"Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd, Wednesday, May 26, 2021
On February 7, 2021, the 55th NFL Super Bowl sent mixed signals from a divided nation. You all know the story of March and April and May of 2020. There was a virus. There was a lockdown. There was a brutal murder that everyone saw. There were riots. There was a demand for change. And there was push back. As many ordinary white Americans became aware of the realties of the hardships of people of color, companies scrambled to be on the right side of history. The revolution of 2020 brought light to the realities of racism, but in many cases it seemed to be an attempt to pass the buck. Cancel culture aimed to scrub pop culture of its racist history, while companies that had first targeted white audiences started to think about incorporating diversity.
I'M GOING THROUGH WITHDRAWALS. Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is one of the biggest artists today. Better known as The Weeknd, Tesfaye has been called as the Michael Jackson of this generation. He is the most streamed artists on Spotify. While his latest album, After Hours, was snubbed by the Grammys, he was otherwise decorated with Billboard Music Awards and MTV Video Awards, including video of the year for "Blinding Lights" (and the video is incredible). While he may not have been the music playing on adult contemporary radio stations by white soccer moms, The Weeknd's streaming success and overall feel-good (with sad lyrics) pop-R&B-indie-emo-'80s nostalgia was a great choice for the halftime show, particularly a show that has been historically tone deaf. Maroon 5 sparked controversy in 2019 when artists boycotted the league for their condemnation of Colin Kaepernick. In the midst of a pandemic and a movement for social justice and despite a highly controversial election, The Weeknd gave a stellar performance. Synth pop, choirs, imagery of Sin City, and some surrealist dancers made his medley of hits feel like they were being canonized in a post modern American Songbook.
I'M DROWNING IN THE NIGHT. But one performance isn't enough. An episode of Straight White American Jesus broke down the hidden message behind Super Bowl 55. The host Brad Onishi argues that messages of unity in this year's Super Bowl were about uniting behind the establishment, rather than forging ahead in human rights. One particular message that Onishi talks about at length is a commercial in which Bruce Springsteen talks about a chapel that invites all to join. The argument that Onishi has with this Jeep commercial is that Springsteen is imposing a Christian unity. In other words, being American means being Christian. This does nothing for the person of another faith or of non-faith. As an American, it's time to challenge our notion of what is American. It should be a diverse picture where everyone regardless of color, race, religion or non-religion, sexuality, or gender is free to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's a land where the police don't hunt a certain race of people. It's a land where all can mix and mingle. It's a land that we can see representation of everyone in the media and in society in every walk of life. It's a land where we don't forget our racist past, but we certainly don't glorify it. We learn from it. We know that Black Lives Matter. We proclaim that Black Lives Matter. We live out the true meaning of the American Creed.
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