Jusyin Bieber
Just when you think teen superstar Justin Bieber couldn't possibly do
anything dumber, he does something that makes you do a double face
palm. Bieber is truly achieving the impossible: He's making Lindsay
Lohan look good.
So what did Bieber do this time? Well, over the
weekend he stopped at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. This museum is
dedicated to preserving the memory of Anne Frank, whose chronicle of her
family's efforts to hide from the Nazis during World War II would later
become "The Diary of Anne Frank."
Bieber ended his visit by
writing in the Holocaust memorial's guest book: "Truly inspiring to come
here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber."
For
those who wonder what he's talking about, a "belieber" is a term used
to describe one of Bieber's devoted fans. Apparently Bieber's take-away
from visiting this Holocaust memorial was that he hoped that Anne Frank
would've been a fan of his music. He may have just redefined the word
"narcissistic."
There is a silver lining to this. Some of his
young fans tweeted that they had never heard of Anne Frank.
Consequently, the controversy surrounding his comments apparently raised
awareness about the horrors of the Holocaust to some young people
previously unfamiliar with it. And the Anne Frank House praised Bieber's
visit.
It was being gracious. But Bieber really needs to stop
talking for a while. And I don't say that as someone who harbors an
inappropriate amount of dislike for the teen singer. In fact, last May I
wrote a piece for CNN.com defending and actually sympathizing with
Bieber when he had an altercation with the paparazzi.
But that was almost a year ago. Since then, Bieber has become unbearable.
In
the last month alone, we have watched Bieber caught on tape being
restrained by his bodyguards as he unleashed a stream of obscenities and
threatened members of the paparazzi with physical violence. He also
allegedly spit in the face of one of his neighbors and threatened him
after the neighbor complained that Bieber was driving his Ferrari at 100
mph in their gated community.
Then we saw Bieber storm out of his
March birthday party like a spoiled child calling it the "worst
birthday." He went on to show up almost an hour late for his concert in
London. And in January, photos surfaced of Bieber smoking what the
website TMZ said appeared to be weed with his friend rapper, Lil Twist.
I get it. Bieber wants the world to know he isn't a kid anymore. So he has decided to go the "bad ass" route.
But
Bieber will never, ever be the tough guy he wants to be. Why? For
starters, he's Canadian. When you think Canada, you think nice, often
overly polite people -- not thugs.
Second, Bieber is 5 feet 7
inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. Those measurements say "horse
jockey," not scary guy. (Sure, actor Joe Pesci is only 5 feet 4 inches
tall and known as a tough guy, but Pesci is Sicilian and was born in
Newark, New Jersey, not London, Ontario.)
Bieber is clearly
heading down the path of many child stars desperate to make the
transformation into grown-up star. But his actions are not getting him
there. Instead, he is becoming a walking punch line.
He has a few
options. He could simply retire and enjoy his wealth. Estimates are that
he is worth more than $100 million. Not bad for a 19-year-old kid --
from Canada. But it's unlikely that Bieber will take that route.
The
other option is to avoid the fate of past teen stars who have ended up
behind bars or worse as they struggled toward adulthood.
Instead,
he could follow the lead of another Justin: Justin Timberlake. He, too,
was a young star. First on "The Mickey Mouse Club" and then in the much
better known boy band 'N Sync. Timberlake didn't try to be something
he's not. He continued to make music and then made a successful
transition into acting.
Decision time is now for Justin Bieber: He
can be a Timberlake or a cautionary tale that parents tell their kids
who want to go into show business. What's it going to be?
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