Is love controversial? Are we in disagreement about love? How frequently is love misinterpreted?

I’ve had these questions while going through social media lately. If one person makes a post offering their perception of peace, people in the comments write back with verbal eye rolls. If you condemn violence within a government institution, eyes will roll. Even if you perform a Super Bowl halftime show and declare that “the only thing more powerful than hate is love,” eyes will roll– including the president’s. 

Have we politicized love?

It’s no secret that social media has played a significant role in polarizing us, not only in America but worldwide as well. When feeds are curated to serve specific individuals and their beliefs, it’s unlikely they will crawl out of that safe space for too long. When they do, they still fall victim to confirmation bias, or the tendency to interpret information in a way that aligns with their existing perspective. 

In an age of such division, disinformation and general confusion, we will not agree on anything if it comes from the mouth of our supposed opposition, no matter what the message is. We do not allow art to act as the bridge it is meant to be; we instead twist it until it forms a weapon to be used against the artist. 

Take this week’s Super Bowl halftime show as an example. 

Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, is an artist from Puerto Rico. With how outspoken he has been on the federal government’s immigration policy, I anticipated there would be backlash regardless of the show he put on. Still, I was surprised to see the criticisms he received, given the message his performance conveyed. 

There were fears that the show would be a highly politicized act of protest (with AI-generated photos of him burning the American flag on stage circulating). Instead, he used culture as a means of resistance. The set of sugar cane and power lines symbolized Puerto Rico’s past and present. It was a performance labeled by the New York Times and Rolling Stone as “joyful” and “an upbeat blowout.”

One of the show’s most striking moments came at the end, as flags of every country in the Americas paraded across the field and a football was held up bearing the words “TOGETHER, WE ARE AMERICA.” 

And that was that. No flags burned. No contentious attack. It was a message of unity. 

Are we so comfortable in our divide that it is our instinct to shun unity?

In quoting President Trump’s Truth Social statement, the performance was “just a slap in the face to our Country,” and there was “nothing inspirational about this mess.” Yes, art is subjective and will mean different things to different people. But for the leader of the land of the free to call such a show an “affront to the Greatness of America” seems to me a bit counterintuitive. 

The greatness of America is its underdog tale, its tradition of resilience and strength, and its multitudes. When you strip Bad Bunny’s performance to its bare bones and analyze it free of prejudice, it emphasizes these same qualities. The acknowledgement of Puerto Rico’s suffering in colonization, the exuberance that exists in spite of it, and the bringing together of all the backgrounds that make us America. 

Art is like any other avenue of education; it is here to teach us. In an article in The British Journal of Aesthetics, philosopher Vid Simoniti states that art, especially politically motivated art, holds a special duty in informing the public because of its ability to convey emotion in a way that goes deeper than words alone. However, that is useless if the viewer fails to contextualize the piece. If we do not task ourselves with a quest for understanding, we make it so easy to accept crooked angles as straight-on; we are separated from the artist’s intention by letting our assumptions cloud our vision. 

When engaging with art, it is best to interpret it simply through a human lens. Not through a left-wing or right-wing lens. Simply as humans. Labels prevent us from attempting to dig deeper and empathize. 

I don’t think we should all be in constant agreement with one another and see everything through the same two eyes. That would negate the very diversity that makes art so personal and effective. But it is crucial to consider the circumstances in which something was created and understand the artist’s motivation before you can accurately or meaningfully critique it. 

Default to viewing art not as an enemy, but as a guide and a friend.

Melody Meyer is a sophomore studying Journalism with a concentration in sports broadcasting and is a columnist at The State News. The views in this article are her own and independent of The State News.