Halftime Show: Is the wholesomeness of the NFL M.I.A?

NFL v. MIA: we’ve mentioned issues related to this incident on this blog in the past.  But, if you ask me, it just got good.

Here’s the background: at the 2012 Superbowl, this little flip of the bird happenedduring the halftime show:

The NFL has since sued (in arbitration) M.I.A. (the bird-flippingartist in the video above) for $1.5 million.  The NFL’s claim?  It claims that M.I.A. breached her contract because the “offensive gesture”was “in flagrant disregard for the values that form the cornerstone of the NFLbrand and the Super Bowl.”  In the contract, she apparentlyacknowledged “the great value of the goodwill associated with the NFL and thetremendous public respect and reputation for wholesomeness enjoyed by theNFL.”

The case, it sounds, comes down to what is “offensive” andwhat exactly are the “wholesome” values of the NFL.  This FoxSports column does a great job explaining why thelawsuit is “laughable” – with video footage as evidence of just how wholesomethe NFL is.

A video of M.I.A. has recently surfaced.  In the video, she (rather articulately) explains the absurdity of the lawsuit.  As411Mania.com describes:

[M.I.A.] says the NFL is “scapegoating me into tryingto set the goalpost for what is offensive in America.” She notes that thepicture in which she is seen giving the middle finger also has a group ofsixteen year-old girls who were selected from a high school in Indianapolis whoare in cheerleader outfits with their “hips thrusted in the air, legs wideopen, in this very sexual…sexually provocative position.”

Here’s M.I.A. regarding the lawsuit, which she describes as  “a massive display of… powerful corporation dick shaking.”  In light of the 16-year-old cheerleaders on stage behind her, she frames the issue in the lawsuit as whether female sexual exploitation or empowerment is more offensive.  Interesting stuff:

[Meredith R. Miller]