The Laura Ingraham Show this morning had a big discussion about the odd part of Prince's performance of "Purple Rain" during the Super Bowl halftime show last night. Prince is obviously self-impressed with the symbol he used for a name for a few years (the TAFKAP Era, for The Artist Formerly Known As Prince). Not only was there a huge symbol on the stage, it was also the shape of his guitar.
So many people thought putting Prince behind a flapping curtain with a spotlight so you could see him in silhouette playing his odd guitar sent an obvious er, male-genitalia message last night. Was this just a dramatic flourish gone awry? Some sort of Austin Powers hommage? And why would CBS let it slip through their censors after the Janet Jackson Wardrobe Malfunction of 2004? Anyone else think of old Prince lyrics about the "lion in his pocket"?
Did anyone else notice that Prince was in a turquoise suit with orange shirt, which was surely a sartorial hat tip to the local Miami Dolphins fans? I'm not sure even Deion Sanders would attempt it. But I guess he's worn a pink suit, so maybe he would -- if Miami had signed him to a massive contract.
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Prince
February 5, 2007 - 14:42 ET by rbosqueThis crossed my mind too (at the time). But since CBS likes to take cheap shots at people's sensibilities, it wouldn't surprise me if this was intentional.
Funny. That is the first t
February 5, 2007 - 14:43 ET by MassConservativeFunny. That is the first thing we discussed after the curtain came up.
1. It seemed completely out of place in the context of the whole halftime show
2. I wonder if they are trying to pull a fast one (no pun intended) on the FCC.
We will have to see if there is any further noise from the FCC on this. My guess is if enough nut jobs complain you will here more about this in the next few days.
I posted somewhere else about
February 5, 2007 - 14:51 ET by bigtimerI posted somewhere else about this today already, but of course it was intentional, I just do not think it was needed for a world-wide audience that includes children and may have offended a lot of people, heck I noticed it right away, it was obvious.
There a tons of people who can put on a show without any of the symbols and propaganda....they just cannot seem to help themselves. It's always a stick in the eye to some people from the leftists...always.
Great job Colts! Whoo-hoo! You are the Champions this year!
Hmmm. Silly me, I was thinkin
February 5, 2007 - 14:53 ET by inquiringmindHmmm. Silly me, I was thinking , do they have all of that electrical equipment grounded? We might get a real show if not!
Also with the curtain, I was wondering what they would have done if the curtain had gotten too wet and wouldn't flap in the wind?
Sorry, didn't notice the symbolism until it was pointed out.
Yep sounds like they were try
February 5, 2007 - 17:57 ET by Dan The Man 2Yep sounds like they were trying to do a quickie...
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark. -- save my gun, shoot a liberal.
I'm just glad I TiVo'ed the g
February 5, 2007 - 14:50 ET by ValendilI'm just glad I TiVo'ed the game so I could Fast Forward through halftime, and the commericals in the second half. (girlfriend wanted to watch the commericals during the first half, lucky for me they repeated after halftime!!) And I still got to watch the game in "live time".
Tim
February 5, 2007 - 14:53 ET by Noel SheppardTim,
C'mon. Rock guitarists have been doing this "move" on stage for decades. Frankly, it wouldn't at all surprise me if Chuck Berry was the first.
Go rent yourself a copy of "Monterey Pop" or "Jimi Plays Berkeley" and see what Hendrix used to do to his guitar during solos. Makes what Prince did last night look like a Disney picture by comparison. :-)
BTW: Prince stole most of his guitar-style from Jimi, including Hendrix's fascination with the color "purple". They didn't call him Purple Jimi for nothing. :-)
Given Prince's proclivity for hyper-sexuality on stage, and the presence of two very lovely female singers up there with him, this was about as tame a performance that I've ever seen from this guy. ns
Noel, I understand this isn't
February 5, 2007 - 15:12 ET by Tim GrahamNoel, I understand this isn't saying hello to Janet Jackson's nipple jewelry. But was "Jimi Plays Berkeley" aired before the biggest TV audience of the year? That makes a difference. Prince's ultra-sexual rep should add fuel to the controversy, not cool it. I would expect the FCC to punt this one since no crude words were spoken, and it could be argued that viewers were reading too much into it.
If you want to find a way t
February 5, 2007 - 15:26 ET by balboaIf you want to find a way to be offended by an otherwise innocuous moment, you'll find a way.
This was tame compared to t
February 5, 2007 - 16:19 ET by sarcasmoThis was tame compared to the bipartisan-outrage of the lyrics of his very-sexy song, "Darling Nikki" (a milestone in attempted-censorship I'm surprised you -- as NB's pop-culturist -- didn't mention, Bal!). Those lyrics ultimately led to the late Frank Zappa's kickass testimony refuting Tipper Gore & her fellow censorious politicos on C-SPAN -- what a great show Frank put on that day...
JMR
Sarc
February 5, 2007 - 16:42 ET by Noel SheppardJ,
Refresh my memory. What was the fuss about "Darling Nikki?" Was it the line about her in a "hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine?"
As a Zappa fan, I certainly remember his testimony. However, I don't remember this song being in the crosshairs. ns
Noel, "Darling Nikki&quo
February 5, 2007 - 17:03 ET by Roger the ShrubberNoel, "Darling Nikki" was #1 on the PMRC's "Filthy Fifteen"... I am proud to say I was a big follower of numerous bands in the list.
No, Bal, I do not mean Sheena Easton (before you ask hahaha)...
Roger
February 5, 2007 - 17:11 ET by Noel SheppardRoger,
That's some list. Just imagine, Madonna's "Dress You Up" was on it. Here are the lyrics:
Man, if this is what Tipper thought was vulgar, no wonder Al spends so much time touring the country doing slide shows!!! :-) ns
I agree. I always thought Tip
February 5, 2007 - 17:29 ET by Roger the ShrubberI agree. I always thought Tipper was lazy in her song selection. I mean, if you're going to pick lyrics from Mercyful Fate and Venom, there are plenty more "evil" songs to pick from than the ones she did. MF, for instance, had a song devoted to Satanism, and Venom did a 20+ minute opus on the downfall of Heaven. Come on, Tipper, put a little effort into it, will ya?
Legend has it "Darling
February 5, 2007 - 17:24 ET by sarcasmoLegend has it "Darling Nikki" was the very song that sent Tipper Gore & various others over the edge. Listen to it sometime and you can kinda hear why they'd object -- it's sexy without being explicit, in a very teasing and tasteful way IMO -- but others obviously disagreed enough to ignore a variety of real problems & instead concentrate resources on trying to repress sexy-stuff. Nothing ever changes.
JMR
Sarc
February 5, 2007 - 18:15 ET by Noel SheppardJ,
Amazing. I liked this song when it came out. Maybe this says something about me, but I thought it was charming in its own perverse way. And, it's a great part of the movie.
Of course, this raises another issue: when you look at the perversion and mysogyny in today's music by comparison, maybe Tipper was right, and one of my favorite composers of all time (FZ) was wrong.
(Please note the obvious softball I've thrown that I fully expect you to whack out of the Libertarian park!) :-) ns
Noel
February 5, 2007 - 18:35 ET by balboaWeasels ripped my flesh, Noel. Ripped it right off.
Balboa
February 5, 2007 - 18:46 ET by Noel SheppardB,
Yes they did. And, even though they were only in it for the money, this one size fits all band was absolutely free to become an overnight sensation doing strictly commercial things you can't do on stage anymore as lead by the grand wazoo himself. :-) ns
Ah, Darling Nikki, one of the
February 5, 2007 - 18:19 ET by balboaAh, Darling Nikki, one of the highlights of middle school when we "discovered" Prince's 1999 album.
But then he did "Gett Off," which is a cool, funky song, and even less subtle, "Cream."
I haven't heard Prince put out a good song in a really long time. He had some great stuff.
...and then he did "Sexy
February 5, 2007 - 20:34 ET by Hero Squad...and then he did "Sexy MF," which was totally off the hook, and totally hilarious.
*****
"I thought you might say something stupid... or liberal." - Frank Barone
Tim
February 5, 2007 - 15:30 ET by Noel SheppardTim,
Well, for what it's worth, I actually sent my daughter out of the room during the "wardrobe malfunction" Super Bowl well before Jackson got on stage due to the overt sexuality and misogyny being exhibited. By contrast, there wasn't anything that I saw last evening that made me at all squeamish about her watching.
Maybe I've seen this move by guitarists for so many years that I've grown desensitized. Or, I recognize that it's really just a guitar he's stroking, and any conclusion to the contrary might be more a function of my dirty mind than his. :-) ns
I find this innocent compared
February 5, 2007 - 16:42 ET by mattmI find this innocent compared to half of the typical commercials aired during football games and about 3/4 of typical prime time T.V.
Folks, come on. Aren't the
February 5, 2007 - 14:59 ET by The Wicked ConservativeFolks, come on. Aren't there enough overt attacks on decency in America. Worrying about crap like this will marginalize us like liberal cooks. Let's not be weenies.
The only thing evil needs to succeed, is for good people to nothing about it.
TWC...I personally do not car
February 5, 2007 - 15:12 ET by bigtimerTWC...
I personally do not care one way or the other, all kids are grown, but the question for some people I guess was this needed on the half-time show...
IMO...they could of done without it just fine, and who would of cared one way or the other, that way, nobody would of been offended, you wouldn't think anyway.
Oh well, whatever will be will be.
All I cared about was the game! A good one at that!
I'm with you BT. I don't w
February 5, 2007 - 15:30 ET by The Wicked ConservativeI'm with you BT. I don't want to explain that to my 5 year old. But neither my 5 year old or I even noticed the offense. One of the biggest problems with the US right now is the apparent confusion about ones constitutional right to never be offended. And everyone is just looking for things to offend them.
The only thing evil needs to succeed, is for good people to nothing about it.
My kids were out of the room
February 5, 2007 - 16:50 ET by msh1973My kids were out of the room at half-time, but no one I was watching it with mentioned anything about the sexual reference. We must all be naive. Indeed Prince is a talented musician (my husband, who also plays the guitar says Prince is one of the best) Also on Laura Ingraham the 20'something staff members were not impressed with Prince or the performance.
YEA COLTS!
I thought it was hilarious, a
February 5, 2007 - 15:45 ET by Hero SquadI thought it was hilarious, and totally intentional on Prince's part. As my wife estutely pointed out during the broadcast, it was very reminiscient of a sight gag used with Austin Powers and Mini Me. It was cheeky, deliberate, and totally a Prince moment.
I think what we saw was Prince trying to sneak something risque past the no-doubt still shell-shocked CBS filters... and Prince winning.
I'd also say that The Artist Formerly Known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince apparently thinks very highly of himself.
*****
"I thought you might say something stupid... or liberal." - Frank Barone
Carey Elwes did this same thi
February 5, 2007 - 22:07 ET by MikeBCarey Elwes did this same thing in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights"...sorta.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Okay, maybe I am not up on st
February 5, 2007 - 16:00 ET byOkay, maybe I am not up on stuff like this, but I don't get it. It was just a weird guitar. No?
It was whatever you wanted
February 5, 2007 - 20:56 ET by Hero SquadIt was whatever you wanted it to be.
*****
"I thought you might say something stupid... or liberal." - Frank Barone
Offended by Prince
February 5, 2007 - 16:00 ET by CTFor me Orange Bowl and Super Bowl halftime shows ceased being entertaining years ago when they devolved to talent less unspectacular extravaganzas. I wasn't expecting much from what I remembered to be a vulgar little prince, but the pathetic squealing noise forced me to change the channel. As I never bothered to switch back to the game I wasn’t assaulted by his pornographic screen puppet show. His noise was offensive enough.
I'm fairly certain a sugges
February 5, 2007 - 16:19 ET by Hero SquadI'm fairly certain a suggestive shadow puppet does not equate to porn.
As for the talent of the performer. You are quite obviously getting that confused with taste. Prince may not suit your tastes, but the man has immense talent as a guitarist, singer, songwriter and musician. That cannot be denied without putting on blinders.
He's also hugely misunderstood because of his sexuality, and most people ignore the heavily faith-based themes in many of his songs, such as "The Ladder":
And, of course, "Let's Go Crazy" is heavily influenced by his faith.
Granted, I do understand why some may feel that the whole of the "Dirty Mind" album may negate his Christian themes to some. He's certainly not a Christian artist.
He sees sensuality and sexuality as something less offensive than others do. And at no time does he incorporate violence or does he demean women in his lyrics.
Obviously, I find him to be a very intriguing artist. My only disappointment was that he didn't perform just songs from his own immense catalog.
And it's also amazing that he looks like he hasn't aged a day in 25 years. Does he have a secret that perhaps he could share with Billy Joel?
*****
"I thought you might say something stupid... or liberal." - Frank Barone
Offensive NOISE not pornogrphy.
February 5, 2007 - 16:48 ET by CTEXCUSE ME for suggesting that a tasteless musician was talent less. I wasn't watching the screen when I heard this God-awful noise that caused me to change the channel. What I wrote was "His noise was offensive enough." I didn't see his puppet show.
"And it's also amazing
February 5, 2007 - 19:23 ET by ckc1227"And it's also amazing that he looks like he hasn't aged a day in 25 years."
That's what struck me the most, well, that and the attractive young women dancing around him. I couldn't believe neither of them fell, dancing around on that wet stage in those high heels.
Liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid.
Why yes, Vanity, Prince hasn'
February 5, 2007 - 19:43 ET by Roger the ShrubberWhy yes, Vanity, Prince hasn't aged THAT well...
Wow, the guy needs hip surg
February 5, 2007 - 21:07 ET by Hero SquadWow, the guy needs hip surgery and he still put on a killer show that they are calling "the best half-time performance ever"? Amazing
I think Prince could make pocket protectors cool.
*****
"I thought you might say something stupid... or liberal." - Frank Barone