Was the Super Bowl trying to be woke or glorious?
Nicole Russell
One perspective: Super Bowl 2023 showed a glorious America with differing views on race, sex, and talent. Another perspective: This Super Bowl wanted America to look woke first and great only second.
The Super Bowl hosted two different singers for two different anthems. Sheryl Lee Ralph, a black actress, sang the so-called black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Country crooner Chris Stapleton sang a ballad version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Are these representations of two different Americas, one America that is “woke” and another that is not, or do these two singers represent two different, but equally important racial and ethnic perspectives?
Similarly, this year’s military flyover consisted of all female fighter pilots. It’s hard to say if this was a powerful moment for gender parity in the military and America at large. Or whether this was simply a moment involving women being virtue-signaled for their sex, not their talent as fighter pilots.
Finally, the Super Bowl halftime show featured Rihanna singing a compilation of her hits. Clad in bright red, with backup singers wearing what looked like white hazmat suits, Rihanna seemed to lip-sync most of her songs. She was wearing an outfit that clearly showed off her second pregnancy. Though the singer has voiced support for abortion rights, she clearly had no trouble showing off her pregnant belly.
Top line: Maybe the Super Bowl organizers think that a show with different talent and views and people of different races demonstrates American ideals perfectly, or maybe they’ve given in to the woke mob.
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Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She is an opinion columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.