“An Automated Autopsy”  is a column that connects the sociopolitical with pop-culture and history. Clare X. Ely is putting her Letterboxd account to use. 

So, we didn’t make it to the Superbowl. Bad Bunny has had one of the best runs any artist could ask for this year. His album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” wins Album of the Year, he’s Spotify’ s most streamed artist in the world, Billboard’s greatest popstar, all while hosting Saturday Night Live. Any reasonable person can see why he’s headlining Superbowl LX. Right?

Apparently over 122,000 people were angry enough to have a Change.Org to keep Bad Bunny from performing. The backlash has become its own story, being covered by major publications such as The Washington Post, CBC, The Guardian, and AP News.  The petition argues that “The Super Bowl halftime show should unite our country, honor American culture, and remain family-friendly, not be turned into a political stunt.” 

One of the biggest takeaways from my last column installment should be that MAGA people have a habit of using morality as a magical trump card against anything they find distasteful or don’t understand. Bad Bunny happens to fit into both categories. I don’t want to assume the political affiliation for 122,000 people at once, but a very certain group agrees with them. 

“I think it’s a terrible choice,” said President Donald Trump when asked about Bad Bunny’s Superbowl LX announcement. His friends in office agree. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says Bad Bunny is, “a terrible decision. He’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience.”

It’s no secret that NFL Halftime shows have been increasingly political with both artists and actual performance with last year’s Superbowl headliner, Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime show, and to some extent, the Beyoncé Bowl. Both shows were about systemic oppression of Black Americans while celebrating Black contribution to American history and culture.  This is a good thing and will remain a good thing. The reality of America is too bleak to ignore. The Halftime show can’t “unite our country” through apolitical song and dance when federal agents have a state-sanctioned ever growing kill count of civilians.

Initialy, the DHS planned on having ICE present at the game, but called off only on Tuesday. If Bad Bunny is “the opposite of what families expect on football’s biggest stage,” then what does that make the footage of Minneapolis? Demanding a family-friendly show ignores the real children victimized by this administration. ICE has already detained their parents, their teachers, and the kids themselves.

Regardless of Bad Bunny, Levi Stadium can not host a family friendly event even when ICE is ripping families apart off the field, as Corey Lewandowski of the DHS initially threatened that even at the Superbowl, “we will find and deport you.” In contrast, Bad Bunny promised that the “world will dance”

A part of the problem is that the fear of Bad Bunny’s “political intentions” is exaggerated and overblown for the sake of argument. Obviously, he is very outspoken, especially compared to other celebrities, but Superbowl LX hasn’t even happened yet. I don’t understand how it could be the “woke bowl” already, other than the fact that the headliner is a brown man who is unashamed to be Puerto Rican. 

Nothing Bad Bunny has done warranted Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk’s conservative activist group, making a “faith, family, and freedom” replacement halftime show that has “anything in English.” Kid Rock, an avid Trump Supporter and headliner for the Turning Point show, said, “He’s said he’s having a dance party, wearing a dress, and singing in Spanish? Cool. We plan to play great songs for folks who love America.” 

Pushback of this nature trivializes criticism against the Trump Administration by writing it off as a mere matter of political difference and identity politics. ICE is quickly becoming a matter of life or death, especially for the Latino community. Bad Bunny deserves the ability to speak out. 

ICE is far past any political position for the fact that they blindly target civilians. The sentiment of Bad Bunny’s detractors is an inherent aversion to his open stance against Trump’s administration. Asking for an apolitical artist means asking for compliance in the current system. The Superbowl is not in a magical apolitical place. It’s in San Francisco. 

Bad Bunny is an incredible performer and musician. To some degree, this bad faith discourse and backlash have outshined that. I don’t fear a political statement from him though. I welcome it. It takes one thing to be an entertainer, but it’s another thing to be an artist. Bad Bunny is an artist, and his art is reflective of his experiences as a Puerto Rican man in a time where the government has disproportionately targeted the Latino community. 

For further readings, please visit  Melanie Merchant-Rojas’ “ICE Activity in Norristown Poses Serious Ethical and Safety Concerns” and Ana Karen Maldonado’s “Bad Bunny’s ‘DeBi TiRAR Mas FOToS’ Explores Climate Gentrification in Puerto Rico and Other Destinations” from the Wingspan. 

The petition isn’t going to change anything, the NFL has made it clear they support Bad Bunny. For as much coverage the backlash has received, when compared to the 100 million Superbowl viewers, they are a very, very vocal minority. To quote Bad Bunny’s song “LA MuDANZA”, “De aquí nadie me saca, de aquí yo no me muevo”

He’s got a big stage, and a big message for the world. Stay bad, Bunny.