Lopez is a global superstar and a "triple threat" as a singer, actor, and dancer. She was asked to perform at the Super Bowl in 2020 for that reason. But that doesn't mean the NFL didn't push back against her ideas every step of the way, the documentary shows.
The halftime show director, Hamish Hamilton, rejected Lopez's idea of having a female symbol on stage because it would have been "contentious." In another moment shown in the documentary, the NFL pushed back on how many cages she was allowed for her performance.
In one of the most surprising moments of the film, at about the one-hour, 11-minute mark, Lopez begged NFL producer Ricky Kirshner to talk to his colleagues so that everyone would give her some leeway with creativity.
"We're here trying to make this work and every day it turns around with somebody giving me some negative energy of 'oh, we can't have this, we can't have that.' We're trying to squeeze this down to the bare minimum," she said, frustration evident in her voice.
"It's hard because it's such a big stage, Rick. It's such a big stage and it's such an important show and all of us have dreamed of doing it and it's been a nightmare since we started," the "I'm Real" singer continued.
Kirshner agreed with her but reminded Lopez that the performance had a time limit for a reason. Lopez understood but kept fighting for a meaningful finale.
"I'm trying to give you something with substance, not just us out there shaking our fucking asses and fucking belly dancing. I want something real. I want something that's gonna say we belong here and that we have something to offer," she said, referring to Latin American people.
"I don't want to fight," an exasperated Lopez ended the call. But she did fight every step of the way to bring the 2020 Super Bowl performance to life.