How the times have changed, and in so many ways the American culture is in serious decline. Nearly two decades ago, a Super Bowl halftime performer accidentally bared part of her breast. Reacting to strong public opinion against it, the NFL secured lovable former Beatle Paul McCartney, to restore the league’s image by providing clean halftime entertainment the following year.
Flash forward to the present day and retiring quarterback Tom Brady rating Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” a good thing.
Brady played for the Patriots in that 2004 Super Bowl with the performance by Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Looking back, Brady now says Nipplegate was actually a good thing for the National Football League. He gave the Jackson-Justin Timberlake fiasco a glowing review while appearing on the “Let’s Go!” podcast:
“I think in the end, it was probably a good thing for the NFL. Because everyone got to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows.”
So, the barometer of what constitutes acceptable entertainment, according to Brady, is how much attention the halftime shows draw. Of course, slutty, shabby performers are going to attract more attention -– more negative attention, that is. By providing “entertainment” that is not up to common standards of decency.
Is Brady really that shallow? He’s obviously been dumbed down by that and the performances of recent years, ever since the NFL turned the halftime entertainment selection over to rapper Jay-Z in 2019. Until this year’s performance by Rihanna, recent halftime shows have been gangsta rapper-heavy. Rihanna’s Sunday performance received a good review from the MRC.
Past SB performers included Carol Channing, Diana Ross, Up With People, a Salute to the Big Band era, Tony Bennett and many other performers who did not appeal to the lowest common denominator to entertain audiences. That was family-friendly are. In more recent years, a downhill slide began.
Jennifer Lopez and Shakira delivered a sleazy, slutty show just three years ago. Soon after that, gangsta rappers Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar took the stage. It’s fair to say these halftime programs were anything but uplifting, if not downright trashy.
Here are some of Kendrick’s rap lyrics:
“You preached in front of 100,000 but never reached her
I fuckin' tell you, you fuckin' failure — you ain't no leader!”
Dr. Dre is the author of the “lovely” “A Nigga Witta Gun” video. Snoop Dog is on Youtube with this garbage: "Down 4 My Niggas." Eminem has “graced” the world with contributions like “Bitch Please II.”
These gutter dwellers were part of Jay-Z's not-so-brilliant work for the NFL, on the stage of one of the world’s biggest sporting events. Fox TV showed McCartney seated at the game Sunday, and the league needs to call on him or Rihanna again.
The NFL is a barometer of cultural decline in America, and despite a brief reprieve this year, the halftime shows are a big factor. Rihanna was the exception to the new norm.
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