Bieber Fever

If you listen to pop music or own a television, you know the name. Justin Bieber is one of the most popular people on the planet. His current popularity has been compared with that of Elvis or James Dean. People treat him like he is a god and can do no wrong. But if that were true, he wouldn't have multiple arrests between here and Canada before the age of 21.

I don't listen to pop music, so I missed the beginning of the Bieber craze. He was popular for a couple of years before I was even aware of his existence. And that occurred on late night television. I think it was Jimmy Kimmel, either that or Jay Leno. When I first saw him, I thought he looked like a rather young blonde version of one of the Beatles. He was cute with kind of a goofy looking smile. It occurred to me that he was probably lucky to be famous because where I grew up kids that looked like him got their butts kicked on a pretty routine basis. I listened to some of his music and it wasn't too bad. It wasn't great either. But I could see the appeal, if I were a twelve year old girl that thought he was singing directly to me. I'm not and he wasn't, so no attraction.

"What's a Bieber?"

This is probably my favorite thing that Ozzy Osbourne has ever said. It was a two second clip at the end of a commercial that they were both in. While it may have been a joke, it did serve to show that what is phenomenally popular with one group of people will be completely unknown to a different group of people. Nobody is universally popular. And it served to cause me to start thinking that some people who are too full of themselves need to spend some more time amongst people that don't know who they are, as a humbling exercise.

Celebrities who buy into the hype about how much better they are than everyone else get a god complex. They feel that they can do whatever they want without any consequences. For the sake of the rest of the human race they need to be knocked down a few pegs.

When he was arrested in Miami for drag racing, his father was in one of the two vehicles that was blocking off the road so that Bieber and his other friends could race.Way to go dad! Nice job providing a good example for your son, who while under the legal limit to be considered drunk, did have a low blood alcohol level and was in fact intoxicated with drugs. Money obviously did something sick to this family that only hard work and therapy can undo.

I'd like to see Justin Bieber forced to do things that are way outside his comfort zone. Things like spending a week in general population at a local adult jailhouse or hanging out in the center of a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert. Or maybe something he might actually survive, like showing up for work his first day on a commercial construction site, with no tools and no assistants.

Popularity has gone to his head. But he is young. I don't think he is a lost cause yet. Something has to be done soon though or his misspent youth will turn into a wasted life.