With A Grateful Heart by Chris Gil

This year, it was just the three of us at home for the Super Bowl. My wonderful partner, ever the rules explainer, refreshed me on the game, and seemed to enjoy that task more than his beer (even though I remember the rules). We were cheering for the Seahawks this time, marveling at their defensive dominance, when my teenage daughter finally arrived. Her only reason for watching the game with us was Benito’s halftime show.

I will be honest. I did not know Bad Bunny’s music very well and I was not a big fan. Social media had painted him in a certain light, and his genre is not exactly my cup of tea, even though I am U.S. American-Caribbean, and also Spanish speaking. The thing is that as soon as the performance started, my daughter and I got into it. We caught the references, danced around the living room, and laughed at every exciting moment. My partner, ever polite, smiled at our excitement, enjoying our happiness while quietly feeling a bit out of place, almost left out of his own party, not just because he doesn’t understand Spanish, but also because there was no way he could grasp the cultural references.

Even though I did not know much about the artist beforehand, as a Latina I connected deeply with the culture, the music, and the symbolism. For my partner, it was a different experience. He appreciated the performance and loved seeing us happy, but he also felt excluded from what has always felt like his space, the Super Bowl, an event he usually takes pride in explaining to me every single time.

When the Seahawks won 29 to 13 over the Patriots, our conversation shifted. The halftime show sparked intense reactions online, and it also sparked a big conversation and debate in our little family. I had been seeing people boil over because the performance was in Spanish, there were too many different flags, it was not American enough, you name it. And honestly, we boiled in a little debate too. To understand our dynamic, it helps to know that we are three people with very different perspectives. My partner is an engineer, so he has a more practical, solution-focused view; my daughter is heading to college to begin her medical journey, so she tends to think more linearly and methodically; and I am a psychologist, so I like to see the bigger, holistic picture in everything. Our discussions are rich, informed, and often challenging. I encourage my daughter to go directly to sources, think critically, forming her own opinions rather than relying solely on social media or headlines.

Seeing the reactions online over the past couple of days has been eye-opening. The halftime show often celebrates a wide range of music and culture, yet when it was performed entirely in Spanish, reactions became mixed. Some viewers felt surprised or excluded because they were accustomed to English in mainstream media or associated the Super Bowl with a traditional idea of American culture. Others embraced it as a reflection of the country’s diversity and multicultural reality. Social media amplifies negative reactions, making them seem larger than they are, even though millions of fans, including 40 million Latinos-Hispanics in the United States, enjoyed the performance. This group represents one of the largest international NFL markets, alongside roughly 19.3 million non-Spanish-speaking mixed-culture fans, representing together about 15% of all fans. About 70% of NFL fans identify as White Americans, and around 14–15% identify as African American. Given these demographics, I can understand why so many people felt left out of the party this year (just as the love of my life did) and perhaps even last year during Lamar’s performance.

Maybe the solution is simpler than we think. Like a child at a playdate whose parent gently encourages them to share their favorite toy with the rest of the kids, cultural spaces sometimes require guidance, patience, and generosity from everyone involved. Sharing does not mean losing ownership, and inclusion does not mean exclusion in return. It means allowing room for curiosity, for learning, and for seeing joy through someone else’s eyes. When we approach these moments with that mindset, they become less about division and more about connection, which is exactly what shared cultural experiences are meant to be.

Hopefully, future halftime shows can find that middle ground, where more people feel seen, curious, and invited to enjoy the party together. In the meantime, I want to hold on to this year’s Super Bowl halftime message: The only thing more powerful than hate is love.