Like many people I was thoroughly impressed by Bad Bunny’s halftime show at the recent Superbowl. It sent a powerful message, it was choreographied at a level seldom seen in previous Superbowls, and it was executed flawlessly. However, I think Bad Bunny missed an opportunity, and I say that as someone who lived in Puerto Rico for forty-three years, helped promote the development of the Island, and has a great sentimental attachment to both the people and the land. I would therefore humbly suggest that Bad Bunny consider these thoughts as he continued to enjoy his enormous, and deserved, success throughout the world.
Just over fifty years ago, the musical, and the subsequent film, West Side Story, put Puerto Rico on the map in a way that almost nothing else could have done. At that time, I seriously doubt that even 5% of Americans had even heard of Puerto Rico, let alone known that it was part of the United States, and that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens, albeit statutory, not constitutional, citizens. West Side Story changed that forever, a major step forward for the Island and its people. However, along with that recognition came a major downside, which still haunts Puerto Ricans today; that is, the image of what a Puerto Rican is.
I must admit I had not thought of that downside until I had lengthy discussions over a long period with a Puerto Rican who had the almost universal Pueto Rican trait of loyalty to “mi patria”. The downside is the image of a male Puerto Rican as someone who is small, dark, carries a “flick knife”, and lives on the street, in a ghetto. This was true of some Puerto Ricans living in New York City, where “West Side Story” was based, but not representative of those three million living on the Island and several millions of others living on mainland U.S., but not in New York City.
Bad Bunny’s show portrayed Puerto Ricans completely differently than did “West Side Story”, but it carried an image that, while true historically, does not completely reflect the Island of today. Yes, the underlying culture has remained the same as Bad Bunny’s show indicted but that is balanced today by an Island environment that features a comprehensive interstate highway system, the largest concentration of pharmaceutical plants in the world, staffed top-to-bottom with Puerto Ricans, and a radio telescope that will be the first to hear any sort of message coming from the universe, among many other achievements.
May I suggest, humbly, that this side of Puerto Rico needs to join the two images that have shaped, and will shape, the world’s view of the Island and its people. Bad Bunny has the status, and the reach, to correct the balance of this world view in a way that reflects and maintains the culture of the Island while recognizing the remarkable development path the Island has followed. In 1950, Puerto Rico was the poorhouse of the Caribbean, By the turn of the century, a short fifty years later, it had the highest per capita income in Latin America and the Caribbean. That story needs to be told as well.
I noticed this week that Bad Bunny has been signed up to play a central figure in an upcoming film about the Puerto Rican independence movement. I have no idea what twist that film will put on the reality of that movement, but I would guess it will, by its very existence, indicate to a wide audience that Puerto Rican see their destiny as being an independent country. I would add two notes of caution to that possible interpretation: (1) the independence vote on the Island has never been higher than 5%, and that percentage has been dropping for years; and (2) it is a dangerous idea that Trump, or a Trump acolyte, might use to eliminate the U.S. citizenship of the people and make the Island independent – Puerto Ricans are statutory U.S. citizens, not constitutional citizens; that means that Congress could take away that citizenship and force independence. Further, given Trump’s propensity for usurping Congressional power, he might even try it himself. Will that happen, probably unlikely? Could that happen, absolutely?
