Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Super Bowl Halftime Show Was A Humiliation Ritual
The Federalist ^ | 9 Feb, 2025 | Brianna Lyman

Posted on 02/09/2026 7:42:39 AM PST by MtnClimber

Americans were forced to sit through one of their biggest cultural events of the year in a language that is not theirs, surrounded by symbols of other, foreign places.

The Super Bowl is supposed to be one of the cultural cornerstones in American life that still belongs to Americans. There are only a handful of days each year when most of the country pauses and gathers around the same screen to participate in something recognizably ours. It’s a shared experience — rooted in common language and culture and tradition. Which is why the Super Bowl half time show this year was a clear display of pure contempt for America.

Football is not a global sport that just ended up in the United States. It was created right here at home in the 1880s by Walter Camp. It was a sport created by Americans, for Americans. The NFL remains overwhelmingly domestic both in its players and its fanbase. In other words, football isn’t some international pastime. It’s one of the last mass cultural institutions that is distinctly American.

Yet, this year’s halftime performance by Puerto Rican singer “Bad Bunny” was conducted almost entirely in Spanish. His songs celebrated Puerto Rican — not American — culture. At the end of his performance, he exited the stage followed by one American flag and several foreign flags, holding a football that read “We are all America” while a giant screen read “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” And, given his recent “F[---] ICE” comments at the Grammys, it’s clear the message of his performance was that defense of sovereignty and national culture and rejection of its replacement would be framed as hatred.

Americans were forced to sit through one of their biggest cultural events of the year in a language that is not theirs, surrounded by symbols of other, foreign places. The audience was not invited into a shared civic experience. Instead, they were required to bear witness to the replacement of their own culture.

This wasn’t accidental, either. While speaking in October, Bad Bunny, who has only Spanish-language songs, addressed Americans directly: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.” The burden wasn’t on the performer to meet or assimilate to the audience, but rather on the audience — Americans — to adapt to a foreign language or be left behind during their own cultural event.

That same message was delivered on the stage on Sunday.

And this isn’t merely my own interpretation of the event. The Miami Herald’s Amanda Rose praised the show for transforming the field into a “Puerto Rican sugarcane field where aspects of Puerto Rican life were around every corner” and concluding that “the halftime show was a sweeping celebration of Puerto Rican culture.” That description matters because it confirms that the intent of the performance was to replace a uniquely American culture with a foreign one.

And that’s where the humiliation comes in.

Across the country, Americans are being guilted out of their God-given right to sovereignty. They’re told by activists, celebrities, athletes, Democrats, and the propaganda press that borders are illegitimate. That the enforcement of longstanding, duly enacted federal immigration law is racist and xenophobic and anti-American. Foreigners wave the flags of countries they refuse to return to in our streets while demanding the right to stay. Activist judges block deportations and openly undermine federal authority on behalf of illegal aliens.

And all of this was legitimized on the stage on Sunday.

A foreign language replaced our national language, English. Foreign flags overshadowed the American one. Foreign culture was elevated during a traditional American experience. At the same time Americans are being told they have no right to enforce their own laws and to defend their sovereignty, they were forced to sit and watch the symbolic replacement of their country and culture.

And that’s humiliating.


TOPICS: Society; Sports
KEYWORDS: 143millionbadbunny; 5millionkidrock; badbunny; badbunnysetrecords; fraggots; halftimeshow; ithoughtwokebroke; itwasfine; keywordtroll; kidrocklipsynch; leftism; nationalfaggotleague; nflfansarefags; superbowl; traitorswatchnfl
Message from Jim Robinson:

Dear FRiends,

We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.

If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you,

Jim


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181 next last

1 posted on 02/09/2026 7:42:39 AM PST by MtnClimber
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

I turned off the television before the halftime show started. And I left it off.


2 posted on 02/09/2026 7:42:51 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

The NFL is jealous of the global ratings The UEFA Champions League Final gets, and wants to try to compete with it.

That’s really what it’s all about. Damn the locals.

Ask any long-time fan of a popular Euro soccer team, like Barcelona or Liverpool. They will tell you that they care more for the “tourist fans” than the local fans, because the tourists are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a game ticket.


3 posted on 02/09/2026 7:45:03 AM PST by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber; All

What needs to happen is removal of antitrust protection for the NFL. Heck remove it for all professional sports.


4 posted on 02/09/2026 7:47:02 AM PST by Reily
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Missed it.

If it was a tribute to Puerto Rico, did it have the big fuzzy dice hanging on a rear view mirror?

And was there a Gerry Rivers reference?


5 posted on 02/09/2026 7:47:21 AM PST by Biblebelter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Biblebelter

You would have thought if they wanted to pay tribute to Puerto Rico, they would have brought in José Feliciano.


6 posted on 02/09/2026 7:48:59 AM PST by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

This queer bunny show was some Puerto Rican guy shouting PR dialect Spanish into a microphone. Nothing more.

Of course, had to have lots of thick women shaking their @asses too

It was the pure gutter culture.


7 posted on 02/09/2026 7:49:08 AM PST by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Article:

“Americans were forced to sit through one of their biggest cultural events of the year in a language that is not theirs, surrounded by symbols of other, foreign places.”

Nope.

They hate me.

I hate them.

The NFL boycott continues.


8 posted on 02/09/2026 7:49:13 AM PST by cgbg ("Your identity is how power treats you.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

No one forced anyone to sit through anything that they didn’t want to see. Let’s get real here. Not even close to everyone watches that s##t they call the NFL. If you watch it it’s on you.


9 posted on 02/09/2026 7:49:25 AM PST by Clarancebeaks (T)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Hey, it also featured Lady Gag-a. How anyone can enjoy that slop is beyond me.


10 posted on 02/09/2026 7:50:03 AM PST by Antoninus (Republicans are all honorable men.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PGR88

If they wanted to celebrate Puerto Rican culture they would have had a power outage.

Lol.


11 posted on 02/09/2026 7:50:26 AM PST by cgbg ("Your identity is how power treats you.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
"Americans were forced to sit through..."

No, they were not. Anyone that watched made a choice of free will.

12 posted on 02/09/2026 7:50:38 AM PST by BlackbirdSST (FTL)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Biblebelter

There was a pickup truck on blocks, didn’t get a good enough look in the cab. Really it was fun. People whine too much. Yeah it was in Spanish, which is the primary language of Puerto Rico, which is part of America. George Carlin had a whole routine about listening to baseball on Puerto Rican radio to learn Spanish. Folks acting like any of this is new really just don’t pay attention.


13 posted on 02/09/2026 7:50:47 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

If they wanted to celebrate Puerto Rican culture they would have had a power outage.


We can close the thread now. Nothing will top that one.


14 posted on 02/09/2026 7:51:13 AM PST by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Reily

What needs to happen is removal of antitrust protection for the NFL. Heck remove it for all professional sports.


Here, Here! No more government-supported football!


15 posted on 02/09/2026 7:52:36 AM PST by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Antoninus

Lady Gaga is fantastic. Classically trained and one of the best performers of our generation. I will have to disagree with you on this one, although I did not watch either half-time show.


16 posted on 02/09/2026 7:53:06 AM PST by Hildy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
Americans were forced to sit through one of their biggest cultural events of the year in a language that is not theirs, surrounded by symbols of other, foreign places.

Nonsense.

I did not watch even one nanosecond of the National Felons League extravaganza ... none of the sportsball part, none of the "musical" show part. Nobody showed up at my door and tried to force me to watch the thing. Sportsball has become "cultural" only in the petri dish sense of the word, and nobody is FORCED to watch it.

Panem et circenses ...

17 posted on 02/09/2026 7:53:41 AM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Never understood the appeal of stadium concerts, either in person or televised.


18 posted on 02/09/2026 7:54:19 AM PST by GSWarrior
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Biblebelter

Yes and refried beans were 1/2 off at concessions!


19 posted on 02/09/2026 7:56:05 AM PST by albie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

I watched the! Turning Point alternate show. Enjoyed


20 posted on 02/09/2026 7:56:25 AM PST by DLfromthedesert
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson