Good question: Is there middle ground between the Super Bowl halftime show being empowering and sex trafficking?

As Twitchy reported, Jeb! Bush tweeted that Sunday night’s Super Bowl halftime show was the best ever:

Best Super Bowl half time show ever.

— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) February 3, 2020

We wondered what stood out the most for Bush: the crotch-grabbing, the pole dancing, or Shakira tonguing her microphone.

When there's still guac left after halftime…#SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/xhwR79i8kZ

— FOX5 Las Vegas (@FOX5Vegas) February 3, 2020

Mo has a good question:

Is there a middle ground between "the Superbowl halftime show was literally sex trafficking" and "it's the most empowering thing for women I've ever seen and I'm thrilled I was watching it with my 10 YO son"? Because that's where I am.

— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 3, 2020

Right there with you. ??

— Never Strong Enough (@rwb4ever295) February 3, 2020

No. Nuance is dead.

— Birdshit Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) February 3, 2020

Nope. You must pick one, or you have picked the other by default.

— It's still 2016 apparently (@jtLOL) February 3, 2020

No. Choose a side and prepare for battle!

— Allen Covert (@THATAllenCovert) February 3, 2020

Twitter is not an in-between kinda place. ?

— Arthur Fortune (@CBove1) February 3, 2020

The Twittersphere seems only to support outrage and eye rolls. You must pick one extreme side or you will be placed into a camp by anonymous people who determine you're not in theirs.

— Someone Had to Say It (@MomAgnstSafeSpc) February 3, 2020

I think you are in the 95% of us bracket. But this is twitter and there are people today actually celebrating someone’s cancer diagnosis so maybe this isn’t the best place to look for normalcy.

— Bleu Cheque (@DKCMOM1) February 3, 2020

My 13 year old daughter who actually likes Shakira, was like WTH was that?! Now the 17 year old son enjoyed it, but he’s a teenage male. But my husband said, Son enjoy this b/c you’re never gonna see that outside a strip club where you’d have to pay for it. Hard facts.

— KT-A Virginia Liberty Belle (@kt_liberty) February 3, 2020

My 12 year old son was uncomfortable with the clothes those women were wearing.

— Wesley Mouch – Wall enthusiast (@WesleyMouch8) February 3, 2020

My 13 year girl old said "man, that was TRASHY".

— Filthy McNasty (@FilthyMcN) February 3, 2020

My 9 year old asked, “Is this what sexy is?” ?

— Kristen Donohue (@kdonohuenj) February 3, 2020

I’m right there with you. I was watching thinking, “I thought I read this was going to empower women” but also was thoroughly entertained and my 8 year old watched with me. She doesn’t know what a stripper pole is so it wasn’t an issue.

— becky mayo (@justanurse25) February 3, 2020

Maybe if the rope were meant to symbolize the oppression of women or culture I would be okay. Instead, I wanted to turn my head in discomfort and shame. I don’t want to feel that way as a woman.

— Sheila Ray (@SheilaHallRay) February 3, 2020

All the pole dancing and microphone licking in the world couldn't change the fact that the music was totally lame.

— FoFo Spumoni ? (@FofoSpumoni) February 3, 2020

I just question why female artists feel they must resort to this. How many male artists have broken out the stripper pole? Could you imagine AC/DC doing that? Although, Angus Young rocking the pole would be great, wouldn't it?

— Chris Humble (@LorkonTheGreat) February 3, 2020

I think it might be halftime show is no longer for families but older teens and colllege kids who like crotch shots and stripper pole dancing bc it is woke.

— Sunshine (@Sunshin21176498) February 3, 2020

It was in appropriate for the venue. They can't sell it as a family entertainment and then present something that millions of people had to quickly turn off AFTER their little people got an eyeful of soft porn.

— Plainsspeak (@Plainsspeak) February 3, 2020

It's one of those things that anyone who knew who the performers were had to know was gonna happen. The TV remote has a a few options in cases like this.

I personally only caught part of it though because half time is snack/bathroom break time for me ?

— Persnickety (@Dawnsfire) February 3, 2020

All I thought was extreme bad taste. And really – that subtle dig with "kids in cages"? But now that Jay-Z's in charge, we'll probably be getting more and more of this.

— The Barbarian (@BarbarianinSF) February 3, 2020

Can we agree on ‘it was boring and unoriginal?’

— ifyoucankeepit (@ifucankeepit) February 3, 2020

My only thought during the SB halftime show was how much better the artists aged than their songs.

— JoggingWithBurritos (@JoggingBurrito) February 3, 2020

GP Well, the most reasonable thing I've heard today is "network can do it, should've given a 'get your kids out of the room or change the channel' warning."

— The Gormogons (@Gormogons) February 3, 2020

It was pretty meh. Better than Maroon 5, better than Timberlake, not as good as Katy Perry or Lady Gaga. I have a hard time figuring out how anyone can be that riled up about it one way or another.

I mean, other than acknowledging that their hair was PHENOMENAL.

— Alex F. Baldwin (@VerumVulnero1) February 3, 2020

I kind of hate I missed it. I think both ladies are beautiful and talented. Therefore they have no need to run around scantily clad and gyrate suggestively to draw attention to themselves… unlike the overwhelming majority of those in the entertainment industry.

— Eddie Glasper (@EddieGlasper) February 3, 2020

Simple. It was a good show, well choreographed, good paced.

— WI Libertarian (@WI_Libertarian) February 3, 2020

I could have done without the crotch shots and crotch grabbing and tongue wagging, but whatever. I have never thought of the halftime show as “family entertainment”. When my kids were younger, they were in bed by then.

— Amyks (@k_amyks) February 3, 2020

I didn't watch. I can't stand J.Lo, and think Shakira is meh. Give it a day for kvetching and then on to the next controversy.

— Pass the Damn Ham (@lfevery1) February 3, 2020

Same. Actually thought the show was pretty run of the mill and boring. I spent most of the time it was on TV by looking at memes on my phone ?

— Kizmet (@Kizmet18) February 3, 2020

It was a beautiful show that was highly inappropriate for the venue.

— Skred The Rogue (@Libtardh8r) February 3, 2020

I think there should be a warning: "Please be advised though the Super Bowl is for the whole family, we choose to have a burlesque show during halftime." I expected the Feminists to be out in full force today to condemn objectifying women…not.

— mezzSINGchur (@mezzSINGchur) February 3, 2020

I was “I’m a single guy and even I think this is a bit much”.

— clayjohanson (@clayjohanson) February 3, 2020

Yeah, it just kinda sucked. Simple as that.

— Captain Madman (@sjporter51) February 3, 2020

It was fine, just the wrong place at the wrong time

— WilliamTeach2 (@WTeach2) February 3, 2020

Interesting perspective. I'm leaning towards sex trafficking.

— ?? Cody Payant ? (@PayantCody) February 3, 2020

Sure. The technical people who did the lighting and stage management were incredible, the dancers were amazing, the song selection was meh, and some of the costume choices were where it went from amazing to inappropriate for family viewing. Then there was the stripper stuff. ?

— Ms. Meggy Mish (@meggymish) February 3, 2020

Wait. There were strippers? Maybe I should have watched…

— Dennis Walker (@DennisWalkerJr) February 3, 2020

My dude…the only thing missing was cash on the stage ??

— Ms. Meggy Mish (@meggymish) February 3, 2020

We need some follow-up tweets from Bush to convince us it was the best halftime show ever. Maybe they’ll have him on “Reliable Sources” Sunday.

Related:

'Did you clap?': Jeb Bush weighs in on the J Lo-Shakira Super Bowl halftime show https://t.co/51BJ5rULE4

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 3, 2020