In Mexico today, after the victory in 2018, there seem to be only two stories: that of the corporate media that specializes in inventing flaws where there are none, and that of independent enterprise that, however valuable, sometimes falls into a paralyzing ideological purism. The latest installment in this story is criticism of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance.
From my perspective on the front in Ciudad Juárez, the skepticism is incomprehensible given that some parts of the country have recognized the event. It argues, with a mixture of acidity and intellectual superiority, that the mid-term show is nothing more than a product of the market, and that it does nothing against the Cuban manhunt or Donald Trump’s threats. However, this analysis suffers from a disturbing cultural myopia.
Damages of “old men”
I find it ironic to ask analysts to admit they don’t know Bad Bunny’s music and then completely whitewash it. It’s generational “déjà vu”. I remember when, in our youth, adults for three or four years heard the “ruido” of Elvis Presley, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. Including the radical question of how he scorned Bob Dylan’s comments and claimed that “nothing could change”.
Hi, the story when you recite. Those who criticize “perreo” or reggaetón today, without being sure that they are listening, make the same mistake that their fathers did: they mistake a misunderstanding of the new rhythm for a mistake of artistic or political value.
La frontera y el fútbol: More than an athlete
To criticize American football as a sport “without transcendence” is to ignore the reality of thousands of Mexicans and Mexican Americans. For people living on the banks of the Río Bravo, the NFL is part of our daily lives. Super Bowl Sunday is the day of highest water consumption in the United States; It’s the ritual of carne asada and guacamole that joins the working class. Whitewash this deportation to your followers and whitewash the migrant community that created these customs at the point of arrival.
Victory against authoritarianism
What many industry analysts forget is the political context before the show. Under the banner of monarchist authoritarianism, Donald Trump demanded that the NFL prevent the implementation of Bad Bunny. Don’t ask for your messages on the screen. The negative of the league questioning the president was the first coup – a blow aimed at the nariz – against this right, which calls for “communist” any expression that gets out of control.
It is naive to think that an entertainment show will cause a revolution. But in a few steps against the racism and classism of the Trump era, every coup counts. Bad Bunny’s presentation resonates with the citizen resistance we see in Minneapolis or Los Angeles.
I would recommend less sobriety and more openness to my friends back home. Don’t waste your time scorning what you don’t care about. Reggaetón is music, it has rhythm, and in the right context it can be a tool of cultural resistance. This scandal scandalizes traditionalists, but not progressives.
As we said in the 60s: rock was music and no noise. Today, we must understand that the world of young people moves to different rhythms, and that even in the center of the market – such as the Super Bowl – small but significant battles against authoritarianism can be fought.
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