So, I watched the game yesterday. It was a good game. Better than usual. All games should be that good – talented teams in a well-balanced and somewhat strategic contest, and didn’t need any of that semi-staged “aw shucks” human interest story stuff about the more photogenic players tacked on to be compelling. It was also the first football game I watched all year. Wonder how that happened?

What we really ought to talk about, though, is the half-time show. Not much to say; it was a technically proficient dance routine to pre-recorded backing tracks, with the main attraction playing some of her greatest hits along with flashy lights and a couple of carefully planned surprise guest appearances.

My main thought on the whole business was really this: Remember when Madonna used to be shocking, controversial, and interesting?

About the time things came to a crecendo with “Like A Prayer” complete with choir, marching band, and guest pop star, my mind couldn’t help reaching back to the late 80s, when the song being performed (and the accompanying video) was so controversial that MTV banned it?

There was a time, not that long ago, when Madonna, given this kind of venue to perform, would have pulled off something ten times as provacative as Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction”, on purpose, then winked at the camera to make sure everyone caught it.

Last night’s performance was just tepid and bland (and the entrance ripped off Helen Hunt’s ripping-off-Liz-Taylor end-of-movie sting from Girls Just Want to Have Fun). And I think we’re all the worse off for it. I wonder if Madonna’s just mellowed with age, or was just muzzled (at least figuratively – there was a time when a literal muzzle would be exactly the kind of thing she’d go for). In any case, I’m rather upset with the state of mainstream American entertainment if it can manage to make Madonna, even 2012 Madonna, boring.

World Peace!