Representation of Latino Culture during the Super Bowl

Representation+of+Latino+Culture+during+the+Super+Bowl

The Super Bowl for a majority of people isn’t even about the actual sport. Some of us don’t even know what teams are playing, who is winning, or the players. But one thing for certain everyone knows is who is performing during the HalfTime show and that the day is guaranteed to have an exciting Halftime Show. We look forward to each year to see a superstar perform their best songs for fifteen minutes. Sometimes they are amazing or viewed as dull by the watchers, but many fans had very high expectations for this year’s performers.

In the past we have seen Beyonce completely light up the stage in 2013, and when she performed with Coldplay during the 2016 Halftime show. As well as low moments like Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson in 2004. Nonetheless, this year the NFL’s biggest event happened in Miami and caused a lot of excitement for anyone who have hips that don’t lie, speak a little spanish, or are Latino/Spanish etc. 

This year’s Super Bowl halftime show was amazing. Songs from Shakira and Jennifer Lopez like Jenny from the Block and Waka Waka made fans go crazy. On youtube, this performance is the most viewed with over 75 million in less than a few days after airing. 

It was truly an important Halftime show because of the beautiful portrayal of two beautiful women who are both Latin working to deliver a multicultural show at the most televised event in America. The dancing, the singing in Spanish, the Latin rhythms, the Puerto Rican flag/jackets, and the multiple dances from different cultures really made a lot of people feel happy.

To understand the perspective of a Latina woman watching the performance, Laura Sanchez, a Columbian sophomore from Eastern High School shared her thoughts on the show. “I think it was really good… When you actually look at what everything means and what it represents you can understand some of the “unusual” things that were done,” she said.

“It made me happy to see Columbian dances being represented… I think a lot of the symbols were done very well, yet I understand how some of the dances that Jennifer did were inappropriate, but sometimes those dances are a little intense.” 

A fellow sophomore at Eastern, Nikki Dilone, said “I was born in the Domican Republic, and my thoughts were that it wasn’t inappropriate as many people say because that’s part of Latina culture to dress and dance like that… My mom and I are both big fans of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira and enjoyed the way they expressed the Latin culture.” 

The most important message of this entire performance was to showcase Latino representation on an American sports day. It was a great day to see culture vividly celebrated on stage for the entire world to see and appreciate.