REL 202 1st Edition Lecture 6The Religious Significance in the Superbowl Halftime Performance- Various aspects of Katy Perry’s performance in the 2015 Superbowl can be seen as religious- Giant lion during “Roar”o The red eyes featured on the tiger during her first song can be seen as being fierce, or powerful, evil in some caseso Stance and body language while on the lion was very assertive and dominant, which resonated with the meaning of the song- “Firework”o As Katy sings Firework she begins to be lifted on a giant shooting star to fly around the stadiumo Symbolic of a God like figure, ascending to the heavens to give a message to their followers- Performance could also be saying: You don’t need religion, you only need meo “Roar” and “Firework” are very self-empowering songs with a strong messageo Roar sends out the message that although one can be silenced and ignored at times, you should not feel as though you do not matter or are invalid due to silence “You’re gonna hear me roar”- The main line of the song, translates into something like “I’m tired of complying with yourattempts to silence me, I have a voice, I am proud and you will most certainly hear it”o Firework’s message is mainly that although you may feel lesser at times, you are never any less than the best, you are a “firework,” you are individual, loud and unique The first lines of the song are relatable to a listener, they shed light on emotional distress almost every single person has gonethrough in their lives- “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?” As the song progresses it becomes more motivational and uplifting, encouraging the listener to find ways that they shine individually, and show how special they areo Conclusion: Both songs are perfectly geared to her audience in ways that will get them through tough times in which they feel worthless or less than otherso Question: With such a strong message being conveyed, can It be argued that Katy is turning viewers to herself in tough times instead ofshowing viewers that there is God to turn to, or any other higher power? Are the messages in Katy’s songs strong enough to be their own quasi religion when fans realize this?Madonna on the Cross & AIDS- In one of her shows, Madonna depicts herself on the cross, rising up with a crown of thorns and blood as she sings- Reenacting/Putting oneself in the place of Jesus is a very serious, offensive act to many people that are religious due to the sacredness of Jesus’s crucifixion- As Madonna rises, a set of numbers is slowly getting bigger and bigger above her, and once the song reaches a certain point it focuses on the number and shows that 12 million children in Africa are orphaned by AIDS- By showing an increasing number and this statistic, she connects two points with the audience: an immense amount of children are orphaned byAIDS in Africa and they just watched every single child (symbolized in the numbers) become orphaned- Question: Is Madonna truly depicting herself as Christ or is this just Madonna being Madonna?o Madonna is known for her controversial videos and this should come as no surprise to people who are familiar with Madonna’s use of religion as a theme in her music- Conclusion: Using her talent and huge influence on such a large audience, she is bringing awareness to AIDS. The only connection to herself as a Christ figure is that she is the savior of these children by bringing attentionto such a problem. However, as usual, Madonna is simply using an attention grabbing method to grab the attention of her