Super Bowl Halftime Show: M.I.A.'s Middle Finger Completes Insulting Performance

Next year, the NFL may as well invite Eduard Khil (aka Mr. Trololo) to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl. If the league is going to make a mockery of the halftime show, it may as well be honest about it.

While we're on the topic of honesty, I'll be honest. As soon as Madonna was tabbed to perform at halftime of Super Bowl XLVI, I figured the blasted thing was doomed. I did not keep an open mind about it.

I was, however, hoping that the halftime show would at least be tolerable. For example, the Rolling Stones were awful when they performed at Super Bowl XL, but it was tolerable. The Who was awful when they performed at Super Bowl XLIV, but they were tolerable, too.

Heck, even The Black Eyed Peas were tolerable in a weird way.

Madonna and her host of co-performers weren't. Everything looked pretty, but it didn't sound pretty. To boot, Madonna was clearly lip-syncing. Combine that with the fact her music hasn't aged well, and the whole thing was an utter embarrassment.

But we're not going to be talking about Madonna in the days and weeks to come. Not as much as we're going to be talking about M.I.A., anyway. She was performing with Madonna, but she decided to steal the show from her.

The video speaks for itself:

In case you're not quite getting it, M.I.A. flipped the camera the bird and seemed to say, "I don't give a [bleep]."

Keep in mind this was in front of nearly 70,000 people at Lucas Oil Stadium and well over a hundred million more watching at home.

It wasn't quite a naked breast, but, well, it wasn't exactly the brightest moment in the history of Super Bowl halftime shows.

However, M.I.A.'s actions were totally appropriate for the situation. She's going to catch hell for it, but let's all stop and realize that M.I.A.'s middle finger and apparent profanity were oddly fitting.

Though the Super Bowl should be a celebration of the sport of football, it's really not. It's more of a cultural celebration wrapped around a football game. The Super Bowl is recognized just as much for the commercials, performers and extraneous BS as it is for the game itself.

There are, however, a lot of people out there who only care about the game. The performances are mere fluff, and inconvenient fluff at that. Those who care only about the game are forced to hope that the fluff will be over with quickly, and that it's not bad enough to insult anybody's intelligence.

That's exactly what Sunday's halftime performance did. Madonna fans got a kick out of it, but the rest of us were keenly aware of the fact we were being mocked. The show itself may as well have been flipping us the bird.

M.I.A. personified the notion. When she (seemingly) said, "I don't give a [bleep]," it was as if she was responding to any and all outrage that was being directed at her.

In the midst of a mockery, M.I.A.'s actions represented a bit of honesty.

Well, alright. I should be angry about it since I was preaching honesty at the start of this thing. As awful as the show was, you can't hate on honesty.

So as strange as this may sound, M.I.A.'s middle finger was actually the best part of Sunday's halftime extravaganza.