“¿Esto lo que tu queria?”
The scene with Bad Bunny in the Spike Lee-inspired Double Dolly shot was the wink to the audience that pulled his Super Bowl half-time show together. For those who haven’t watched any of Lee’s most prized cinematic works (Malcolm X, 25th Hour, Crooklyn, to name a few), the shot serves an important purpose. Rather than the more passive viewing of the film, the double dolly forces the viewer to sit with the protagonist’s stream of consciousness.
For educators who watched, it might feel difficult to peer through this 13-minute sample of Bad Bunny’s art in this way. As with any piece of this kind, accessibility and cultural translation matter just as much as language translation. In this case, Bad Bunny takes the opportunity to open a window into his process for the show. The violinists break from the raucous “EoO” into a melodramatic “Monaco,” a song in which Bad Bunny discusses the gift and curse of rising to fame. He addresses his fans (“I’m here at Super Bowl 60 because I never stopped believing in myself. You, too, should believe in yourself. It matters more than you think.”) and his dissidents (“Is this what you wanted?”).
But you’re not supposed to turn into Bad Bunny in the classroom. You’re supposed to learn how to see. That’s the difference.
The transition to a wedding singer in which Lady Gaga plays wedding singer for a couple’s nuptials elevates the conceit. The halftime show, akin to Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show last year, was a set of artistic metaphors with his discography as the soundtrack. Unlike Lamar’s, however, Mr. Ocasio took this opportunity to provide more of a framework for the education behind his music. As evidence, it only took 24 hours for educators and historians to interpret the various historical and contemporary symbols on display.
(Notably, Petra R. Rivera-Rideau and Vanessa Díaz wrote an opinion piece related to their book on Bad Bunny’s politics. I saw this carousel from @salsamarii and this well-researched piece from Elisabet Velazquez, too. Melany Centeno also broke down the dancing in this recent YouTube video. Feel free to show them love.)
From the opening interpolation of Antony Santos’ music to the light blue in the Puerto Rican flag, Ocasio presented a Latin America that doesn’t make it into millions of homes in the United States. He showcases multiple influences to his personal and musical sides. He then recognizes the current plight of the Puerto Rican diaspora, and gives a well-placed shout-out to his inner child. Even the various recognizable faces in his show (Ricky Martin, Cardi B, Pedro Pascal) felt like touchstones to different parts of his ambition. The breadth of symbols provide material from which to understand him, but also the people who empathize with him personally and culturally.
In the United States, much of the backlash to his performance parallels the rancor towards culturally responsive sustaining education. Millions have pushed back against censorship laws, but it’s not enough. While policies against inclusive education remain vague, educators and schools have felt the silencing effects. The fear of ending up in a raging fascist’s social media feed or on the cover of a yellow rag is palpable. For the small yet powerful group of pundits, the mere mention of a character misaligned with their version of “normal” is out of bounds.
This cynical and petty view of curricula stands in stark contrast to a praxis that points towards a shared humanity. What would it mean for teachers to ask students, “Who and what shapes your world?”. What if we asked them to create an interdisciplinary project and used this (or Lamar’s) half-time show as a reference for what they include? We have activities similar to this in our art classes for example. This feels like a humanities lesson, but I can imagine these conversations can spark other connections. Bad Bunny’s open critique of LUMA has connections to science, for instance.
As a sociologist, I’m constantly looking at how our personal dimensions connect with the interpersonal, systemic, and institutional layers. Social sciences shouldn’t be limited to higher education, though. In a way, music like Mr. Ocasio’s offers a way to make complex topics palatable and relatable to the masses. “LO QUE LO PASÓ A HAWAII” is an extended allusion to the plight of colonized islands. “DtMF” metaphorically shows his longing for a more utopian Puerto Rico against a politically tenuous backdrop.
How are students wrestling with their dimensions? How do they wish to demonstrate that in our world?
Learning is steeped in identity. The learning will look different, though not lesser, because of who they are. Amidst critical discussions about race, sexual orientation, and disability, we know the role culture plays in learning. Our students deserve arenas where they get to learn as much about themselves as they do about others. As the show progressed in the Bay Area, Bad Bunny tied in communities far and wide by name and flag. This version of diversity, equity, and inclusion creates an environment that feels additive without harming onlookers. It’s an invitation to appreciation without appropriation.
Relatedly, the “other” halftime show headlined by Kid Rock, shot two weeks prior with paid actors in the audience, offered the type of show that told its audience, “You don’t have to go further than this.” The pyrotechnics felt cheap and the lip-synching lacking care for watchers and performers alike. Unfortunately, our schools, plagued by scripted curricula, AI tools, and over-testing, know this dehumanization too well.
By the time the performers paraded the flags of the western hemisphere i.e. South, Central, and North Americas, we got the clarion call from Ocasio to rethink how we understand the function of borders. Armed, masked men terrify (United States of) American citizens with state-sanctioned violence. This fact has remained true since before 1776. However, any semblance of contemporary American democracy has come from the descendants of people who’ve survived America’s worst. Where Lamar represents for many the descendants of chattel slavery, Ocasio represents descendants of historical and contemporary colonization.
Surely, Bad Bunny wasn’t starting a revolution with his performance, not in the middle of a billion-dollar football game sponsored by multi-billion dollar corporations. But mirth and celebration facing up against empire’s worst is not an unfamiliar strand in many people’s histories.
Bad Bunny’s curriculum offers a chance to remember to do better. Again, I ask: will America do better?