Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance felt like a nonstop party, but beneath the vibrant staging and dancing was a densely layered visual essay on Puerto Rico's history. While much of the online narrative focuses on whether the show was "understandable," "entertaining" or "political," the deeper cultural storytelling was woven through the staging.
From the field itself to the electric poles to a child sleeping on chairs, this halftime show was full of references and symbolism. I grew up in Puerto Rico, and to my family and me, these references were immediate and obvious. But I realize that without the lived experience, those visual cues were easy to miss.
Consider this your cheat sheet for the moments that stood out to Latinos like me and what they actually mean.
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The sugar cane field and the legacy of labor
The Puerto Rican superstar opened the halftime show by walking through a field of uneven, textured grass, referencing the history of sugar cane plantations. Sugar cane is inseparable from the island's colonial history, from Spanish rule to US territory. Agricultural workers in the Caribbean built an economy that exported wealth while extracting resources from the island.
While walking through this field to the beat of Tití Me Preguntó, Bad Bunny made a few cultural references, too. We saw older men playing dominoes next to the house, a long-standing tradition still seen today in town plazas. The singer also passed between two men boxing, which I think was a nod to Tito Trinidad, a former Puerto Rican professional boxer who holds multiple world championships.
All the big Latino stars in 'La Casita'
We cannot ignore the many Latino celebrities who were present, dancing at the little pink-and-yellow house that accurately represents what houses on the island look like. I recognized Pedro Pascal (Chilean), Cardi B (Dominican), Karol G (Colombian) and Young Miko (Puerto Rican). To me, having all these artists from the Americas here represents the welcoming of people of all nationalities into his "home."
The electrical utility poles during 'El Apagón'
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