In defense of Justin Bieber

tl;dr

chrisclark1215, I respect you for what you've posted. I'm a fifteen-year-old male teenager who, unlike many of my peers, actually respects Justin Bieber. Lately, he's been my main inspiration. Ever since I was just a little kid, I've always had the dream to become a celebrity one day. Justin Bieber really gives me hope that maybe I'll turn out to be successful one day.

To be honest, I also like Justin's music. His songs are really catchy, and "Never Say Never" is a really inspirational song.

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Thoughtful essay, Chris.

I went to film school, love movies & spend hours on IMDb boards. In one thread [I've forgotten which movie] somebody asked for the ages of the posters. The overwhelmingly majority was 17 years old. That explains the level of many posts. Teen trolls invade boards, start arguments, make witless insults & spread malice/vitriol because they think it's funny. As a schoolteacher, you are no doubt an expert on adolescent humor.

I happened to live in the same neighborhood where Leonardo DiCaprio grew up. I used to talk to his father about what was happening to "little Leo' when his star began to rise. All the big wigs & Scientologists in Hwd swooped in like vultures on Leo when River Phoenix suddenly died, because there was a gaping hole in the market for a blond, cherubic kid that looked enough like a boy to make giddy girls scream, but not manly enough to make parents concerned about sexual subtext.

There will forever be androgynous teen dream pop idols.

There will forever be those that deride them as talentless tools of starmaking machinery. Ad infinitum.

On one IMDb board I asked why so much random hate was being spread. One kid wrote back, "It's just so much fun to make fun of famous people, even if I haven't seen the movie!"

Due to market saturation, Mr. Bieber has now become the chosen whipping boy for frustrated youth everywhere. It's an international sport. Sad use of the internets. Bad things happen all by themselves without the masses spreading nastiness across the universe in mean-spirited attempts to create digital Schadenfreude.

The overexposure of the Bieber is not his fault. If there was no demand, his mug would not be plastered at every turn. According to Forbes, everything with Bieber's name on it sells like hotcakes. The meteoric rise of the Bieber brand is one of the most unprecedented success stories in show business since the Beatles. The fact his line of nail polish sold out immediately in all the Walmarts across America is mindboggling in and of itself. Nobody was shrewd enough to market Beatle nail polish to tweens during Beatlemania. Can't imagine what price a bottle of Beatle nail polish would fetch on Ebay today.

People that may have been content to ignore the Biebs are beginning to resent seeing & hearing him everywhere, which is understandable. It's not fair to blame him personally, though. He's just a kid from Canada who knew nothing of showbiz. He put himself in the hands of two of the most successful guys in the industry and signed contracts. He has to do what they tell him to do.

LA Reid and Usher think it's prudent to strike while the iron is hot. Those guys have made huge fortunes. Wouldn't most sane people listen to such experts for a chance to become a megamillionaire before being old enough to buy a beer? Justin could quit tomorrow and provide financial support for his family for generations to come. What an incredible situation to be in at the age of 17.

[Interesting to note that's the same age as most of those who post on IMDb.]

The only person on Team Bieber who showed up to have fun was Justin. Once Scooter Braun swooped in on the guitar strumming kid with a dream, it was "game on". None of those companies or Lld's are in the Bieber business to play around. The formula works, and massive amounts of ducats have been added to already bulging coffers at warp speed.

That said, regarding his movie, several comments have been made by some people who took time to actually view the Bieber movie rather than make blind insults about it because peers at elementary or middle school think it's "cool" to rag on the kid. Many of them are shocked to find their hate becomes respect when they see how hard JB works.

Lord knows his handlers have pushed him hard, & the film shows that, too. His vocal coach asks when JB begs to eat forbidden chicken McNuggets, "Are you in the game or out?" She wants to get paid, too. Screw the McNuggets, kid. You can eat them when all the gold dust stops falling from your hair.

Also shown in the movie are showbiz veterans flabbergasted at the mere 18 months in which Bieber products took the markets by storm.

According to Scooter Braun, Bieber's camp says "no" to a lot of offers. I can't imagine what, since in the past few weeks he's been on every TV talk show that exists, several awards shows, premiers of his movie in the major capital cities in the Western world, and even NBA All Star Weekend. Maximum jet lag.

When the Beatles' "Help" came out in movie theaters, it was impossible to hear the dialogue because of the screaming. Parents and teachers thought the Beatles' hairdos were scandalous, Cuban boots tasteless, and the music beyond awful. Kindly parents tolerated Beatlemania since it was assumed they were yet another teeny bop group that would fade away within a year or two.

Sound familiar? The Beatles, as we all know, soon turned to drugs, and their music proselytized drug use. An entire generation of teenagers was brainwashed into thinking that taking LSD and experimenting with dangerous drugs was a good thing.

Who knows if Justin Bieber and his music will mature and continue to please people and move "units", but at this stage of the game the team strategy makes sense. To send out the message that dreams might come true if you work hard & live clean is more positive and productive than the "turn on, tune in and drop out" messages of yore.

oh my god did anybody read all taht i got about half way trought and then startet thinking about star wars

are you gonna bark all day little doggy or are you gonna bite

This is one of the most sensitive and unbiased reviews I've ever read on IMDB.

Although I can't like Bieber myself (Male, 28) I should recognize that he is an example of success and determination, and as such, he can be viewed as a positive influence for many kids of his age.

Overhyped? Yes. Talented? Maybe. Media phenomenon? Without a doubt.

In the end... he hasn't harmed anyone, has he? What is really important is that he is an inspiring figure for many boys and girls that believe in a brighter future, and regarding this, I defend him too.

I personally found your post quite moving, If Justin brings hope and belief to the younger generation then shouldn't that be praised? instead of hated. People should have the freedom to choose what music they like whether it be Justin Bieber or People like Rihanna, to name a few. We are all 12 at some point and you like alot of crazy things at that age. Pokemon cards for example, whats all that about? But anyway, I was moving off the subject there.

I love the fact that you are committed to your profession and seem to enjoy it alot, something as simple as buying a CD can help you get an insight to what the students enjoy about the music and what they take back from it.

Also,

The Small-Minded people who "fell asleep" due to the post being too long are just one of many these days, too many people are inpatient and/or one of them people who think it is cool to smoke. (but that topic is for another day and another thread)

I came on here to see what rating the IMDb users had given and the one star didn’t surprise me.

I scrolled down to the message boards to read what people were saying and was not surprised by the haters.

When I came across this topic, “In Defense of Justin Bieber”, I was pleasantly surprised to read that chrisclark1215 is not a 12 year old and is a teacher. This original post is a thoughtful response to a cultural phenomenon.

I don’t very often post on these boards and really had no intention of doing so in this case either. That is, until I started reading the replies. The more I read the more upset it made me. I’m not upset about the dislike of Justin Bieber, no one said you have to like him, but rather about the disrespect given to chrisclark1215, the disrespect given to an attempt at an honest discussion and yes, the disrespect given to a 17 year old boy.

I am a 26-year-old male. I like pop music. When I first heard about Bieber I was not interested in the least. When I first heard one of his songs I thought, “Okay, I get it but I doubt he’ll be around very long.” I did not give him much more thought. In the time that passed he appeared everywhere. I still didn’t feel the need to further investigate.

I heard that he was coming out with a movie and with the surrounding buzz I picked up a few facts that I had not previously known about him. Enough that it made me genuinely curious.

I love going to the movies, and so I decided that yes, I did want to see Never Say Never. After convincing some friends to come along (which was much easier than expected) we were off to the theatre, a group of twenty-somethings going to the late showing of Justin Bieber’s docu-concert. One friend predicted, “We’ll be the oldest ones there with no kids.” She wasn’t entirely correct. The small audience in attendance was made up of similarly aged people and not a kid to be seen.

I was impressed. More than that, I gained a new level of knowledge and respect for the Biebs. I didn’t like all the songs I heard but I certainly iTunesed the ones I did like. This led me here, to the Internet Movie Database. As I said, the rating and rants do not surprise me, but I really wanted to know why people hated this movie. Of course there is no significant reason I’ve read to dislike the movie, just hate for the singer.

First of all, I am disappointed that many of the people that post do not have the decency to read the entirety of what they are responding to. Secondly, I can only remember one poster saying that they had in fact gone to see this movie. There may have been more and if so I apologize, but I did read every response to this topic.

I wanted to know why people didn’t like the movie. What I learned was that people really don’t know why they “hate” Bieber. Though there are a lot of generalizations and blanket statements based in nothing but the writer’s frustrations and anger.

Some that I found particularly baffling and sad:

-He is just a distraction. --> Well, yeah. It’s pop music.
-Justin Bieber is just a point of solidarity for (in this case) young girls to rally around. --> Don’t you and your friends share common interests in literature, music, art, etc.?
-More focus should be spent on real people with real feelings and inspirations. (I think they meant aspirations?) --> That is not really fair to say. Celebrity, fame and success may not be the most attainable dreams, but they are reasons to work hard and take pride in yourself and what you do. (If the hater did mean inspiring, what I said still applies.)
-Justin Bieber is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with music today. --> I agree that there is a LOT of dreck out there. The market and radio is oversaturated with pop music that is churned out and sounds completely unoriginal. If you actually stop to examine Bieber and his output though, you’ll see that it is in fact one of the truest representations of the pop tradition.
-He is harmful. --> Sorry, I don’t understand that.
-One person just said they wished Justin would cease to exist. --> Well that really isn’t an argument.
-Another poster simply stated that Justin is a “fag”. --> Aside from the terribly offensive word, what does his sexual orientation have to do with the merits of his music or this movie?
-It’s just about making money. --> Yes, the entertainment industry is a business. This is not news to anyone I think.
-He’s over hyped. --> Most things are these days.

Here is what draws me in to Justin Bieber:

-He is a cultural phenomenon. You can’t ignore that.
-The movie and his music are both entertaining. I like to be entertained. I like a LOT of different types of films and music but not everything has to be “figured out”.
-He is 17 and acts like it.
-I would rather see Bieber become famous and successful for being a pop star instead of people like Paris Hitlon or the Jersey Shore people or The Hills people becoming famous for being… socialites? I’m not sure exactly. What are they famous for? Being famous?
-The movie is a pretty good concert experience for a cheap price.
-Take away the lyrics and the songs are still pretty catchy.
-He’s not uncomfortable being in the spotlight, but he is not yet polished when it comes to giving interviews. He doesn’t seem like a product.
-He’s Canadian and owns it. In every interview I have seen, he mentions being Canadian. In his recent Rolling Stone cover story, Justin renounces the possibility of ever becoming a U.S. citizen.
-He’s 17, so anything can happen.

If a movie like this had been made about The Beatles in 1962, not something like A Hard Day’s Night, but a heartfelt documentary, I’m guessing it would have had the same reaction then that Never Say Never has received, but today it would be studied by academics, philosophers, business experts, historians, etc. It would be treasured.

This is just the beginning of The Biebs’ career. It may fizzle out in the near future or it may turn into something we cannot foresee. After all, the kid has 50+ years of pop tradition/history/business to learn from, live up to and compete with.

As with anything, we have a choice. If you don’t like Justin Bieber, don’t listen to his music. Don’t go see this movie. Don’t buy his products.

The worst part is the hate. Producing that much negativity over someone that really has little or no affect on you whatsoever is completely toxic and is something that I will just never quite understand.

I have never been a huge fan of JB, but I find this argument compelling and I can completely see your point of view. It couldn't have been written better. And it not only works in defense of Bieber, but for all other artist who are mocked and 'hated on' for the simple fact somebody just doesn't like their music.