LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- While the on-field combatants took a break from beating each other's brains out at the Super Bowl in Houston Sunday, two of America's premiere entertainers provoked a nearly culture-wide feinting spell with a brief flash of a female breast.
Promotion for the halftime show promised a surprise appearance, and no one appeared more surprised than Janet Jackson when Justin Timberlake tore off a piece of her costume, exposing her right breast. A silver pasty provided a last line of protection from the fullest possible exposure -- both for Jackson and for the audience that was viewing the spectacle during TV's "family hour."
The revealing moment came at the end of a pageant loaded with culturally provocative elements. Even without the split-second glimpse of Jackson's breast, the show might have been regarded by cultural conservatives as a new low in Super Bowl halftime entertainment.
A short list of the show's more challenging offerings includes:
Dancers in costumes only slightly less revealing than lingerie on the "Victoria's Secret" specials;
Rapper Nelly grabbing his crotch and singing "Hot in Herre" ("I was like, good gracious, ass is bodacious/It's gettin' hot in here/So take off all your clothes);
Metal-rapper Kid Rock singing about all his "heroes in the methadone clinics";
And Timberlake dirty dancing with Jackson.
Naturally, many viewers were outraged -- probably including some who are still sore about The Beatles' getting on "The Ed Sullivan Show" 40 years ago.
FCC Commissioner Michael Powell has promised a "thorough and swift" investigation into the matter..
"That celebration (the Super Bowl) was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt," said Powell in a statement. "Our nation's children, parents and citizens deserve better."
CBS apologized, insisting that it had no idea this particular bit of stagecraft would be part of the show, which was produced by its fellow Viacom company, MTV.
"The moment did not conform to CBS broadcast standards," said the network, "and we would like to apologize to anyone who was offended."
Timberlake also apologized.
"I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl," he said. "It was not intentional and is regrettable."
MTV called the incident "unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and ... inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance."
Andrea Lafferty, head of the conservative Traditional Values Coalition, said the incident made her angry but did not surprise her.
"Internet commentator Matt Drudge reported that his sources say that top officials at CBS approved of the exposure ... as part of the show," said Lafferty.
The New York Times suggested the incident -- which occurred when Timberlake was singing "Rock Your Body" ("I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song") -- might have been at least somewhat premeditated. The paper reported that Jackson's choreographer, Gil Duldulao, had told an MTV interviewer to expect "some shocking moments."
Lafferty even attributed the exposure to "Jackson family sexual problems" that "apparently extend" to Janet Jackson.
"Her sick desire to expose her breast ... is evidence of a strange sexual dysfunction," said Lafferty.
But President Bush managed to joke about it on Monday, telling reporters after a Cabinet meeting that he missed the magic moment because he fell asleep while preparing for work on Monday.
"But you all can tell me about it," he said.
Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, hewed closer to the family-values line.
"Our view is, it's important for families to be able to expect a high standard when it comes to programming," he said.
Jackson's costume, while it held up, was practically demur compared to most of the other costumes. Her music -- overlooked in all the excitement about her global flash -- played on positive themes of social harmony and urged rejection of "poverty, ignorance, bigotry, illiteracy."
Still, and quite apart from the overt sexuality, the show also featured musical messages that defenders of traditional mores must find foreboding -- if they can understand the lyrics. P. Diddy sang: "We ain't, goin' nowhere/We can't be stopped now, cause it's Bad Boy for life."
Several of the visual images must have been a little more than unsettling for traditionalists.
Some of the costuming was suggestive of the outfits affected by Alexander de Large, the anti-hero of "A Clockwork Orange" -- Stanley Kubrick's 1971 satire about violence and generational communication breakdown.
Kid Rock sported a poncho made out of an American flag, tossing it off behind his head at one point -- although it was caught by one of his crew before it was allowed to touch the ground. Rock's act also featured a flag-waving woman in a costume suggestive of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' familiar get-up.
NFL officials are making it plain that MTV has produced its last Super Bowl half time show.
CBS executives might be swapping high-fives over the ratings -- the telecast was the highest-rated Super Bowl since 2000, attracting 140 million viewers. At the same time, the network might be wondering how many more cultural skirmishes it can get caught up in -- following a string of controversies surrounding "Victoria's Secret," "The Reagans" and its refusal to air a Super Bowl ad criticizing President Bush's economic policies.
The brass at CBS might as well brace themselves for another round of flak next Monday, the day after the Grammy Awards. The live telecast is scheduled to feature appearances by pop provocateurs Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Britney Spears -- as well as the newly infamous Jackson and Timberlake.
CBS's promo for the Grammys promises a "surprise opening." It will have to go some to top the surprise in Houston.
