Due to last year’s striptease, I am very seriously considering skipping the halftime show this year, even though it’s really the most interesting part …not to mention the raunchy commercials, etc., which also concern me in the family sense.
Has anyone heard whether they are going to tone things down this year (and I don’t just mean the wardrobe malfunction part), so that people can watch this event with their Patriot Fan Children??? I’m just trying to decide whether I’ll let my daughter and son watch any of it or not. (Pretty sad that I even have to ask…)
I just heard Paul on CNN talking about the half-time show. He said something like: “We will have no wardrobe malfunctions this year as we’re doing the whole show naked.” Ya gotta love that Beatles humor.
Professional football sucks. It’s violent, utterly pointless, and is full of drugs, rape, sexism and homophobia.
‘Sport’ is called ‘sport’ for a reason. It’s meant to be recreational, not professional. These people are paid entirely too much with moneys that could have better uses simply because we allow ourselves to feed into the popular culture that embraces them and their antics.
Also I don’t understand why it is acceptable to show children violent sports (and even more violent movies and films, for that matter) but we go absolutely bonkers if they see a breast.
Heard from a credible radio source that network executives have reviewed all the words to all the songs Mr. McCartney will be singing; they chose him to begin with to avoid the difficulties they had last year. The same radio source stated that the commercials would be considerably tamer than last year; given the standards currently in use by television, I’m not sure that means “family safe.”
Most sports don’t have much of a significant “point” to them, as far as utility. As long as we’re in a society that’s so entertainment-oriented, disproportionate pay for people not performing essential functions will continue.
That’s true, too - many professional sports types do have anger issues, as well as the aforementioned drug abuse problems and alcoholism. The problems with anger lead to all the problems mentioned before. It’s sad, really, that we allow ourselves to think of them as idols and then feed such stuff to our children and turn around and complain because somebody showed a breast for two seconds.
Thanks for the info on Paul McCartney…I’ll watch with remote firmly in claw!
Actually, I don’t consider football to be a violent sport. Physical, yes, violent, no. Violence means intentionally trying to injure another person; I consider most boxing to be violent. Football has very specific penalties for intentionally harming another player. Yes, people do get hurt because of the physical nature of the sport, but that is not the goal. The goal is to prevent the ball from being moved down the field resulting in a score. Now, I wouldn’t want my son playing football because the chances of injury are very high, and most people are not suited to play football because they have to be big and strong to withstand the impact. But I’ve seen much more real violence at baseball and hockey games than I’ve seen at football games, on the whole. I have avoided going to see the local hockey team because the last time we went to see a game, they were brawling all over the place. I haven’t seen that at football games.
I think its weird that McCartney would even do such a show for American football. Sorta like the way movie stars used to avoid doing television, I think its beneath him. But hey, its a gig.
It so happens that my kid has a gymnastics meet at exactly the time the game takes place but I think the whole Super Bowl hype is culturally embarrassing. I feel the same way about all those award shows, with all of Hollywood in tuxedoes and pricey gowns congratulating each other for their attainment of lucre. When it was just Grammys, Emmys and Oscars it seemed okay but now there are many more and its like a huge parody and they all blend into one bloated thing to me.
For the fans of those two teams and people who really love the game, its very exciting, but its a spectacle I zip right by, just like an accident on the freeway. When a team I did follow played, I was still annoyed by the length and pretence of the halftime show.
Actually, having some background in Boxing, I’d have to disagree. Boxing may seem violent to outsiders, but in fact, one doesn’t go in with the idea of causing the opponent permanent damage, in fact those boxers who have been involved in situations where an opponent was seriously injured or killed, tend to be devastated. Boxing is a contest of skill and will, the idea being to stop your opponent before he/she can stop you, but believe it or not, it’s not about violence per se. I’d argue that football really IS the more violent sport, regardless of the rules. Ask any college or pro running back what goes on under the “pile-up”…
I guess I should qualify the remark about boxing to say, the kind you see in the Olympics seems ok to me. They generally have head protection, etc. and it’s fairly refereed. It’s the big, spectacle heavyweight stuff that seems just a blood sport to me–no protection and guys getting seriously pummeled before the official steps in to stop it.
Having just watched the halftime show, I have to say, it was pretty durn good (and 1000% better than last year). Paul was in pretty good form. I watched it with a friend of mine who is a HUGE Paul fan so the best part of the show for me was watching her swooning over Paul.
…not to mention the raunchy commercials, etc., which also concern me in the family sense.
