Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show
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@franklinlopez @riotmuffin Wait, was that not Liam Rampos himself?
@mast0d0nphan @franklinlopez @riotmuffin
I assumed it was⦠-
Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


@franklinlopez Thank you for this! Thatās what I assumed it was, but didnāt catch the specific references. So you helped me understand more. There was so much in it. I think I need to watch it several more times. It was so beautiful and joyous and loving.
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Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


@franklinlopez
it absolutely was not just a half time show. I am so ashamed of the mess my country is in even so much more so that it is spilling out all over the world. a group of people sick on bad koolaid and another group thinking nah I dont want a woman and blam 4 more years with drunken angry toddler driving the bus off a cliff. I cant believe with law firms media corporations all kneeling to the almighty racist grift that the Bun got the show!!! -
@franklinlopez @riotmuffin Wait, was that not Liam Rampos himself?
@mast0d0nphan @franklinlopez @riotmuffin no, child actor Lincoln Fox, @the_lincfox.
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@franklinlopez There was even a coquĆ wedged into the show for a moment.
Enjoy rewatching the performance.
@christopherbrown @franklinlopez we missed a coqui cameo?!
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Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


@franklinlopez Seems like it also speaks volumes that Temu Mussolini, in his TS rant about the show, didn't come out & say what he clearly wanted to: That he doesn't like it because it isn't White
ļø. Just a few months ago he would have said openly that he would be sending ICE. Apparently he isn't as sure of the appeal of baldfaced racism as he has been & while it should have NEVER come this far, that's still some significant writing on the wall.
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Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


@franklinlopez ”P'alante Boricua!
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Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


1/ You know, this is all so fascinating, and in many ways, my parents, family and ancestors can relate to.
Being from Northern Ireland, there was a time where speaking in Irish or even being Irish was condemned and 'criminalized' and it can be very violent too; especially during the times of the 'troubles,' as it's called. During those times when my parents moved to England for work, there existed bars and restaurants etc that had signs hung up that read 'No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs Allowed.' Learning that alone even surprised me, plus the other harassment from other people, even those in the police force, those experiences my parents told me made my blood boil. That's not even getting into the other experiences for family members face back then.
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1/ You know, this is all so fascinating, and in many ways, my parents, family and ancestors can relate to.
Being from Northern Ireland, there was a time where speaking in Irish or even being Irish was condemned and 'criminalized' and it can be very violent too; especially during the times of the 'troubles,' as it's called. During those times when my parents moved to England for work, there existed bars and restaurants etc that had signs hung up that read 'No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs Allowed.' Learning that alone even surprised me, plus the other harassment from other people, even those in the police force, those experiences my parents told me made my blood boil. That's not even getting into the other experiences for family members face back then.
2/ Of course, I personally never suffered like they had, and the North of Ireland had only recently officially expanded the teachings of the Irish language in schools across the land. I've only been taught specks of it. That said, I can't say I have a complete understanding of what the Puerto Ricans went through, but I can acknowledge the pain and suffering that they went through and the importance of exposing this history that the 'Bad Bunny' has shown in his performance.
Not for the sake of smearing a country, or to say 'these are bad people' (There's always going to be evil people anyway regardless of race or nationality), but rather to say 'THIS HAPPENED!! IT NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED, WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUFFERING THEY WENT THROUGH, AND WE SHOULD ALL LEARN THAT THIS SHOULD NEVER EVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!'
History does matters!!
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Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


@franklinlopez
My kid I thought that it was great! I hope I can watch an analysis video in a few weeks because I'm positive I missed 80% of what was going on. -
@riotmuffin @franklinlopez He showed tremendous restraint by not having one of them throw a roll of paper towels.
@riotmuffin @KateConnors for real!
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Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


@NicksWorld @franklinlopez So I didn't actually watch the half-time show because the radio feeds don't show it so I'm gonna have to go back and watch it. Still, thanks for describing it. I'm glad it resonated with a lot of people especially in this current time.
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@franklinlopez @virtualbri Amen
Also STATEHOOD NOW
The issue of statehood is a mixed bag for PR. The question for its people is in its choice of independence as a very small island nation or a closer codified State through Statehood. Right now it is a non-sovereign US territory that has "commonwealth" status, that is: self-governing without sovereignty and no Presidential vote or Congressional representation.
That coupled with its majority-minority Spanish speaking population and likely refusal of the GOP to accept PR Statehood, this leaves PR statehood unlikely.
Hawai'i is the closest corollary, as a majority minority racial demographic, a sugar cane/pineapple plantations workforce, very Democratic voters, and a strategic military base in 1959 - it only became a state because it was twined with GOP Alaska statehood to zero out the political balance.
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@christopherbrown @franklinlopez we missed a coqui cameo?!
@cascheranno @franklinlopez You must watch again!
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Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


@franklinlopez The beauty of those dancers, male and female, was extraordinary. Criticism of their dancing can be dismissed as puritanical nonsense.
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@franklinlopez @riotmuffin Wait, was that not Liam Rampos himself?
@mast0d0nphan @franklinlopez @riotmuffin
No it wasnāt Liam. They already put out a statement. The little boy was an actor supposed to represent BB in childhood. -
@franklinlopez @canadianglen and letās be honest. In terms of āsexy shitā that is one of the most subdued family friendly performances in the history of the Super Bowl. And doesāt Mr. Bunny make a specific point to say that women can do and dance and dress however they like because they have the power not him or any man.
I wish I understood more. But it was great. And I got the sugar cane reference at least. Big enough reference to drive a truck through.
@chris @canadianglen Quick clarification for friends before this turns into a whole thing:
When I said āsexy shit,ā that was shorthand for the objectification of women ā not some vague pearl-clutching about sex or bodies. I donāt want to minimize that impact at all. It matters. And yeah, itās 2026 ā Bad Bunny can absolutely do better on that front.
That said (and this is not a full-on defense), the song playing during that first part ā with a lot of women dancing ā was Yo Perreo Sola (āI twerk aloneā). And that song is literally a call for men to step the fuck back and let women exist, move, and express themselves without being touched, harassed, or claimed.
So yeah: both things can be true.
Thereās still a problem with how womenās bodies get framed ā and thereās also an intentional message there about autonomy and boundaries. -
@chris @canadianglen Quick clarification for friends before this turns into a whole thing:
When I said āsexy shit,ā that was shorthand for the objectification of women ā not some vague pearl-clutching about sex or bodies. I donāt want to minimize that impact at all. It matters. And yeah, itās 2026 ā Bad Bunny can absolutely do better on that front.
That said (and this is not a full-on defense), the song playing during that first part ā with a lot of women dancing ā was Yo Perreo Sola (āI twerk aloneā). And that song is literally a call for men to step the fuck back and let women exist, move, and express themselves without being touched, harassed, or claimed.
So yeah: both things can be true.
Thereās still a problem with how womenās bodies get framed ā and thereās also an intentional message there about autonomy and boundaries.@franklinlopez @canadianglen that is how I took your comment as well (objectification). i was aware of the meaning of the song. Though I only learned of that in my own Spanish class a week ago.
I am sure many many people watching would not have understood that. There is a lot of learning that needs to happen these days, and too many including a President, take it upon themselves to learn as little as possible, but I am glad we have artists like Bad Bunny doing this. That's how the world gets better. -
Right off the bat: I loved the #BadBunny halftime show.
Yeah, I could do without some of the over-the-top sexy shit ā but letās be real, thatās his bread and butter. Iām not excusing it, just saying: if thatās all you saw, you missed the whole damn point.From the very first image ā people cutting sugar cane ā this was political as hell. Sugar cane isnāt some random aesthetic. Itās the industrial agriculture imposed by the United States after they took over Puerto Rico in 1898. That was the moment communal farming was destroyed and Puerto Ricans were forced into brutal export agriculture for U.S. profit. That history matters.
The entire performance was an homage to the island I grew up in. The neighborhoods, the sounds, the colors, the references ā thereās so much nostalgia packed in there I honestly canāt even list it all. They went down the fucking list. Every Puerto Rican I know was watching this with tears in their eyes.
And maybe most important of all: he did the whole thing in Spanish. At a time when Spanish has basically been criminalized ā when people are afraid to speak it in public, afraid of having the āwrongā accent, especially after years of Trump-era racism ā that alone is a massive political act.
I need to rewatch it because thereās so much going on, but I wanted to put this out there now. Because I already know a lot of people arenāt going to get it at first glance.
But make no mistake: this wasnāt just a halftime show.
It was a huge cultural and political moment ā and for Puerto Ricans especially, it meant a hell of a lot.Ā”Pa'lante!


Bad Bunnyās Super Bowl halftime show wasnāt just a performance ā it was a statement about Puerto Rico, diaspora, language, colonization, and who gets to be seen as āAmerican.ā
You donāt have to like reggaetón. I donāt.
You donāt have to be a Bad Bunny fan. Iām not his biggest.But in a moment when Latinos are criminalized for speaking Spanish and having an accent, seeing our culture centered on the worldās biggest stage matters.
I break down why ā scene by scene, personal and political.
Read it here: https://amplifierfilms.ca/we-didnt-have-bad-bunny-back-then#BadBunny #SuperBowl #PuertoRico #LatinoVisibility #Culture #Identity
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