By: Kara Grace Hess, Senior Associate Editor
When Eden Gonzalez first found out that Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Bad Bunny was this year’s headliner for the Super Bowl halftime show, she was elated. “I was so excited because a part of my world is going to be shared with millions,” she said.
Gonzalez, a sophomore psychology major whose family lives in Lares and Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, was surprised that not all of her classmates shared her sentiment. Over the past month, she realized that many of her peers did not know that Puerto Rico is part of the United States. While her Puerto Rican friend gave a presentation in their conversational Spanish class, Gonzalez noticed many confused looks, especially when she presented on a slide about Bad Bunny.
Since the initial halftime show headliner announcement, conservative group Turning Point U.S.A. announced that it would host a counterprogram during the Superbowl halftime dubbed “The All-American Halftime Show.”
Bad Bunny responded to the backlash on “Saturday Night Live,” offering a challenge to non-Spanish speakers and expressed how meaningful it is to perform for all Latinos in Spanish.
“If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn,” the artist said.
To Gonzalez, Bad Bunny is a figure that represents Puerto Rico and its culture well. She believes his music offers more than just a catchy beat.
“He did such a good job of showing what it is to be Puerto Rican, what it is to have family there and take in every moment,” she said of his most recent album.
“I think a lot of the time people tend to forget about Puerto Rico and forget that it exists,” she said. As a commonwealth and U.S. territory, Puerto Rican citizens cannot vote for the U.S. president. Instead, the island has a resident commissioner who represents the territory but cannot vote for or against legislation on the House floor.
Similarly, Puerto Rican and recent alumnus Josias Torres ‘25 appreciates how Bad Bunny has used his music for political commentary. In his “LO QUE PASÓ A HAWAii” from his most recent album, Torres appreciated how the song discussed potential consequences of statehood for Puerto Rico. The track draws historical comparisons to Hawaii, a former U.S. territory that became a state in 1959.
Torres says Puerto Rico exists between the two extremes depicted in the media — either entirely separate from the U.S. or without a distinct cultural identity at all. Having grown up visiting his grandparents who live in Patillas and Ponce, Puerto Rico, he feels that both narratives are incomplete.
Abby Rodriguez, a senior studying studio art, sees the island often misrepresented in the media with the many narratives painting it as a beautiful tourist attraction. She has cousins and grandparents there and has fond memories in Ciales and Arecibo, Puerto Rico. She hopes people will see it as more than a destination that doesn’t require a passport.
“It’s not just a vacation spot, that’s where my family’s at, where the food that I eat comes from, where the music I listen to was made,” she said.
Rodriguez grew up in Chicago, and was inspired to research the culture and histories of Puerto Rico herself, a phenomenon that she said is common for Puerto Ricans raised off the island.
Senior Communication Media Studies major A. Gonzalez, who is Puerto Rican and Mexican, said that during her time on campus she felt external pressure to be a good representation of the Puerto Rican diaspora. She sees an opportunity now for the student population to learn from Puerto Rico, echoing Torres and Rodriguez.
“Everybody’s just one big family, bringing that family aspect to Wheaton would be really good,” she said.
Rodriguez challenges students — including Puerto Ricans who didn’t grow up on the island — to broaden their perspectives about Puerto Rico. She noted that when Hurricane Maria hit the island, other current events seemed to dominate public attention. “We’re not paying attention to Puerto Rico,” she said.
Much like Bad Bunny, Rodriguez intends to correct misunderstandings about Puerto Rico in her senior art show this spring, which explores what it means to be part of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Inspired by a recent conversation with her brother, Rodriguez wants to emphasize the importance of a Puerto Rican identity without additional qualifiers.
“Spanish or no Spanish, I’m still Puerto Rican. On the island or not on the island, I’m still Puerto Rican. I’m in a setting where I am around a lot of Puerto Ricans or I’m not, I’m still Puerto Rican,” she said.
