figured it was going to be "Forgot about Dre" or "Lose yourself" (he ended up doing parts of both) because they are the songs with the fewest amount of obscene lyrics. Also, he's not going to go on a live performance and try to rap/lip sync a verse like Godzilla or rap god.
February 14th, 2022 at 11:14 AM ^
It was championship sporting event, Lose Yourself was 100 percent going to be done as it should have been. It's an iconic "pump you up" song.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:50 PM ^
Looking back, I wish Eminem had performed "I need a doctor" because it's a perfect tribute to Dr. Dre but that song isn't nearly as well known as "Lose yourself"
February 14th, 2022 at 9:58 AM ^
NFL is doing damage control. That's all.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:04 AM ^
I thought it was great other than Kendrick Lamar. I just don't like his music, but everyone else was great since I grew up listening to all the other artists. Eminem was awesome as usual, too bad we didn't get another weird live TV interview though.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:06 AM ^
I just watched it. Prince is the gold standard, at least to me, of halftime shows. I thought this was right up there in terms of entertainment. The production was amazing, minus the sound mix. Seems like it reached a pretty broad audience of Super Bowl watchers. There was some chatter on Twitter from a right wing pundit about "sexual anarchy" -- maybe he watched "Footloose" one too many times.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:45 AM ^
Well, according to the right wing, 'sexual anarchy' is little more than making out before you're going steady in high school.
February 14th, 2022 at 11:02 AM ^
Same - I’m not particularly into halftime shows, but Prince’s was definitely the best I can remember. This was probably second, or at least in that conversation
February 14th, 2022 at 10:08 AM ^
Mary J looked kept hitting herself in the head...which made her seem a bit insane. 50 cent looked swollen..and Kendrick was ok but didnt fit the same time hiphop age the rest came from. Would have liked it if Missy Elliot was available (but she was in SB performace in 2015) Also, Busta Rhymes would have fit in nicely. Em and Dre were great. Snoop...is Snoop, kinda his own category, super chill.
February 14th, 2022 at 11:41 AM ^
"Super chill" ha. There's video of him smoking a joint/blunt just minutes before the show started. Which duh, it's Snoop.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:10 AM ^
I thought it was Gen X catnip. And I loved it.
I remember falling asleep to the sweet dulcet tones of Snoop's "Doggystyle" album every...damn...night my freshman year in South Quad. That and the wafts of weed smoke coming from my neighbor. After a while, I gave up my objections and learned to love the Snoop Dogg (and, yes, the weed on occasion).
I'm now in my mid-40s and have disposable income, so, yeah, retread halftime shows are meant for a very specific, well-heeled audience.
Kinda bummed they did not play Nuthin' but a G Thang, but that would be a hard to do on a family show.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:20 PM ^
February 14th, 2022 at 10:11 AM ^
I enjoyed it. The only people who seemed to vocally be against it were the usual suspects on a certain side of the political spectrum...
February 14th, 2022 at 12:11 PM ^
Who doesn’t love a bit of outrage culture. These folks have become caricatures no matter what side your political beliefs fall on.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:36 PM ^
OMG, if you want a hoot, read the opinions from the WSJ! Insane, a quarter of the comments are that they stopped watching, ok that if your right to do or not do as you see fit, but you still feel the need to comment about a sport and halftime show that you didn't watch. Get a fucking life and just keep tuned into Tucker Carlson.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:17 PM ^
As I said, it's just outrage culture. It drives clicks, it drives controversy, and it keeps the folks who purvey it paid. This is true of outrage artists regardless of their political affiliation and they are all caricatures. I'm sure there are folks of all political beliefs who like rap/hip hop and ones that don't it's just easy for some outragers to target because hip hop culture is fundamentally Black.
February 14th, 2022 at 7:05 PM ^
right, and it's just sad we reward them by getting outraged and clicking and sharing and...
we enable it, we reward it. we get the media we deserve.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:01 PM ^
How do you know the political spectrum of these usual suspects?
My hispanic immigrant in-laws didn't like it. I liked it. So how should I label my in-laws?
February 15th, 2022 at 9:52 AM ^
OP mentioned the WSJ, which is a right-leaning publication (but not Fox News right)
February 14th, 2022 at 4:11 PM ^
I don’t think that’s accurate. A good number of the complainers probably were more conservative, which is fine. But there were a lot of young’uns who didn’t like the old folks on stage either.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:16 AM ^
Let's go "Old School" next year and bring back Up with People!!
February 14th, 2022 at 10:18 AM ^
Musical performance was good, but the some of the dancing was a bit much for my 7 year old.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:20 AM ^
I'm old. I don't know where they found that Kendrick guy, otherwise it was great.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:22 AM ^
I was worried Snoop was going to fall off the top of the stage because it was so high high high.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:26 AM ^
50 Cent was + 50 lbs.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:28 AM ^
He’s now two fitty.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:43 AM ^
50 Cent is now a whole dollar.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:27 AM ^
Why can't people just enjoy the show for what it is: great entertainment. I thought it was the best halftime show they've put on in a long time. I'd rather not do a re-cycle of Maroon 5 or watch an 80 year old Mick Jagger attempt to strut up there for the umpteenth time.
Is it my favorite music? No, but it was a huge shot of nostalgia and I thought an overall great performance. We had a few friends over for the game and they all loved it, but we're all the same age range so go figure.
If people are getting upset over the halftime show, whether it was inappropriate, controversial, insulting, whatever, or they're just flat out uncomfortable with this type of music or were preferring a more "wholesome" type of music, boy I'd hate to see what they'e like when they run into, you know, actual problems.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:31 AM ^
62 year old checking in ...
... I kinda liked it, and I'm not much a fan of rap or hip-hop. But it seemed like a more-or-less fun-spirited presentation.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:32 AM ^
I'm not much of a hip hop fan but I really enjoyed it - one of the best SB halftime shows ever.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:32 AM ^
Why? Isn't there enough pointless arguing about meaningless shit on the internet already?
February 14th, 2022 at 10:35 AM ^
Who cares? We prepared dinner during the halftime show and ate dinner as the 2nd half began.
They could always recycle Up With People! LOL
February 14th, 2022 at 10:36 AM ^
IMO Dr. Dre is a legendary producer, but not that great of a rapper. Snoop carried The Chronic and he also carried last night's performance. No way that Eminem and Kendrick Lamar are old or washed up. 50 Cent on the other hand...
February 14th, 2022 at 10:40 AM ^
My older relatives were upset with the halftime show. I don't get the outrage. I don't get mad if they have a country artist do the halftime show since I'm not a big modern country fan. I just don't watch. I'm not the intended audience. I don't understand why people can't just get past something like this. If you don't like those artists and didn't regularly listen to them in the past, what are you expecting?
February 14th, 2022 at 11:43 AM ^
Some people just live to be offended.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:39 PM ^
Exactly, I once heard someone say something to the effect that getting offended is one of our last growth industries left in America.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:43 AM ^
Classic rock? I’m seeing a group of folks who want Lawrence Welk.
February 14th, 2022 at 10:46 AM ^
Did not watch it. Not a fan of that type of music.