The Super Bowl — the game that is to sports what the Mall of
America is to shopping — is over. The contest between the Seattle Seahawks and
the New England Patriots was admittedly more exciting than most, and Katy
Perry’s halftime show was a spectacle of smoke and mirrors (literally) to be
remembered. Of course, many people watching the extravaganza were as interested
in the commercials as the game itself.
The championship game has really become the Corporate
America Bowl, an electronic marketplace where Fortune 500 companies spend tens
of millions of dollars on 30 and 60 second mini-movies, competing for the
attention of a zillion prospective customers. Articles about who won the
commercial wars during the event are as numerous as articles about the team
that won the game.
Super Bowl Sunday is a celebration of consumption, a
sacrifice of men’s bodies to the god of materialism and capitalism, a super
shiny object drawing our attention from reality. It’s a violent contest
continuously interrupted by companies hawking their wares. I wonder if between
brawls to the death Ceasar allowed merchants to walk around the coliseum
selling figs and sandals?
I know, it’s tedious and redundant to criticize the Super
Bowl, but I had to get it out of my system. Can’t wait until next year.
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