Prince's Super Bowl Shadow Malfunction?

Critics Say Singer Made Obscene Pose With Guitar

(AP)  In our sensitive post-wardrobe malfunction world, some are questioning whether a guitar was just a guitar during Prince's Super Bowl halftime show.

Prince's acclaimed performance included a guitar solo during the "Purple Rain" segment of his medley in which his shadow was projected onto a large, flowing beige sheet. As the 48-year-old rock star let rip, the silhouette cast by his figure and his guitar (shaped like the singer's symbol) had phallic connotations for some.

A number of bloggers have decried "Malfunction!" — including Sam Anderson at New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer. Daily News television critic David Bianculli called it "a rude-looking shadow show" that "looked embarrassingly rude, crude and unfortunately placed."

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Photos: Super Bowl Performances

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CBS spokesman Dana McClintock said Tuesday that the network has received "very few" complaints on Prince's performance. CBS last aired the Super Bowl in 2004, when Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's "wardrobe malfunction" sparked criticism and a subsequent crackdown on broadcast decency from the Federal Communications Commission.

But this time, it was the NFL that produced the halftime show (MTV did it in 2004). Spokesman Greg Aiello said the league has received no complaints.

"We respect other opinions, but it takes quite a leap of the imagination to make a controversy of his performance," Aiello said. "It's a guitar."

The majority of the reaction to Prince's performance has been laudatory, including positive reviews from The Associated Press, The New York Times and USA Today — all of which noted the lack of controversy in this year's halftime show. AP Entertainment Writer Douglas J. Rowe wrote: "He delivered one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows — ever."

For decades, the electric guitar, by nature, has been considered phallic. From Jimi Hendrix's sensual six-string swagger to Eddie Van Halen's masturbatory soloing, the guitar has often been thought an extension of a male player's sexuality.

Was Prince's pose phallic?

"The short answer is, of course it is," says Rolling Stone magazine contributing editor Gavin Edwards, who points out that on Prince's "Purple Rain" tour in the mid '80s, he performed with a guitar that would ejaculate, squirting water out of its end during the climax of "Let's Go Crazy."

"All that said, it didn't seem like a sniggering little puppet show," adds Edwards. "I think it was one of those things because a guitar at waist level does look like an enormous phallus."

By enlarging his shadow, it's possible Prince intended to accentuate this aspect of his solo, but it's just as likely it was accidental. (You can find videos of the halftime show at YouTube.com.) A message left with Prince's publicist Tuesday wasn't returned.

The late-night shows have taken notice. On CBS' "The Late Late Show" on Sunday night, host Craig Ferguson said of Prince: "He was obviously very happy to be there, wasn't he?"

Stephen Colbert reacted with mock outrage on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" Monday night: "They knew that they were dealing with a lustful, pansexual rock 'n' roll deviant," said Colbert, who joked that the sheet hid (not enhanced) Prince's "demonic guitar phallus."

In recent years, Prince has scaled down his performances, which were once renowned for their gymnastics. His mini-concert at the Colts-Bears game in Miami included parts of "Purple Rain," "Let's Go Crazy," "Baby I'm a Star," Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," the Foo Fighters' "Best of You" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary."

The Minnesota native has attracted controversy before. Tipper Gore launched a campaign to place a warning sticker on his 1984 album "Purple Rain" because of the lyrics to the song "Darling Nikki." Though his musical style has been expansive, he's best known for funky, sexually charged songs like "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Get Off."

Prince's previously most talked-about performance came at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, where he donned yellow, butt-baring pants, (a stunt later spoofed by Howard Stern). Always eccentric, he famously changed his name to The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, then to simply a symbol and finally back to Prince. He also became a Jehovah's Witness in the mid-`90s.

But Prince's halftime performance, though celebrated, came in a much different cultural environment, where even the fleeting outline of a man and his guitar could, for some, suggest shaded depravity.

"If people want to be hypersensitive, they can be hypersensitive," says Rolling Stone's Edwards. "Those trombones are phallic, too. What are you going to do?"

[rjben-2009]

So thrilled to see Prince at the Super Bowl... Enjoyed his performance tremendously... It's about time halftime planners invited an artist of his stature! Thank you, Pepsi, for making a great choice!
*ignoring the media's ridiculous need to instigate the masses*

[rjben-2009]

So thrilled to see Prince at the Super Bowl... Enjoyed his performance tremendously... It's about time halftime planners invited an artist of his stature! Thank you, Pepsi, for making a great choice!
*ignoring the media's ridiculous need to instigate the masses*

[mrvolleyba11]

they have to have their minds in the gutter to even see such "indecency". next thing you know the FCC is going to fine all the stations that carried the halftime show! ...we need a "stupid" tax, and tax all the stupid (annoying) people heavily! "Common sense" ain't so common anymore!!!

[ssporleder]

Yeah, a little on the "mmm, is that what I think it is?" side, but for once it was a half time show that made sense and flowed well, even though I am not a Prince fan.
P.C. Patrol - F.O.!

[getserious1]

Does anyone that was watching the game to watch the game give a *** about the halftime show?? All of us that watched the game were wondering why in the world they would have Prince in the first place, he isn't exactly known for his machismo. The halftime shows have sucked for as long as I can remember. They aren't for the football fan, it's for the rest of the audience, just like the commercials. Good time for me to eat, take a wiz and wait for the 2nd half to get under way.....congrats to the Colts, Sorry to the Bears, but only 1 can win.

[ecuadoriana]

Can't be happy, can they? Always gotta find a problem with something so they can whine & scream & prance their hypocritical christian crusade morals in front of everyone. Some people are so obsessed with the ph@lic that they can't see past it.

What next, ban flautists from the orchestra pit because they look like they're sucking on the end of a two foot p*nis?!!! Or clarinets- whoa!! Or how about them harmonica players!? Talk about fast lips & what they could possibly mean by all that mouth action! Trumpet players- Blow, man, blow! Don't even get me started on microphones!!!!! Hot cha cha! If a man plays the triangle bell in an orchestra does that mean he's a fan of the TelleTubbies Tinkie Winkie, which of course means he's g@y?! What about the way those drummers grip their sticks & slap them skins- wowsa baby!

Get it?

[tembi7]

At least CBS had the guts to run the actual picture, unlike some other news websites! I think this is a riot - I realized what it looked like while watching it live & loved every second! We will never know whether it was intentional or not unless someone comes right out & admits that it was! But if it was intentional....PRICELESS! Prince is brilliant, either way!

[dragonmouse-2009]

Oh Plu-eeeze I think the PC Patrol is working OVERTIME here. HA HA...maybe Prince should take over the "groundhog's" role. Since we saw the shadow that means we're going to have an early spring or reverse that...Then he can be know as Prince-The Artist Formerly Known as Prince-Prince "Again"-The Groundhog....

I wonder how many people would have really seen this "symbol" if the press didn't write about it.

Maybe the superbowl might want to go back to "marching bands"...oh no wait...I think the brass section might look a little obscene...

My vote to all those who plan on constantly scrutinizing the half time show...take a moment out and go pick up a pizza...while they're there...deliver one to my house too and maybe some 7-layer dip.

Really people...if you're THAT bored during the half-time show pick a Disney movie and go "frame-by-frame" till you find something obnoxious.

[karateman39]

you have got to be kidding me?! This shouldn't even be an issue. The half time show was great. No matter how he would have been backlit it would look the same way. That's just where/the way guitarists carry thier instrument. It's not like they hold it up by their chest.

These people need to get a life.

[kiwi_chick]

Prince Rocks. Who cares what the git looked like.

cbscrash07...the crowd wasn't booing Muhammad...they were calling "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSS" for Muhsin. He rocks too and the crowd loves him.

[cowhide--2008]

Ok, why else was the shadow there, to enhance the ***, it is the only reason for the bedsheet blowing in the wind. As mentioned by others this insturnment was used for the same purpose at other venues, it is a joke, poked in they eye of CBS.

[mitch0927]

over analyzing something is a waste of time. Get out and enjoy life, it's too precious to waste on this stuff.

[ajaxrose1]

It's always the one claiming to be the most righteous that even notice that kind of thing. What does that say about them? Pretty sorry statement about themselves if you ask me. Why weren't the offended in church during that time anyway? It was Sunday night after all.

[actornaught]

i agree with lily_ayanami, i was thoroughly entertained by Prince, and never thought the sheet thing was some kind of phallic puppet show, and if i did, i'd forget it in about 10 seconds.

all of you Church Lady-types, you're the perverts!

[Syndicate]

I figured the Boos for Mohamed at the coin toss would be the major contraversy.

[suiteo1]

As usual, the press will GROPE at anything for a story!

It's over and done with, GET OVER IT!

[crater7]

GET OVER IT.GET A LIFE, LETS PLAY SOME FOOTBALL.
WAY TO GO COLTS

[whatithink-2009]

I'm so glad our nation has nothing else better to do than discussing this.

[sesavjo]

The people who are saying this need to get a life! People are just not happy unless there is some kind of contraversy!! Give me a breal it's a fu***ng guitar folks! It really does make you wonder about where the hell the minds of these freaks really are at!! I was in tears when Prince was singing Purple Rain, it was one of the best halftime shows I have ever seen!!! PRINCE RULES!!

[lil_d3vil]

So their saying Prince is hung like an elephant?
buahahaha

Football a "Macho" game? Yeah right..
So is that why the guys go running around in spandex, and play grab a s s??