...but I Digress

The fanaticism surrounding the Super Bowl Halftime Show is quite exciting. People are talking as if something is going to happen. People are worried about the fact that their children were exposed to a split second of nude breast on a 19" T.V. screen. Other people are worried that the government is going to censor our free speech. It is all quite interesting.

What has been very interesting to me is the fact that reporters and editors have mentioned more than just the halftime show as part of the indecency surrounding the Super Bowl, but also the lewd commercials. I'll tackle this first.

First and foremost anytime we get to see a dog biting a man in the crotch, it's going to be funny. Add to that the fact that it was a mangy dog, he was biting a preppie guy, and he got the hero the beer, and you just happen to have genius in the form of a paid advertisement. Second, horses pulling carriages do poop. I have driven a horse drawn carriage many times, and they do get gas. The whole thing with the candle and the explosion was a little unrealistic, but still funny. Verdict: dog biting crotch and horse farting in woman's face equals hilarity that far over powers anyone's call for decency.

I love defending advertisements. It makes me feel kind of dirty.

Now some people have been arguing that a breast is nothing to get all crazy about. "Look at the Europeans," they say. "They have nudity everywhere, and they don't care." First, when in our history have we ever thought that doing what the Europeans do is cool. It's a sad day when France becomes more socially acceptable than the U.S. Think about it! Second, in the context of the performance as a whole, the breast was not simply representing a breast, it was representing a culmination of a crotch-grabbing-lewd-dancing-American-flag-ripping-sexually-charged half time show. So in that context, it represented a piece of flesh that was supposed to get us aroused.

It also was supposed to get us talking, and look what happened. Entertainers have their tricks. My mom, amazingly enough, probably put it best when she said, halfway through the show, "You'd think the only people watching this were 20 year old men." Unfortunately everyone was watching. Then anyone else who did not see it got to see it later on the web or on the news.

What our culture defines as indecency has evolved rapidly over the past 50 years. From Elvis shaking his hips and the Rolling Stones changing the words to "Let's Spend the Night Together" to Britney and Madonna kissing upstaging Christina and Madonna kissing, our world has changed. It will be interesting whether this is just the beginning of what is to come, or if this marks a turning point in what people find to be offensive. It will be intriguing to see what my children (whenever I get around to having some) will have access to. It could be a scary place by then.