Were you Watching?

I watched the Super Bowl last night because we have an avid sports fan in our house.  As usual, before the game begins, I decide who I am going to root for.  Sometimes it is based on slight familiarity with a team, sometimes it is because I like their uniforms (yes, I am one of those people).  Occasionally it is because I genuinely prefer a team.

Last night I decided on the Kansas City Chiefs because they had not won a Super Bowl in 50 years.  Since that is about the limit of my knowledge, I have to say I am as guilty as Trump (which is really saying something!) to have to admit that I, too, assumed they were from Kansas.

Much to my surprise, they are actually from Kansas City, Missouri!

Anyway, I usually don’t particularly like the half-time shows because I often do not really know who the artists are that are performing.  This year, though, I did know who Jennifer Lopez is—not so much Shakira—so I thought it might be okay.  Admittedly, I was a little nervous about what her outfits might be like, though.

It would be interesting to learn if there is an age divide between thinking the show was appropriate for family viewing or too risqué.  I, not surprising, fall into the not-for-prime-time viewing category.

I said to my husband while watching the show, “Would you want to be sitting here with a seven year old watching this?” If I were, I would have him leave the room.  The performance was over-the-top indecent for family viewing.

I know there are a great number of people who will disagree with me and maybe even call me a fuddy-duddy, but I’m not.  Just because I recognize indecency, does not mean I lack appreciation for good music and artistic performance in general.

You have to be able to see the bigger picture in order to appreciate my concern.  You have to recognize that exposing a child to this kind of viewing, in a culture that is already saturated with too much eye-popping media is just plain unhealthy.  A seven year olds innocence is seriously impacted when they are exposed—or over-exposed—to this sort of thing.  It has a cumulative, desensitizing effect.

And while parents might want to retain their image of being cool and not reject this kind of indecency (a poor foundation for parental decision-making overall), or be too afraid to remove their kids from it lest they face unruly objections, a big part of parenting is making tough, unpopular decisions to protect and help form kids.

That being said, there is a lot more that could be said about all of us adults watching it.  While we may be a bit hardened after having years of exposure to this sort of thing, and our psyche may not be quite as tender as that of a child or pre-teen for example, it doesn’t mean it is any better for us to be viewing it.

If we are being honest, more than an artistic, musical performance, what we saw last night was an exhibitionist playing to the voyeuristic tendencies of millions of curious people.

To me, that is not entertainment, but genuinely sad.

Janet Cassidy
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