Quick Thoughts on the Superbowl

I watched it (people at my church invited me to their Superbowl party).  I thought it was an exciting game, and I don’t even watch football!  The Baltimore Ravens ran up a seemingly insurmountable lead in the first half; the San Francisco 49ers made an impressive effort and almost caught up in the second half, but ultimately were unsuccessful.

A “blackout” (emergency lights were on the whole time) in the stadium after halftime delayed the game for a surprising 34 minutes.  It’s not clear that the government had anything to do with it, but it recalled the things Mark Steyn says about blackouts and storms.  (Is America “seizing up”?)

I thought it was interesting that Audi’s ad was about “bravery”, given that Audi’s Superbowl ad three years ago tried to glorify being a compliant wimp.  (Is Audi still doing damage control?)  Courage used to be considered one of the four cardinal virtues, but in our age seems to have all but disappeared from the public consciousness; so I’m happy to see this ad making some kind of gesture in favor of courage, however goofy and attenuated.

A Jeep ad features surprisingly explicit references to church and prayer as a normal part of life.  (This American Family Insurance ad may be doing a similar thing, around the 16-second mark, but I’m less sure about it.)  Sure, it’s in service of selling a car, but given that there are going to be ads (they’re part of the culture), I’d rather have a culture in which such things are intelligible and said than one in which they’re not.

• Update (February 5th, 2013):  Mary Rose Somarriba at Acculturated adds a brief discussion of the faith of the players.

(Should I note that the Superbowl also featured a few ads more and less joking about whether to make a deal with the devil?)

• Bud Light, “Journey” (they do)
• Bud Light, “Lucky Chair” (they do)
• Mercedes, “Soul” (he doesn’t)

See all yesterday’s Superbowl ads here.

In other news, Ashley McGuire at Acculturated argues that Beyoncé (the singer who did the halftime show) is more of a force for good in the culture than you might think.

She more or less said in an interview that her husband, Jay-Z, is the only man that she has ever slept with. In that same interview, she describes herself as a feminist, and says that relationships with strong women helped keep her from falling into “unhealthy relationships,” a polite way of saying lots of hooking up and sex.

She is of the rare celebrity breed that a) still gets married, and b) actually waits to have babies until married.

Even outside of the Hollywood bubble that is still a pretty big accomplishment these days, when the number of babies born out of wedlock has soared in recent years. It’s sort of sad to say Beyoncé can be a role model for today’s women, but, in a sense, it is true.

(Links and emphasis in original.)

I’m not sure I buy Mrs. McGuire’s implication that Beyoncé’s moves are “not a sexual dance”, but then, I wouldn’t know; I didn’t watch the halftime show.