MovieChat Forums > Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) Discussion > In defense of Justin Bieber

In defense of Justin Bieber

posted 14 years ago by chrisclark1215
136 replies | jump to latest

I don't know why I feel compelled to write on this message board, since I can usually ignore all of the negativity that seems to have permeated these IMDb boards for years. But, alas, I do feel compelled...and so I decided to write a defense of Justin Bieber. Before I begin, I want to say that I'm not a 12-year-old girl with no life who screams and cries at the sound of "One Less Lonely Girl." I am a male fifth grade teacher who teaches inclusion (where special education students are integrated into a regular ed classroom). I teach predominantly at-risk and underprivileged students. I say all of this not to brag (though I am quite proud), but to hopefully prove that I'm not defending him because of how dreamy he is or whatnot. I urge you to read everything I have to say before you respond.

Anyway, when I first heard Justin sing on the radio, I (like many of you) thought, "Who is this girl?" before sluffing him off as some one-hit wonder. But then, my students started to talk about him, wear shirts covered with his face, and brag about being Beliebers. So, because I always try to stay up-to-date with what (and who) my students like, I bought his CD and listened to it. Yep, it was the same predictable, but catchy pop fluff that twelve-year-olds love. Nothing wrong with that; my students deserve music that appeals to them, just as adults do.

But, for many of my students, Justin Bieber's appeal went deeper than just them liking his music. As I said, I teach mainly at-risk and underprivileged students. Many of them come from broken homes, many of them live in public housing, and many of them don't have enough food to eat at home (just as Justin did). My students found that they could relate to Justin Bieber...they, honestly, believe that he came from some of the same situations that they now face. And they see how successful he has become. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, he has given them hope for their own futures. In that respect, he has done something for them that I have not been able to do. I came from an upper-middle-class family and grew up never wanting for anything. I can do my best to understand what my students go through each and every day, but I can never truly be on their level, because I never experienced it. Justin Bieber connected with them and inspired them, because of their similarities.

Now, I'm not going to stand here and tell you that this is the case for all of my students. I have some students who actively despise him (just like many of you), and I have some who couldn't care less about him. But, I have enough that love him and that are inspired by him, that I have to respect and like him. I don't care if he fades away when he turns eighteen never to be heard from again or if he isn't the most talented singer who has ever lived. I love the fact that he has inspired my students...my wonderful students who deserve inspiration, but have never gotten it from their parents, other relatives, etc. I want them to know that hard work and believing in yourself can bring you out of any situation, and Justin Bieber's life is a testament to that for them.

So, you can all sit on these message boards and make fun of him and hope that he fails all you want. That's fine...but you will never hear that from me. I'm not a Belieber by any means, but I'm thankful for him and his success. I'm thankful that my students have someone to admire other than the Jersey Shore kids or even, for some of them, their own parents. Now, all I have to do is mention Justin Bieber's name in my lesson and, bam, I have their interest (you would be surprised at how well Bieber fits in a lesson on adverbs). For those of you who say that my students' fascination with him is shallow and will be short-lived...to that, I say "Who cares?" Twelve-year-olds are famous for changing their minds at the drop of a hat. All I know is that, right now, Justin Bieber is inspiring them and moving them to believe in brighter futures, and that's all I can really ask for.

[–] balubaby2006-908-124578 14 years ago

You know, if you really wanted to write in defense of bieber, you couldve wrote something better than this pity "he inspires the kid's stuff" , this load of crap you have written doesnt even make sense man, and you call yourself a teacher ? pathetic !!

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] solex10 12 years ago

Excuse me, but he is ISN'T one; he just happened to be lucky enough to able to make it due to YouTube exposure. To be sure, there is a part of him that's made up by his record company, but that's mostly true of all pop stars for a long time since Frank Sinatra. The young man can play instruments, and is working on a dubstep album with Skrillex. Why he's getting attacked for this movie, I don't know-it isn't as if he doing A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Love Me Tender, or Spice World; all that he's doing is a documentary just like Paul Anka did way back when, as well as other artists like U2 and Led Zepplin.

As well, way, way to be anti-Semitic with the 'Hollyjew' statement; I think that you have some issues that need to be worked out before you should be allowed to post on the Internet.

[–] Eevaporation 14 years ago

To OP: Thank you for your post. I agree with what you've said and support it 100%.

[–] pdcmoreira 14 years ago

First of all i would like to tell you that Justin Bieber cannot be related to your students because, just like you said, they are struggling to reach higher grounds while Bieber became a pop star because of one lucky "song" (or whatever that can be called) that catched the ears of the younger, clueless generation.
I'm not very old (22) nor a pop fan myself, but i can easily tell the difference between good pop singers and bad ones.
There are plenty of good teenage voices and musicians in the music industry, but the majority of them are not making as much "progress" as Bieber even with all of their music knowledge, voice srength and instrument playing skills.

At least i'm releaved that many people of my age shares the same opinion as me, knowing that rock bands and singers from the 80's (and even earlier) are the best music professionals yo u can find (alive), like Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, Guns and Roses, Bryan Adams, Scorpions, Stevie Wonder, even if you consider some musicians that passed away recently, you have Ray Charles, Ronnie James Dio, Michael Jackson, there's an endless list!
Dio alone could do a better job as 67 than any "new-gen" pseudo-singer out there.
Seriously, everytime he sang a song, he'd put his entire soul into the music and the audience.

Now we have what?
Err... Rap and auto-tune.
Why?
Because with the current technology there is no more need for musicians and talented singers, we have auto-tune!
Please tell me a band/singer/whatever that can perform as well live as they do in their studio versions.

Then go watch, for example, Iron Maiden performing Hallowed Be Thy Name LIVE.
You'll notice that something's very wrong... Or too much freaking right! Yes, it's true, they are some of the best living musicians out there, and don't get me started with B. Dickingson's strong and accurate voice, which is also one of the best.
And yes, you got it right, they are even better live than in studio.

Bring whatever you like as an argument, you just can't deny the facts.

Sorry if i made some grammar mistakes, as English is not my primary language.

Because at least in prison and at least in death, you know, I wouldn't be in *beep* Bruges.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Paul_Rudd_has_a_sweet_ass 14 years ago

Are any posts in the thread not self-important, 1000 words long crap? More to the point has anyone read the posts besides the original poster?

Man that guy's got a small face...

[–] chrisclark1215 14 years ago

I don't believe that anyone who disagrees with me is "idiotic." In fact, there have been several people who responded to my original post that I believe made very intelligent points. I thus responded to them respectfully to, hopefully, continue a discussion rather than the arbitrary bickering other posters have tried to cause (and, regretably, that I also took part in for a while). Do I believe that I'm more intelligent than any other poster on this board? Not necessarily...I don't know any of you personally. For all I know, you could be a doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc. What I will say is that when you say things like I'm "at home masturbating in [my] own feces," you are not contributing to a discussion; you are trying to pick a fight. I'm not going to pass judgement about what that says about you...I'm merely stating a fact.

www.crookedshoes.blogspot.com

[–] carewser 14 years ago

Chris,

I like a lot of the things you've said here since you seem like a pretty reasonable, rational human being but intelligence can take many shapes and is far from limited to those that have toiled for years in university to become a professional. As for Justin Bieber, i'm also not a fan but I think it's cool that your students look up to him as some kind of role model. Even though from what I understand Bieber didn't come from a disadvantaged background, if it helps kids work and strive for better, then he's a good role model. As far as Justin being the "flavour of the month", it's true, but like others have said, only time will tell if his flavour lasts. I'm sure lots of people were saying that about Elvis in the 50's and Madonna in the '80's. Another thing is America's (or in Bieber's case, Canadian) relentless desire to BE the flavour of the month. I'm sure there are millions of teens out there that would LOVE to be Justin Bieber so i'm sure jealousy also plays a part in their disdain for him. Are we so starved for money and attention as a society that we all need to be rich and famous? I think this desire is a societal neuroses. People like Justin Bieber don't just miraculously appear from the heavens either, they are the "perfect storm" if you will, of looks, attitude, work ethic, personality and talent and the fact is, that the kid excels in many of those categories, like him or not.

I still think he looks like a girl though. :)

[–] JoaquinRasta 14 years ago

I do not hate him because he's short, or looks like a girl, or sings like a girl. I hate him because he is the most narcissus (sorry to use language that teenage girls who are too brainwashed by him wouldn't understand) cocky, and most hypocritical kid on the planet. He's in love with himself and ridiculously cocky and rude. His movie had the most hypocritical message one could deliver. It really irritates me, that people have no idea about the first thing about film, or music, or role models. I'd rather have my child's role models be all the Kiss and the Pussycat Dolls members combined, than have them looking up to Justin Bieber.

[–] forksforrests 14 years ago

Wow, Eisteen. First you incorrectly use the word "narcissus", like it means anything in that context, and then you actually insult teenage girls about not knowing the word.
Get the word right, before you get on that pedestal of yours.

It's narcissist.
Narcissus is a flower.
So, are you trying to call him a flower?

How the hell could you want your kids to look up to the PCD? Are you delusional?
You want them to listen to sexually gratifying songs, like Buttons or whatever the hell else they sing? Actually, only on of them even sings. They're Burlesque Dancers that wear extremely provocative clothes, and any parent would be ashamed to subject their kids to that.

I don't see what strikes you as hypocritical in the movie.
The fact that he's talking about his impoverished background, but is now living a life of luxury?
Because hypocrisy would be him telling the audience that luxory=bad. Or if he pretended he never came from poverty in the first place, and then attacked the impoverished.

[–] Trax72 14 years ago

Now I am by no means an expert on all that is Bieber, nor do I wish to be, but aside from growing up in a poor home, was his childhood really all that bad? The kids in your class seem to be worse off than that so I'm not sure how they can really relate to Bieber. I agree with what some others have said, and that they're probably just attracted by the fluff pop factor that kids like at their age. He's the flavor of the month, and time will tell if his music will mature and he sticks around for long. Bieber may be a better inspiration than the reality stars and Paris Hiltons out there, but not by much. There are much better people to look up to out there.

I can't say I hate him, but I definitely dislike his look and his music. So I actually found it quite funny to see this movie rated at a 1.1. It's incredibly pretentious that some newcomer is featured in a self-glorifying movie as a part of the undeserved hype surrounding him. Let him pay his dues in the music industry for 10+ years before doing something like that. But of course, same industry is all about milking artists for all they're worth so they're as much to blame for this affront.

[–] 14 years ago

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