Overboard

Overboard would be the perfect word to use as I take this new article into the direction of current – manufactured – teen heart throb by the name of Justin Bieber. My own thoughts about what is, isn’t, and appears overboard may surprise some of you, but I would not be surprised if the surprise comes from those of whom would surprise me to find anything other than ignorant apathy. It can all get pretty (a)pathetic, but here is my thoughts on the matter.
Justin Bieber is, currently, a sixteen (16) year old vocalist working for Island Records. Prior to this sudden rush of blood to the media-front, Bieber was just a kid singing to various music on YouTube. In these videos, he showed off his talent that inevitably brought him into the music industry. This is where things get interesting, but for who?
Now, I will state first and foremost that I am not, nor will I ever find myself to be a fan of Bieber. His voice is true, but his style and target genre is one I hold ill emotions toward. Do not mistake what I say as me stating a dislike of him personally, but his choice of music. With that known, we can continue.
Bieber was quickly clawed at by the vile and ravenously annoying Record Labels. If anyone could be to blame for the phenomenon of this boy, it is most likely them – the venomous, despicable gluttons of greed and filth this galaxy has ever been choked and forced to witness. They will milk, and devour, and dig their nine inch nails into to amass as much of the profits they can achieve without any respect, or even care for the beings they’re latching their parasitic fangs into. This child is no different, just as they did to Michael Jackson, Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor, Radiohead, et cetera.
It was a preconceived notion that Justin Bieber was nothing more than another Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, N*Sync, Milli Vanilli, and all of the other Label Manufactured plastic manniqueens of the dollar bill, but he isn’t. Justin Bieber has that raw, pure talent and anyone that actually took the time to look at the credits of his albums will notice he has taken part – note, I said part – of writing each and every song that he has sung and can be considered his own. This does not include any cover songs, if he has done any.
The image, the phenomenon, the annoying presence of Justin Bieber has the distinct foul odor of Record Label vomiting the dollar signs at the very sight of all of the little girls that will inevitably buy his records in their mental delusion that, in some far off world Justin Bieber is theirs and theirs alone. Some how to them, Justin Bieber is singing to that one girl and only her. This mental illness known as projecting your ego onto something else has been exploited by the Record Labels since before Vanilla Ice was sold to the public as their personal vivi-sex symbol.
The girls, however are also a major part of the problem within this entire Bieber experience. But can we really blame them as a whole, individually, or should we blame the shallow human masses? Can you say that teen heart throbs like Bieber, Taylor Lautner, and others within a shallow percentage of the media are the only ones that experience this bizarre phenomenon? I can only speak two names to you, and you will understand that there are many others that this has happened to: David Bowie, and John Lennon.
No, this is not exclusive to teen pop, shallow film trash or even shallow idols, but to anyone with either a sex appeal, or good presence in their respective target media.
The mothers are the same, the children are the same, and the mentality is the same. The fault is not on Bieber, but the human psyche. Whatever it is that turns on in our brains when we see these people both on screen and in person is something so drastic that it turns us into fanatical zombies, even to the point that we can’t see that those we project our ego’s desires onto are just human like us. They eat, sleep, breath, and bleed. I know David Mark Chapman found that out after he took down someone that seemed like a God to the world.
In conclusion, I can not say that Justin Bieber is an artist, nor can I say that he is a plastic drone allowing Island Records to manufacture something that he isn’t. Justin can sing, and has that talent we so crave to deny him, but he also lacks the raw ability a true artist like John Lennon, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor, Madonna, and so many others have. The raw ability to stay both relevant, and individual at the same time. Justin will probably not survive in the spotlight after he’s reached twenty, but maybe he will, and maybe he’ll branch off from this projected image the Label is using to lure in the mindless masses high on their own sense of celebrity to see that this is just a kid trying to live his dream. That is what is overboard. The people that seek to destroy a child living his dream, the people that seek to inject him with their own inflated fantasies, and the people who seek to leech off of a child’s dream in order to make the quickest dollar possible.
Justin Bieber is on a train that is rapidly derailing itself. It’s up to him, not us, not the label, and not the whiny shallow fans that will forget him in a year or two that can save him from this. Only he can; only an artist can. Can he? I would say no, but it isn’t for me to decide, because then I’d be like all of you who seek to define him by the spot on the sales shelf where he currently resides.​