The 58th Super Bowl is upon us. A week from today, the National Football League (NFL) halftime show will feature Usher, a 45-year old R&B singer, dancer and songwriter. The crowd may come alive for close-ups of Taylor Swift cheering on her Kansas City Chief boyfriend Travis Kelce. American pop and sports culture celebrates every year with this commercial showdown. Something usually happens at the Super Bowl that holds up a mirror to the USA’s current situation. It will be interesting to see what Usher and the gang can show us about ourselves.
But can it possibly match the gift last Thanksgiving’s NFL halftime performance provided? Just after Americans had put their feet up, slipping into a food coma, pumpkin pie fell out of their collective mouths when Dolly Parton came sashaying across the stage. Parton at the ripe old age of 77 commanded the show as a fully dressed Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader singing rock songs.
Unannounced, it came as a total surprise to spectators. She sang three quick songs from “Rock Star,” her 49th album. That’s right, 49 albums in 77 years. Yeah, maybe she wore tights and a flesh-colored body suit. Who cares? Carl Dean, her long-suffering, seldom-seen husband joked her shorts might have been too short.
Marketing genius move aside, Parton’s showmanship was one of the most splendid halftime moments ever. In all her great grandmotherly splendor, Dolly did not seem desperate but authentic. She was on pointe.
Uncomfortable? Issues with cheerleaders, body shaming, and hyper sexuality are not the gist of this critique. Who doesn’t love Parton? Too fake? Too plastic? That’s ok. She’s already owned it. “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap,” she said.
She admits every nip and tuck she’s ever had and that she long ago lost count. She has been unapologetically herself from the get-go. Watch Comedy Central’s “I Will Always Love You” episode where she and Porter Wagoner go their separate ways. There’s Dolly as unapologetic as you like, gracefully handling a situation with sensitivity and independence. She was 28.
How does it feel to be considered a dumb blonde? She was asked this more than once by a patronizing interviewer throughout her career, “I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb ... and I also know that I’m not blonde.”
Some say ageism is the last bastion of the “-isms.” Anyone who lives past a certain age must finally confront it. Martha Stewart became a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model at 81 last spring. Stewart is another bold and unapologetic woman. “When you’re through changing, you’re through,” she says.
What about Madonna? She’s 65, still performing but she gets harshly criticized for “trying too hard” for being “desperate.” Is she changing? Is she authentic? You be the judge.
As baby boomers continue the slide into their golden years, remember, the alternative to getting older is getting dead.
We are lucky to have such brave and wise elders to look up to in these times. They don’t come any finer than our real and pretend cheerleader, beloved Tennessean, Dolly Parton.
Standard reporter JL Jacobs can be contacted at jjacobs@southernstandard.com
