The questions are all so compelling: Did Janet Jackson do it on purpose? Was it all planned, or was it really a “wardrobe malfunction,” as stated afterward by Justin Timberlake?
These are the questions that are being asked by the national media and by millions of citizens of this country. We're hearing more information about "nipple shields" than we'll ever want to know. And not surprisingly, we’re hearing far more about these two performers after this incident than would have been the case after a “normal” performance.
But with so much attention being paid to the mind-numbing idiocy of this act, we seem to have lost touch with another, more sinister story. While people spend their energy blaming two artists who have no clue as to the impact of their action, we’ve taken responsibility out of the hands of a number of people who should know better.
Somewhere in this mess there are television executives who made the decision to present a song with the lyrics, “I’m gonna have you naked by the end of this song.” In front of 89 million viewers, and this was what they came up with.
Somewhere in Ohio, a man with his 8-year-old daughter was watching the half-time show of the Super Bowl.
What does this father say to his daughter after seeing this song performed on what is probably the “biggest stage” in the world? On a stage that’s big enough to lend acceptability to these kinds of songs and lyrics?
After all, this isn’t some seedy video shown late on a weekend night. This is the Super Bowl—this is the showcase of American culture.
I hope that this father would have the courage to talk to his daughter about the values that are important to him and how unhappy he was with the half-time show. It’s too bad that a conversation like this would have to occur during the middle of the biggest sporting event in this country.
And while this conversation was happening, there were TV executives blaming Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for their “deplorable stunt.”
I wonder if they have any young daughters at home.
Happy Fathering,
Mark Brandenburg M.A., C.P.P.C., C.S.C.
Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, is the author of “25 Secrets of Emotionally Intelligent Fathers” (http://www.markbrandenburg.com/e_book.htm#secrets.
For more great tips and action steps for fathers, sign up for his FREE bi-weekly newsletter, “Dads, Don’t Fix Your Kids,” at http://www.markbrandenburg.com.
