It is with great pain I write about Janet Jackson's Super Bowl fiasco. But writing about it may be like healing the wound she's inflicted.
If you're reading this, you know what happened on Super Bowl Sunday. At the very end of the halftime show, produced by MTV, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were in the midst of performing Timberlake's song "Rock My Body" or "Rock Your Body" or "Rock A Body" or something like that. As the song and the show ended, Timberlake, with a great flourish, ripped off a part of Jackson's top, revealing her right breast, covered only by a purple, sun-shaped pasty.
Since this happened and CBS cut away from it very quickly, there has been a massive storm of complaints from the FCC, CBS execs and many, many TV viewers.
First, I had to laugh when I read about the irate calls into CBS, because I can guarantee you that for every irate call, there were 10 or 15 very happy viewers in the 18-25 age range.
But what really confuses me is the controversy. First of all, it's a breast. We all have them, some larger than others. Second of all, it's Janet Jackson's breast. A image sticking out in my head is a Rolling Stone magazine cover from 1993, which showed Ms. Jackson facing us, looking like a woman who sleeps on a large pile of money, wearing nothing above the waist. The only thing covering her breasts were two male hands. Those hands were not very conservative in placement.
Yet there was no anger--well, maybe just not as much anger. Why not? Rolling Stone is a magazine that's widely distributed across the country, in plain view of children. Was the shot of her breast last Sunday as explicit as that of the magazine cover? Perhaps not, but it was certainly as suggestive, maybe even more so.
And, frankly, CBS should not be pointing any fingers. The halftime show was being produced by MTV. MTV. This is not a network known for its conservative nature any more than those hands in that photo. What could CBS have expected from Janet Jackson, who isn't exactly a nun?
In the past two Februaries, I have written editorials for this publication about a Jackson. Last year, it was Michael and that silly documentary. Now, it's his sister and her L'il Kim moment. That pasty could only bring back memories of L'il Kim's salacious dress a few years back at none other than the MTV Video Music Awards. Sensing a pattern here, folks?
Is what Jackson and Timberlake did right? No. I'm not defending them. They are silly "musicians" who just happen to have very wicked minds, since they're the ones who thought up the whole breast idea in the first place. But do we need so much yelling and fighting over who is to blame?
To me, the answer is simple: both networks. If there are penalties to be handed out, MTV deserves the larger one, but CBS should not be exempt. They broadcast the program; they knew what they were getting into a few years back, when N*SYNC, Aerosmith and Britney Spears had a glorious little halftime show. All I can say to CBS is this: find a mirror and then point fingers. Same goes for MTV. Yes, Janet Jackson is at fault, but so are you for not thinking she wouldn't pull a stunt like this.
Josh Spiegel is an entertainment reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at Joshua.Spiegel@asu.edu
