Benito Bowl: The Love, Beauty And Success Of The Spectacle Can’t Be Denied

The saltiest of saltine-flavored MAGA conservatives spent the months leading up to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show performance crying over how un-American the pop star from Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, is, pretending their ears are allergic to Spanish, and planning an alternative halftime show for rhythmless white people who couldn’t find the beat if it crossed over the border illegally. Well, now, Super Bowl Sunday has come and gone, and the halftime show turned out to be a widely praised success that reportedly broke viewing records, and it did so while being an explosion of Latin culture and a visual love letter to Puerto Rico.

So, yeah, MAGA still really hated it.

In fact, let’s start with the orangey-white supremacist cult leader himself, President Donald Trump, and his very predictable thoughts on the performance.

“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,” said the p*ssy-grabber-in-chief, who, lest we forget, famously walked in on teenage girls who were changing in the Miss Teen USA pageant dressing room and has been accused of sexual assault by more than two dozen women, including E. Jean Carroll, who he was found liable for assaulting.

“This ‘Show’ is just a ‘slap in the face’ to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day — including the Best Stock Market and 401(k)s in History! There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven’t got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD — And, by the way, the NFL should immediately replace its ridiculous new Kickoff Rule. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

It’s honestly hilarious the way Trump literally can’t post about anything without boasting about his non-existent political accomplishments, which he persistently lauds while his approval ratings persistently show people are not buying it.

Also, why was Trump even watching Bad Bunny’s performance while Turning Point USA was putting on its Klanchella show (or whatever they called it), featuring Kid Rock and whoever else was there to get MAGA whites clapping on the one and three-and-a-half to cousin-kissing music or lyrics about loving on underage girls? Trump is probably thinking he showed support for his cultists, but, really, it’s arguable that he kind of betrayed them by implying that he watched the Super Bowl halftime show instead of tuning into the alternative Klanborie.

In fact, I’m not buying it. I think Trump secretly LOVED the show. I bet that man heard them Latin drums and hopped out of the golf cart like….

And, apparently, Trump wasn’t the only one hate-watching the show when there was a perfectly good and flavorless bigot bash they could have been watching.

Actually, Megyn Kelly, apparently, spent more time contemplating whether or not Jeffrey Epstein is technically a pedophile than she did watching Bad Bunny fail to “love America” enough for her taste.

Then, of course, there’s loud and proud bigot Laura Loomer, who predictably assumed the people on stage were “illegal aliens” and appeared to be upset over the lack of white people on stage “twerking” with the “Latin hookers” she objected to.

And just to illustrate how bad right-wingers are at understanding art, symbolism, and subtext, here’s Loomer pointing out that Bad Bunny failed to highlight Puerto Rico’s “electrical grid crisis” when he was dancing on top of an electrical tower — which he very obviously did to highlight Puerto Rico’s electrical grid crisis.

I mean, these people really were born stupid and just decided to spend their entire lives staying true to their roots.

Anyway, while we’re on the subject, let’s get into the depth, Easter eggs, politics, and cultural significance of Bad Bunny’s show instead of keeping all the focus on the haters, shall we?

From USA Today:

The singer, who was born in Bayamón, transported fans to his native Puerto Rico from the moment he stepped out onstage, walking against a backdrop that resembled the island’s sugar cane fields. A series of dancers, dressed in pava straw hats, flanked him as he delivered the medley’s opening number, “Titi Me Preguntó.”

During the opening of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl medley, several of the singer’s backup dancers — dressed as sugar cane field workers — wore pavas, brimmed straw hats traditionally made from leaves of the Puerto Rican hat palm.

At the 2025 Met Gala, the singer wore a revamped pava, which he paired with his espresso brown Prada suit.

The show also highlighted several staples of Puerto Rican cuisine, and paid tribute to other iconic Reggaeton artists like Tego Calderón, Don Omar, and “Gasolina” artist Daddy Yankee.

Bunny’s set even included a Spike Lee reference that many people likely missed, imitating Lee’s signature “dolly shot,” a staple of virtually all his films.

Enough really can’t be said about the show’s visuals. The set, which was designed by Harriet Cuddeford and built by Yellow Studio, featured sugarcane fields, makeshift nail salons and social clubs, scenes of everyday Puerto Rican life, and plants that, surprisingly, weren’t actual plants, but nearly 380 performers dressed as plants.

Bad Bunny basically gave Super Bowl attendees a show that was best viewed from the cheap seats. You absolutely must respect that.

At the end of the day, the praise for this fabulous show has far outweighed the hate, which we all knew was coming, no matter how the show turned out.

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, you absolutely did your thing, sir, and no amount of backlash from cultureless MAGAts can take that away from you.

Salute!

SEE ALSO:

Bad Bunny Dances His Way Through Halftime Show With Vibes, Symbolism And Unity

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