Bad Bunny Redefines America
In his Super Bowl halftime show, the Puerto Rican musical artist and global star Bad Bunny reminded us that "Americans" includes everyone who lives on the American continent.
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But first, your moment of Zen … The evening sky in Marathon, Texas, shortly before sunset, February 10, 2026
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
I am told that the Super Bowl football game Sunday evening was … not so super. It was not a high-scoring battle, or a cliffhanger leading to a dramatic, last-minute finish. That happens sometimes — a great season boils down to a desultory end.
But the halftime show, featuring the global star Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio — better known as Bad Bunny — is worthy of superlatives from start to finish. It was, depending on your perspective, either the 1) greatest or 2) worst Super Bowl halftime show in history.
I am not an entertainment critic, so I will leave discussions of the artistic merits of the show to others, except to say that I was enormously entertained by the bucket loads of joy, singing, dancing, more joy, cameos, Easter eggs and still more joy he crammed into his 17 minutes on the stage. If you have not seen it, do so (with brief ads).
I want to comment on two moments, both towards the end of the show, that to me epitomize the genius of his artistic imagination and the performance it birthed.
First he only spoke English once during the show, and then three words: “God Bless America.”
Of course, the fact that his entire performance was not in English has given many people the vapors, particularly the Much Too Online Right. Most of these people fall into two categories: they are either ignorant of America’s diversity (we are close to majority-minority, and will get there soon) or, knowing full well of it, are outraged that the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant homeland of their childhood (and childish) dreams has been taken from them.
Having invoked God’s blessings upon America, Bad Bunny then proceeded to redefine the term, widening its definition to encompass all of North, South and Central America.
Most of us think of “America” as the United States of America. Bad Bunny articulated a more subversive definition: “America” is the Western Hemisphere, the continents we are taught as North America and South America. (In many places around the world, America is considered a single continent.) His final message, on a football he’d carried throughout the show: TOGETHER, WE ARE AMERICA.
This — and the singing and dancing in Spanish — may be the most subversive part of his halftime show. And social media (I confess to having watched too many Instagram reels yesterday) gets it: the show, and especially the finale, brought emotional and even tearful responses from many, many viewers.
As for me, I am proud to be … a Bad Bunny American.
As a band mom I ignored the football and sought out the videos of the half time performance as if my kids might be in it. Not that they would be but a mom can dream.
I not only loved the energy and passion but have really loved the learning about all the symbols and meanings within the show. And yet the self-styled family friendly party is ranting about a show that had all ages participating and that had a no fooling real live wedding. Put on your dancing shoes and get over yourselves oh right wing people of pallor.
Bad Bunny’s performance was excellent for all the reasons you mentioned but also he gave us… himself.
The joy and exuberance of the culture he grew up in and, i think his vision of inclusion. Great and joyous singing and dancing and a show that did not in any way criticize those who condemned him before the performance began. Bad Bunny gave us an experience of what many of us hope this nation will return to… no division, no classism or racism. Bad Bunny gave us the country we long to be once again!