Before 2008 Justin Bieber was just another guy on YouTube. Then he was found by an agent who led him to Usher and signed him to a record label, and ever since then people have this unexplained hatred for Bieber that is misplaced, unfounded, and possibly just rooted in jealousy of the guy’s success. And I think it’s just ridiculous.
Let it be known that I am no “Belieber,” nor would I call myself any type of Bieber fan. This is an opinion article based on things I hear from friends and strangers alike.
Bieber wasn’t the first YouTube sensation that was popular to hate. That honor went to Fred, a character with a high-pitched squeaky voice who eventually hit Nickelodeon, but at least the reason for disliking him was justified. That voice made you want to claw out your ears and Fred had a sense of humor that was childish and stupid. The only common factor between the two YouTube personas are the place they were discovered and, in Bieber’s early years, a prepubescent voice.
People like to say, “Oh he sounds like a girl. Gross. He looks like a girl. Blech.” Well, he’s not the first artist to have a voice people mistake for the opposite gender. A few come to mind, actually. Prince, for instance, had quite a few songs where when I first heard them I was like, “Oh she’s good,” and honestly mistaking him for a woman. Granted I wasn’t listening to the song with full attentiveness, it was still misleading the first time.
Cher is another artist; man does she sound like a man. Yet she’s loved by millions, and barely hated on for her manly singing. As for Bieber’s looks, he was verging on puberty when he became famous, so it’s natural people would make fun of him. However, hatred towards his hair is something I don’t understand. If I remember correctly, a bunch of kids in my town/area had the same type of hair, and they were never made fun of until Bieber came along and made the ‘do famous.
Honestly, I think the hatred stems from pure jealousy of the success he has had. Short from that, I can think of no reason for him to get so much of it. There are people who claim to hate him because they don’t like his music, but there are literally hundreds of other artists who do the same type of music he does but get comparatively little hate.
There are also people who say it’s the amount of fangirls that follow him everywhere and do whatever he says. I didn’t realize that having a fanclub (albeit an annoying one) was something you controlled yourself. I wonder if people hated the screaming girls that followed the Beatles as much as they hate the girls who follow Bieber religiously. No, there is absolutely no comparison between Bieber and the Beatles, but there is a comparison to the amount of screaming girls they each brought to the media’s attention.
And yes, I realize that some of you hate on Bieber just because it’s “fun” and don’t legitimately hate the guy. Yet that brings in the question of maturity, doesn’t it? It’s the equivalent of hating on that geek in high school because, while he’s got pimples and thick glasses, you’re jealous of his good grades and probability of success in life. But it’s about time you stop hating for fun and realize that the only reason you should hate someone is if they cause you harm. Personal, physical, emotional harm that is not caused by a video on YouTube or the word “baby” repeated over and over. If Justin Beiber came over and punched your girlfriend in the face, then I would be right there with you wanting to kick him and make him suffer, but he didn’t.
So there it is, that’s why I think the hate for Justin Bieber is ridiculous and overdone. If you hate him (and yes, people do use the word “hate”) for another reason, then please let me know because I’d love to know where it comes from.
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