Lesa Turnquist | Co-Copy Editor
In my oral communications course the other day, we were briefly coming up with and discussing random topics that we could use for our informative speech. When I announced the topic “Justin Bieber,” the classroom became filled with moans, rolling eyes, and shaking heads. The class was then asked if anyone would enjoy hearing a speech about Justin Bieber, and the majority briefly expressed their negative opinions towards him.
Usually I would just accept this response and move on because it is such a common reaction, but something inside me sparked. I was, in a way, offended that people weren’t accepting my idea to do a simple informative speech on this young and successful artist. Then the thought came to me: Do people really hate Justin Bieber, or is there just a thrill of hating him?
When this issue presented itself to me, I did some research and a little asking around. I came up with eight typical reasons as to why people claim they do not like Justin Bieber. I will present each reason, in no particular order, followed by my insight as to why I believe these are not legitimate reasons.
1. “He has a high voice and sounds like a girl.”
Regardless of how high his voice is, he is a very good artist. We all know that kid who didn’t hit puberty until they were almost out of high school. As he ages, his voice is only getting lower. In his recent album, Believe, he clearly demonstrates this. If a girl sounds like he does in this album, I might be a little freaked out. Also, going back to his first albums where his voice was, I’ll admit, a little bit high for a boy his age, his musicality is amazing, whether you like the sound of it or not. In his movie Never Say Never, they explain how he never even took voice lessons. He also learned how to play the drums, piano, and guitar on his own as a child. You have to be extremely gifted and talented in order to demonstrate amazing drum skills at age two.
2. “He looks like a girl; he’s too short.”
Artists are supposed to sing well; models are supposed to look good. His looks do not have anything to do with his music. Although, if I were a guy, I definitely wouldn’t mind looking like him. Another contributing factor to him “looking like a girl” is they say his hair is too long (until he cut it in 2011). I know plenty of guys at Buena Vista University who have hair longer than Justin. Yes, I’m pointing at you, baseball team.
3. “He’s all about the looks.”
Is there even a celebrity that doesn’t care about their looks? We’ve got some pretty unique characters out there in the celebrity world. It’s part of their way of developing a fan base. A few of those examples may include Lady Gaga—opinionated; Katy Perry—colorful; Rihanna—exotic; Lil Wayne—gangster; and Mike Posner—classy. Just like the others, Justin should also be able to show who he is through his looks.
4. “His songs are just about love.”
First of all, what artist doesn’t sing about love? It’s a topic that can relate to everybody and something people can especially connect with in certain parts of his or her life. Justin does, however, have songs that are about other things such as separation of parents (“Down to Earth”), problems in the world (“Pray”), and sticking to your dreams and staying true to yourself (“Never Say Never”).
5. “He sings about love a lot, so he’s a bad influence on his young audience.”
He does not talk about drugs, alcohol, or sex, and has yet to put a curse word in his songs. There are much worse influences in the music world than love.
6. “He sucks.”
I can’t tell you how many times people have said this to me about him. This probably isn’t a top “reason” as to why they don’t like him, but I hear this phrase all the time. I just want to point out how rare it is for someone to become a top artist when they’re 15, let alone become a successful artist at all. I encourage people to watch his movie to get a better understanding of how he got to be where he is today. His fame obviously didn’t happen overnight. In fact, I remember when he was just starting to become famous on YouTube before he was signed. The first time I ever heard of Justin Bieber was when someone had told me to watch this video of a little kid singing Chris Brown’s “With You.” If you have not seen it, it is truly amazing seeing him as a normal kid just trying to get somewhere.
7. “There are other people that sing just as well as him.”
It takes more than just a good voice to become a hit artist. There are many characteristics and talents that make up a good artist. You need showmanship, you have to be able to write songs, you have to be a crowd pleaser, and you should be able to dance. Anyone can sing, but can they perform?
8. “It’s not Justin Bieber that I don’t like, it’s his obsessive fans.”
You shouldn’t judge an artist based on his fans. I will agree it can get kind of annoying when someone is obsessed with Justin Bieber, but he is not the only annoying obsession I have seen in my life. Justin cannot control how his fans react, but as an artist, his fans are what keep him going. If you were in the music business, wouldn’t you want a solid fan base, too?
Not everyone is going to like him; I realize this. I can’t make you like him, either, but I just want people to understand Justin Bieber better and not dislike him for the wrong reasons. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t enjoy certain genres of music (cough cough) country (cough), but I have legitimate reasons as to why (see me if you wish for further detail). So the next time you listen to a Justin Bieber song or see him somewhere in the media, think about the true reasons as to why you do not like him. Do you really hate him, or do you just want an image of hating him?
Graphic by Krystal Schulte
