Lifting Our Voices In Song, And Other Things

Were you surprised to hear that Beyonce's Super Bowl halftime performance was a none-too-subtle adjunct to the Black Lives Matter movement? Fists raised in the air, black berets, and a "slap in the fact to law enforcement" have led to the organization of a counter-protest to be held at NFL headquarters in New York next week. If you want to add your voice to the mounting uproar, get yourself on a plane, bus or wagon and head on over to the home of what's wrong with America: the home offices of the National Football League.
I suppose the mistake that those in the halftime entertainment division made was that they allowed anything "edgy" to creep into what should have been a celebration of trucks and beer. That would explain the presence of Coldplay, or as comedian Tony Camin referred to them in his Tweet: Radiohead for moms. Bruno Mars? He could be considered dangerous by all those who consider "Uptown Funk" with its references to "hood girls" a threat to our great society. The revolution was televised, and it was watched by one hundred eleven million viewers. Those twelve minutes, or at least the part where Beyonce and her henchwomen did their worst to tear at the fabric of what makes our country what it is, deserve to be recognized as the subversive acts that they were.
Or a fiercely choreographed promotion for her new song and summer tour.
Or both.
Art usually is, at some level choreographed promotion and subversive. It all depends a lot on the day of the week. Super Sunday isn't probably when you expect to see anything the might be considered "thought provoking." Unless that thought happened to be: "Hey, why is Coldplay doing the halftime show at the Super Bowl?" The obvious answer is, "To sell your Radiohead loving mom beer and trucks." If tossing in a little political or racial friction into this mix makes everyone uncomfortable, then maybe we should all take a step back and examine our priorities. Do we really want to bring back "Up With People?"
Okay. I'm sorry I asked. You can put down your raised hands. But I guess I'm still curious if there will be additional protests outside NFL Headquarters to protest brain injuries and their treatment by the league. Or maybe that explains how we got that monkey-puppy-baby thing from Mountain Dew.