I typically stay away from things Pop Culture as I write on this blog. My aim is to really struggle with theology and following Jesus and the journey we walk together. However, I cannot help but give some reflections from yesterday's game, Superbowl 47. These are in no particular order.
1. Commercials: I've decided that the millions spent on commercial ads for the Superbowl aren't worth it for the business or the consumer. I remember a day when the commercials weren't made simply to be provocative, but rather were stunning an audience into thinking about their product. The commercials were a new way to give life to the breaks of the game and make people laugh all the while making us think of a product in a new light and enticing us to buy the product. Now it seems we have bowed to a god of sexual humor that says nothing in itself of the product and leaves us stunned only to want the game to return quicker and maybe walk out of the room the next break. Marketers, you can do better! Accept the challenge and advertise your product for what it can do. Don't just simply try to shock us so we will see your branding. We are already desensitized to the junk that media puts before us and you should fill a different bucket within us that has become empty, like truth or genuineness. I challenge any marketing company to sell their product without using sexual images or content or illusions. I dare you to try it!
2. Sexually Explicit Material: Okay so the commercials were filled with this kind of thing. I don't go out and buy a website domain because a pretty girl chooses to kiss a nerdy kid. There are so many wrongs with that commercial and it suffices to say that the company has taken a wrong turn and could use some Marketing 101. The Superbowl is the most-watched show all year. Which means that all ages are watching. From my 4 year old boys to my 89 year old grandpa. Is it really necessary (we won't event ask about appropriateness) to fill our minds with endless sexual content for the mere purpose of buying a product or being entertained at halftime. This isn't just the Superbowl, but any professional football game I have watched this season. You feel great seeing your 4 year old excited about the game and then when the half-dressed model-esque girl comes on the screen when there is a commercial, you want to take your kid, run and hide. I'm thankful for DVR so I can watch a little late and fast forward through commercials.
3. The Model and The "nerd" commercial: Okay these are two wrongs that don't make a right. We have elevated the idea that every girl should look some kind of mythical, model, perfect. That a "hot" girl is the kind of girl every girl should be. I am about to be a dad of a girl. I don't want her to be "hot", I want her to be godly. I don't want her to be perfect, I want her to be genuine. I never thought I would be so countercultural, but this untruth about beauty is causing me to swim upstream. Beauty is not in our skin, our figure, our hair, our smile, or our "attributes." Our beauty comes from adorning ourselves with a cloak of Jesus and living for His kingdom. I'm sure my daughter and I will have this argument in about 13 years. And I'm sure I'm right. The commercial also puts the contrast to test with having the geeky kid with rosy cheeks who would be thrilled in life to have a girl like the one next to him. So, we are telling the world that it is awfully wrong to be smart and look different than the muscle magazines at the store. This commercial is taking steps back into an ever evolving culture. This is not right. It is not right when we give the message to the world that to be "normal" means that you are lucky to ever be extraordinary. Who makes the culture rules that we must look or be a certain way in order to be extraordinary. I'm teaching my children that in order to be extraordinary we must align ourselves with Father, Son and Spirit. As Christians we have a different measuring stick. I worked with teenage students for 16 years and it never failed that we had to fight the battle of self-image and that God sees us as perfect in Him. The "nerd" doesn't need any help knowing that they have become the bottom of the social food chain and the "model" doesn't need any more pressure to keep themselves atop it. Get a new idea, preferably a good one.
4. Halftime Show: It seems to me that this may have been the first time that the Superbowl has tested the waters again with a performer that attracts the young and hip. Beyonce no doubt is a great performer. I loved the music. I thought she sounded good and was impressed with her ability to be so energetic and on top of her game. However, I would have preferred that she had worn a different outfit. Again this goes back to my comments about the unnecessary sexualization. I personally could have done without the other two from Destiny's child. I didn't think they added much to the show. I was glad she had them exit early. By the way they looked, they were probably happy about that too.
5. The San Francisco 49ers: I think every 49ers fan in the first half was hoping Joe Montana and Jerry Rice would suit up. They were embarrassing to watch in the first half and I would have loved to been a fly on the wall, when Jim Harbaugh gave them their halftime talk. In the end though they made it a respectable game and should have got the holding call in the end zone. They would have won with that call. Can you imagine if we would have still had the replacement refs.
6. Baltimore Ravens: They won
7. Power Outage: Does it really surprise anyone that a power outage would take place at New Orleans. I don't think so. My friend, Adam, and I got on Facebook just to laugh at all the power outage jokes from our friends posts. The buffalo wild wings, George W. Bush, and Ray Lewis references were my favorite. And what truly made me laugh out loud was that a new stat appeared. "Yardage after the Power Outage." If I ever find a time machine and come back to February 3, 2013 I want to place all my money on a bet that there will be a power outage at the Superbowl. While never expected, since it was in New Orleans, it wasn't surprising either.
8. Ray Lewis Quoting Romans 8:31: I will probably be in a minority amongst my preaching/ministry buddies. I am not that upset by his comment. Has he taken way too much liberty with the passage and used it completely out of context? Yes. Does he look somewhat silly saying that? Probably. Has he been caught up in the health and wealth nature of the gospel being preached today? It looks that way. Is he a theologian? No. Is he trying to do exegesis? No. He is a football player who believes in God and is willing to say that publicly. He is an acquitted killer. He is retiring from a game that gave him everything he has. He is having a moment people. A good moment. And he mentions God. Give him a break. Don't worry about God and His word. They are unshakeable and even the mighty Ray Lewis cannot take these things out of the game. He could have said that Satan gave him extraordinary power to fight for darkness. But he didn't. He simply thinks that God has 47 Superbowl rings and chose this particular instance to allow Ray Lewis to not have defeat be against him. And let's be honest, whoever has never taken scripture out of context for their own situation throw the first stone.
9. Harbaugh Brothers: This was an interesting story line for the Superbowl. It certainly wasn't the only story line, but it was a good one. I cannot imagine this game doing much in the way of good for their relationship. However, they might be comfortable with the amount of competition this brings. I hope this doesn't harm their relationship. What is evident is that they are both pretty good coaches and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a harbowl again.
10. The End of the Season: I am always a little sad after the Superbowl. It is the last football game of the season and we wait until the fall for the next season. Football is my favorite sport. I'm looking forward to my Houston Texans making another legitimate run for Superbowl 48. A man can dream right? And obviously he can rant too!
1. Commercials: I've decided that the millions spent on commercial ads for the Superbowl aren't worth it for the business or the consumer. I remember a day when the commercials weren't made simply to be provocative, but rather were stunning an audience into thinking about their product. The commercials were a new way to give life to the breaks of the game and make people laugh all the while making us think of a product in a new light and enticing us to buy the product. Now it seems we have bowed to a god of sexual humor that says nothing in itself of the product and leaves us stunned only to want the game to return quicker and maybe walk out of the room the next break. Marketers, you can do better! Accept the challenge and advertise your product for what it can do. Don't just simply try to shock us so we will see your branding. We are already desensitized to the junk that media puts before us and you should fill a different bucket within us that has become empty, like truth or genuineness. I challenge any marketing company to sell their product without using sexual images or content or illusions. I dare you to try it!
2. Sexually Explicit Material: Okay so the commercials were filled with this kind of thing. I don't go out and buy a website domain because a pretty girl chooses to kiss a nerdy kid. There are so many wrongs with that commercial and it suffices to say that the company has taken a wrong turn and could use some Marketing 101. The Superbowl is the most-watched show all year. Which means that all ages are watching. From my 4 year old boys to my 89 year old grandpa. Is it really necessary (we won't event ask about appropriateness) to fill our minds with endless sexual content for the mere purpose of buying a product or being entertained at halftime. This isn't just the Superbowl, but any professional football game I have watched this season. You feel great seeing your 4 year old excited about the game and then when the half-dressed model-esque girl comes on the screen when there is a commercial, you want to take your kid, run and hide. I'm thankful for DVR so I can watch a little late and fast forward through commercials.
3. The Model and The "nerd" commercial: Okay these are two wrongs that don't make a right. We have elevated the idea that every girl should look some kind of mythical, model, perfect. That a "hot" girl is the kind of girl every girl should be. I am about to be a dad of a girl. I don't want her to be "hot", I want her to be godly. I don't want her to be perfect, I want her to be genuine. I never thought I would be so countercultural, but this untruth about beauty is causing me to swim upstream. Beauty is not in our skin, our figure, our hair, our smile, or our "attributes." Our beauty comes from adorning ourselves with a cloak of Jesus and living for His kingdom. I'm sure my daughter and I will have this argument in about 13 years. And I'm sure I'm right. The commercial also puts the contrast to test with having the geeky kid with rosy cheeks who would be thrilled in life to have a girl like the one next to him. So, we are telling the world that it is awfully wrong to be smart and look different than the muscle magazines at the store. This commercial is taking steps back into an ever evolving culture. This is not right. It is not right when we give the message to the world that to be "normal" means that you are lucky to ever be extraordinary. Who makes the culture rules that we must look or be a certain way in order to be extraordinary. I'm teaching my children that in order to be extraordinary we must align ourselves with Father, Son and Spirit. As Christians we have a different measuring stick. I worked with teenage students for 16 years and it never failed that we had to fight the battle of self-image and that God sees us as perfect in Him. The "nerd" doesn't need any help knowing that they have become the bottom of the social food chain and the "model" doesn't need any more pressure to keep themselves atop it. Get a new idea, preferably a good one.
4. Halftime Show: It seems to me that this may have been the first time that the Superbowl has tested the waters again with a performer that attracts the young and hip. Beyonce no doubt is a great performer. I loved the music. I thought she sounded good and was impressed with her ability to be so energetic and on top of her game. However, I would have preferred that she had worn a different outfit. Again this goes back to my comments about the unnecessary sexualization. I personally could have done without the other two from Destiny's child. I didn't think they added much to the show. I was glad she had them exit early. By the way they looked, they were probably happy about that too.
5. The San Francisco 49ers: I think every 49ers fan in the first half was hoping Joe Montana and Jerry Rice would suit up. They were embarrassing to watch in the first half and I would have loved to been a fly on the wall, when Jim Harbaugh gave them their halftime talk. In the end though they made it a respectable game and should have got the holding call in the end zone. They would have won with that call. Can you imagine if we would have still had the replacement refs.
6. Baltimore Ravens: They won
7. Power Outage: Does it really surprise anyone that a power outage would take place at New Orleans. I don't think so. My friend, Adam, and I got on Facebook just to laugh at all the power outage jokes from our friends posts. The buffalo wild wings, George W. Bush, and Ray Lewis references were my favorite. And what truly made me laugh out loud was that a new stat appeared. "Yardage after the Power Outage." If I ever find a time machine and come back to February 3, 2013 I want to place all my money on a bet that there will be a power outage at the Superbowl. While never expected, since it was in New Orleans, it wasn't surprising either.
8. Ray Lewis Quoting Romans 8:31: I will probably be in a minority amongst my preaching/ministry buddies. I am not that upset by his comment. Has he taken way too much liberty with the passage and used it completely out of context? Yes. Does he look somewhat silly saying that? Probably. Has he been caught up in the health and wealth nature of the gospel being preached today? It looks that way. Is he a theologian? No. Is he trying to do exegesis? No. He is a football player who believes in God and is willing to say that publicly. He is an acquitted killer. He is retiring from a game that gave him everything he has. He is having a moment people. A good moment. And he mentions God. Give him a break. Don't worry about God and His word. They are unshakeable and even the mighty Ray Lewis cannot take these things out of the game. He could have said that Satan gave him extraordinary power to fight for darkness. But he didn't. He simply thinks that God has 47 Superbowl rings and chose this particular instance to allow Ray Lewis to not have defeat be against him. And let's be honest, whoever has never taken scripture out of context for their own situation throw the first stone.
9. Harbaugh Brothers: This was an interesting story line for the Superbowl. It certainly wasn't the only story line, but it was a good one. I cannot imagine this game doing much in the way of good for their relationship. However, they might be comfortable with the amount of competition this brings. I hope this doesn't harm their relationship. What is evident is that they are both pretty good coaches and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a harbowl again.
10. The End of the Season: I am always a little sad after the Superbowl. It is the last football game of the season and we wait until the fall for the next season. Football is my favorite sport. I'm looking forward to my Houston Texans making another legitimate run for Superbowl 48. A man can dream right? And obviously he can rant too!
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