This is a thoughtful comment I saw somewhere regarding the half time show:
A fascinating commentary on the halftime show by Laura M. Cheifetz.
“As I've been thinking about the varied reactions to the halftime show, and how differently equipped religious leaders are to understand or interpret contemporary happenings, I realized the following:
The halftime show was an exercise in high context/low context.
I am not Latinx, so come at this from outside the community. I'm sure I'll miss something here. But here is the context that I had in mind when I watched the half-time show.
HIGH CONTEXT
POLITICAL - It is deeply political to:
-portray children in cages in a country that cages children.
-have Spanish spoken and sung on the night's biggest stage in a country that elected a president who declared Mexicans rapists and murderers
-have belly dancing on stage by a woman of Lebanese descent in a country where the government is systematically trying to prevent migration from majority-Muslim countries
-dance like Latinas - all the hip movement are pura Latina. Is it considered sexy? I guess so - but it's considered talent and culture.
-at one point have all Puerto Ricans on stage in a country that has maliciously attempted to prevent sending sufficient aid to its own colonial subjects
-and have women "of a certain age" be the stars, when often older women are relegated to the margins.
CULTURAL - Latin America is mezclada.
-Anyone who has followed Shakira's career knows she is Lebanese-Spanish-Italian Colombian.
-Shakira's style pays homage to Afro-Colombian dance as well as belly dancing and other Latin American forms of dance.
-A lot of Latin American dancing involves moving one's hips. I'm not sure if it's considered sexual, per se, or just... the way one is supposed to dance.
-Puerto Ricans are incredibly proud of their unique identity. That's it. That's all you have to know. They are 100% unique, proud as hell, and very much integrated into the Spanish-speaking and Latin American world.
-I think Latin Americans are also deeply embodied. In contrast to my experience of white America, Latinxs live fully in their bodies. I suppose that draws upon the erotic in that we are all erotic beings, but it's more integrated than separated/stifled. Please go visit Puerto Rico and watch los viejitos (the old people) dancing on the Paseo de la Princesa. It's a thing, the dancing, the hips.
TALENT -
-Shakira actually plays multiple instruments.
-Shakira won't sing in a language until she has learned it, so the bulk of her work is in Spanish, with some Arabic. She can speak/sing English, Italian, Portuguese.
-Jennifer Lopez began as a dancer. On stage. She is an incredible choreographer. She was a Fly Girl.
-JLo helped make the Latinx pop music phenomenon in the U.S. She is hugely influential in music, dance, and in Hollywood.
You know where I learned a lot of this? IN SEMINARY/DIVINITY SCHOOL. I'm serious. I knew all this before I even met my Puerto Rican spouse. And that's why it's important to get a theological education at a school with a diverse student population. Imagine going to a master's program and not knowing any of this.
LOW CONTEXT
White Americans tend to be more low context. Like, what you see is what there is. And so if folks don't know very much background or backstory, like how integral to understanding the United States in its fullness it is to honor the cultural contributions of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, I can see how people experienced the half-time show as sexually inappropriate instead of a showcase of some of the best talent of this generation.
Vanderbilt Divinity School is accepting applications through April 1st.
I learned about the high/low context stuff at seminary/divinity school, too.”
