Bunny Hop

At the end of Bad Bunny’s halftime performance at The Super Bowl, he projected a message onto the Jumbotron. Having spent most of the performance singing in Spanish, it was a rare chance for racial barriers to be met and consider a greater truth. His message for all of the flamboyant dancing and pulse-pounding music was that “The only thing stronger than hate is love.” With possibly the biggest audience in any American sporting event watching, he was able to project that message to millions of people. It may seem obvious to most, but it seemed like a poignant deconstruction on his show.

Over the past decade, the concept of being American has shifted significantly on the national stage. It’s gotten so obscene that people have preluded Olympics talk by asking other countries to not look down on Team USA because they don’t hold the same values as their president. As someone who lives here, that is obvious, though I imagine it’s difficult to know how outsiders see this recent string of events because, I have to imagine, very specific nuance is lost in translation as only headlines emerge of the most severe controversies. 

This isn’t a post meant to celebrate Bad Bunny. At most, he is a figure that I’ve come to appreciate more because of what he does with his celebrity status. He’s Puerto Rican in a time where I.C.E. is carelessly arresting people who look like him. It’s caused him to avoid shows on the mainland for his tour while donating millions to Puerto Rico’s infrastructure from special residencies. There is something admirable about a man who spoke the week before on The Grammys about peace and love while saying, in simple, clean language, “I.C.E. out.” Where many could grandstand, the succinct word choice went further, showing that even in a moment where vulgarity could be cathartic, two words are often more relevant, especially from someone who fits a certain profile.

I can’t speak for everything that he does, but the symbolic power he carries is an encouraging alternative to the national narrative that he’s “an illegal” in less favorable words. Because he doesn’t sing in English, there’s somehow an inferiority. I don’t speak Spanish fluently enough to appreciate his music on a lyrical level, but he does have the essence of a pop star that I’ve seen evolve in my lifetime, from the days of Ricky Martin and Shakira into something more global, where there isn’t a need to conform to westernized sensibilities. It’s gone from the perceived novelty into the driving force, even if the people dismissing him can’t notice his impact due to the nature of selective media.

But something that has bothered me more about this is the same thing that has made living in America particularly taxing. Nothing can simply be a “not for me” shoulder shrug anymore. A Puerto Rican singer has to inspire Kid Rock to make his own conservative alternative concert. There is a desire to be outraged, and even if you don’t like Bad Bunny’s music, there is a need to act like it’s an affront to greater moral decency. People suggesting that they ignored it, again in less favorable words, can’t do it humbly. They jump to scathing language that makes you realize that disagreements are much harder to resolve than they were even when I was in high school.

Because, seriously, it’s exhausting hearing something meant for 15 minutes of delight being reduced to a “political” statement. Given that it suggests “love is greater than hate,” I’m not looking forward to any irony that follows, that maybe Bad Bunny was sarcastic or giving into some woke culture trend. Nobody can just let a performance be a chance to think of anything else, to indulge in something you like, and not act like everything antithetical to your happiness is immediately offensive.

Sure, you could argue that Green Day’s message was harder to ignore, even if it’s the same tired act they’ve been doing for 21 years. They’ve performed that song at a New Year’s Eve show to greater ire. They’ve even performed it at that iHeartRadio Festival right before the singer went to rehab after besmirching Justin Bieber. They’re not new. It’s like getting mad at “Fortunate Son” in the 90s after its impact had deflated into classic rock lore.

It’s the conflict of free speech and the belief that consequences matter, that somehow speaking your mind makes you a threat to the nation and risks deportation. It’s a scary time to be alive, especially after a media pundit’s assassination didn’t end in gun reform but an effort to fire a talk show host. There’s no consideration for meaning anymore, and it all collapses on itself when this performance goes from being fun to either being a moment of “sticking it to conservatives” or believing that liberals are embracing degeneracy. 

I am an advocate for one particular idea. The “why is your art political?” rhetoric never sat right with me. It’s not because I believe good/bad art is capable of being defined by politics, but that it’s something more banal. EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL. Even the way you tie your shoe is determinate of how you believe an order will exist in your life based on compromises. Certain ideologies hold society together, and politics have long governed how that is perceived. By virtue of having a positive and negative reception, everything about existence is political, and I hate people who evade responsibility by suggesting that something is bad for being political. 

Yes. I’ll disagree about certain ideas because I’m not in that political mindset. On the surface, I just hate football and never found enjoyment in the NFL. That’s entirely because I find the sport archaic and boring. I’m sure there’s a good defense for why it’s a better example of America’s pastime than baseball, but I personally disagree. Does that make either of us right? Subjectively yes. Objectively no. Politics can divide on something like that without dismantling somebody else’s fun.

I’m just exhausted that this is how the country has become. Nothing is allowed to merely happen without irrational scrutiny, believing in some conspiratorial worldview that a disagreeable thing is justifiably evil. It makes no sense. 

I get that things are grim and thus we all could use an outlet for our catharsis. And yet, I have found it’s made everybody lazy and overreactive. It’s too easy to click ‘Enter’ on the keyboard and release that dopamine rush. There’s a sense that your correct opinion will make a difference when it’ll be forgotten in seconds. The A.I. generated memes have made the trend worse and only bastardize the conception of truth in a debate. When anything can be made up, what is going to be the guiding light for conversation online? It’s easy to create an effacing image of the president and think it’s funny. However, it’s just causing greater thought to not take root and, ultimately, lead to a manic depressive state of disappointment with the world.

My answers aren’t really clear, short of miracle solutions that involve wiping out the infected cynicism that overruns culture right now. As things have grown more toxic, I’ve taken more pride in sincerity and kindness. Part of that is just growing older, but it’s also the fear of turning into somebody who creates monuments with fear that their legacy will mean nothing otherwise. I think to myself if I want my remnants to be immediately torn down, considered a waste of space, or if I want to at least be considered as having tried to make the world a better place. I’m sure that’s subjective, even political, in its own right. 

For somebody like Bad Bunny, it’s easy to see his legacy as an ultimate good that outlasts his time on Earth. Beyond this show, his contributions to the world are a reminder that there’s kindness out there. Even when he’s being negatively attacked, he’s capable of looking for love and trying to find solutions. It’s something that we’ve been missing out on for some time, and I pray we get past the ugliness sooner than later. It’s uncomfortable, and I think pathetic that we’ve lived this long with this mentality. There’s a need to try and course correct. It may be too late to absolve the past, but surely the future can look a little brighter.

Please let this message not fall on deaf ears. Let the inclusive text be a sign of radical change that requires effort and greater reward. We are stronger in numbers, or so I was once told. It’s surreal to be alive right now, and I take any good story as a sign that things aren’t completely hopeless. Bad Bunny put on a great show and proved that there’s room to grow at the halftime show. That idea of America being even more diverse in its expression excites me. I know that it’s impossible to feel like it will happen anytime soon, but I pray that those with the power of someone like Bad Bunny will encourage enough positivity to take root and grow.