So, Maroon 5 gave a bland performance alongside Travis Scott and Big Boi. It wasn’t the worst halftime show we’ve seen, but given the circumstances, both the group and the NFL needed far more than that. Neither did anything substantial to address the controversy surrounding NFL’s racism. We expected more.
It’s been two years since Colin Kaepernick, former 49ers quarterback and social activist, took the knee to protest against racial injustice in America, creating a controversial widespread movement that put the NFL’s racism in the national spotlight. And now, in 2019, the Super Bowl LIII has become an arena that goes beyond the exciting matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots. It’s not only a sports arena anymore, but the centerpiece for the social and political struggles currently plaguing the US.
After Kaepernick ended his contract with the San Francisco 49ers and became a free agent in 2017, he accused the NFL of conspiring against him and actively sabotaging his chances of getting hired in the future. On top of this, the NFL further antagonized the country by stomping the peaceful anthem protest to try and silence its representatives with a new controversial policy: either you stand during the national anthem, or you remain in the locker room for its duration.
Colin Kaepernick
The backlash against the NFL wasn’t subtle. The 2019 Super Bowl’s halftime show had no headliner almost three weeks before the big game in support for Kaepernick, as most celebrities refused to participate in the disgraced event. Rihanna, Adele, Jay-Z, Mary J Blige, Andre 3000, and Cardi B all turned down the gig, until Maroon 5 chose step in.
“I’m not in the right profession if I can’t handle a little bit of controversy. We expected it. We’d like to move on from it, and just speak through the music,” said Adam Levine, the group’s vocalist.
Many criticized Maroon 5’s decision, as a Change.org petition got over 100,000 signatures asking them to drop out of the show. Others optimistically speculated that Adam Levine would use this opportunity to take a knee himself. But neither thing happened. Amid lights, fireworks, and showmanship, Maroon 5 failed to live up to what many considered their responsibilities. They failed both as responsible Americans and as entertainers.
After all, Maroon 5 made a big and risky decision, so you would expect a daring spectacle to carry their words. Perhaps a big statement, or, if they wanted to truly leave politics outside the football field, an utterly memorable halftime show the likes of which we had never seen before. Instead we got an average performance with some half-baked attempts to appeal to African Americans by employing a black chorus—a band-aid to treat a hemorrhaging wound. Travis Scott and Big Boi also did nothing to redeem their own controversial call to join the show. The unsurprising homage to SpongeBob Squarepants was irrelevant. The pretty words above the stage were superfluous. All in all, nothing to write home about. And with so much at stake, the performers couldn’t afford to fail… But they did.
In the end, it was a disappointing performance for an underwhelming Super Bowl. This was only the second Big Game to have fewer than 6 points scored in the first half (the other being 1975’s Super Bowl IX). The Patriots won with a mere 13 points against the Rams’ 3, one of the lowest-scoring Patriots games in the Tom Brady era and the lowest-scoring Super Bowl game in history. Not much excitement, and not a single step towards redemption.
We came into this Super Bowl with high expectations. We left with an unfortunate sour taste.
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