The Benito Bowl

This year at the LX Superbowl, between the Patriots and the Seahawks, the performer for the halftime show was Puerto Rican and six-time Grammy winner, Bentio Antonio, also known as Bad Bunny. His performance was not only a great one, with lively music and fan favorite songs such as DtMF and BAILE INoLVIDABLE, but it was a message. In a time and place where polarization is ever present, in his halftime show, Bad Bunny reminded everyone what it truly means to be American. At the end of his performance, he says the words “God bless America” and continues to list all of the countries within the American continents, representing all of their flags as well. Bad Bunny sends the reminder that America isn’t a singular place, is it everyone in unity while still being different. Along with this, Bad Bunny held up a football that read "together, we are America.”

Throughout the halftime show, there were also a lot of references made towards the reality of what is going on in Puerto Rico and many other Latin American countries. Immediately when the show starts, we can see a depiction of people working in the sugarcane fields, a direct reference to the history of exploitation of Puerto Rico and of slavery. Bad Bunny displays many indicators of Latino culture as well, such as the coconut stands, all the elders playing dominoes, and other classics. Later, we see some celebrity cameos of Cardi B, Karol G, and Pedro Pascal. As well as Lady Gaga with a guest appearance, singing “Die With Smile”, but revamped into a salsa version. Transferring from that song came fan favorite BAILE INoLVIDABLE. This portion being a direct tribute to Puerto Rico and the family parties and gatherings, filled with community and love. Later with Ricky Martin singing Lo Que lo Paso a Hawaii followed by El Apagón, this portion of the performance was arguably the most political. He adresses topics like gentrification, tourism, and power outages in Puerto Rico. Due to excessive tourism, the island’s natural world has been declining. Also due to tourism is the gentrification happening in Puerto Rico. Natives are being pushed out of their homes in order to make room for resorts and tourists, this also water-downs the culture of Puerto Rico. Power outages are also another issue in PR. Though some of them are due to heat, most of them are because of an outdated power grid (that the U.S. gives them). They also have to pay twice as much money then people living in the U.S. need to for their electricity. At the end of the show, Bad Bunny played his most popular song DtMF, making it a beautiful moment for all the people watching from around the world.

Overall, Masterman students seemed to really enjoy this performance. All of the little details and thought that was put into it really made it such a wonderful show. Clarissa Kraines (‘29) says “I thought it was really cool, I liked the entrance, my expectations were really high, they weren’t met but it was good. Lady Gaga was good. The choreo and costumes were good too.” Another student says “I thought it was beautiful, it conveyed Puerto Rican and Latino culture so well. There were so many parts and references throughout the performance that had a lot of important meaning to it.” Not only was the Bad Bunny Superbowl halftime show entertaining, but it was a message that everyone can understand.