Super Holiday

Well it was a great game. I was pulling for the Packers as my beloved Chargers choked this season. I know that my friends in Wisconsin are celebrating and ecstatic right now.

The Super Bowl is at a type of unofficial holiday in the United States. We technically do not get the day off but it functions as a holiday nonetheless. Holidays represent the culture celebrating them. We clearly see this in the Super Bowl.

For example, the halftime show is generally a big production and represents the popular culture of that day. Whether we like it or not the entertainment industry is an important part of our culture. The Super Bowl helps to reinforce this reality. After all we do not need a big musical production to play a football game. But we get one nonetheless.

Also the Super Bowl can also be known as the corporate bowl. Most of the ticket sold do not go to the fans of the competing teams but rather have been brought up by corporations who want to reward their employees and clients. We all know how important capitalism is in our society. The Super Bowl is merely reflective of that fact.

And of course who can forget the commercials. They have become almost as big as the game itself. Watching them gives one a great deal of insight into what is important in our society as advertisers are constantly attempting to find ways to convince us to buy stuff. I could do several blogs on the different commercials and how they reflect a variety of aspects in our society.

Whether you agree with my interpretations of the Super Bowl or not, it is clear that these elements, big halftime show, corporate tickets and commercials, are not necessary for the game. After all the purpose of the Super Bowl is to decide who is the best football team. These other things are rituals that are part of the Super Bowl holiday. We think of rituals as connected to religion. But we often have non-religious rituals. They help to remind us about our society and reinforce the values we have accepted. They perform this purpose in religion but also in other societal aspects as well.

There is nothing wrong with rituals. There is something wrong with just doing them and not thinking about them. I enjoy the commercials (can not say I enjoyed the halftime show, sorry) but I know that they are not the real purpose for the game. That allows me to accept the values I want from these rituals and avoid the messages I do not want to recieve. Recognizing the rituals in our lives can help us to become introspective about the messages that society offers to us.

Sincerely,

Trouble-Maker