Justin Bieber Is A Human Being, In Case You Forgot

(Photo: billboard.com) 

Popular culture is a dangerous place. It is dangerous in the sense that young people can get so intoxicated in the ideologies of a human being that everything they do, good or bad, can be justified. In the case of Justin Bieber, this is something that has happened, and will continue to happen, whether he likes it or not.

At his gig in Manchester last night, Justin threw one of his infamous "drop mic and leave the stage only to stagger back on awkwardly 10 minutes later" style strops. Something that is becoming all too common for the star. So much so, that his fans, with their intense knowledge of his current mental health, can now identify the root causes of these strops. Once a pointless act of selfishness and brat-like behaviour, it is the now the case of Justin feeling like he is not being listened to whilst on stage.

Justin Bieber is listened to, in some ways. His latest album 'Purpose' an album written about reflection and finding his own purpose in this world, is one of the best selling albums in record history and lead single 'Sorry' has been streamed over 788 million times on Spotify - more than any other song on the streaming service. The world is a lot more open minded to his craft. So maybe the surface of the problem is the fans who have been here since the beginning - the die hards, or beliebers as they still prefer to be called.

I was once one of these intoxicated teenagers. Between the tender ages of 13 and 17, my life, nay, entire existence revolved around Justin Bieber - the singer AND commercial product. Now 20 and with a more broad sense of other music genres, I attended his concert last Saturday at the O2 Arena in London almost as a throwback, and let's not lie, a little treat for myself. I could not give you a valid evaluation of his two previous world tours that I saw in my hazed immersion of Justin Bieber's egotistically-developing self. The only thing I could tell you that it was amazing. But was it? My only memory of both of those tours was hyperventilating, screaming aimlessly and yelling 'I love you' at inappropriate times (lest we forget my Capital FM Summertime Ball incident in 2012, that was the lowest point of the fixation and the point where medical attention should have really become an option for me) I could not tell if he sung anything in key. The thought that he may have been miming some if not all of his set was immediately shut out of my mind.

Seeing him again last Saturday was different. It had been over three years since the Believe Tour and within that time, my state of mind towards Justin Bieber had altered. I was no longer obsessively emerged in his being, only his music and supporting his craft, which is essentially why he is a singer in the first place lets all remember. Him taking a year out to stop himself falling into the '27 club' six years too early also played a part in this withdrawal. Seeing him last Saturday allowed me to watch him live, without the blurred vision of the overly evident bias that once plagued my entire existence. I could watch him impartially and enjoy an incredibly well produced, thought out and passionate show.

Fans who still adopt this blurred vision are mostly around my age, having"grown with Justin" to put it in their precise words. People (still mostly girls) aged between 15-mid 20's statistically are the worst affected by this on-going epidemic. When news of Justin's antics emerged last night, Twitter users were quick to defend the star saying that he "deserves to be listened to" and that he "deserves to be treated with respect" Now, I am many things, but I am for one not an arsehole, and of course a human being deserves respect! It is common courtesy that you listen to someone when they are speaking to you. However, defending him for storming off stage is where I draw a line.

Throwing a strop like a kid is quite frankly, bluntly and honestly pathetic. As a 22 year old musician who wants nothing more than to be taken seriously by the world and not just his minions, it is incredibly childish to waltz yourself off stage, dramatic mic drop and all, all because your 'obnoxious' fans will not stop screaming. Calling your fans obnoxious as well? Really Justin? Are they obnoxious for buying your records, paying for that brand new, big ol' London pad of yours, paying in the region of £70-£1,500 for a ticket to witness your strops in the flesh? Defending him for storming off stage is simply pacifying him, like giving a baby a dummy to stop them crying, or handing them their favourite toy to ease their minds. If you do it enough, they will learn that that is how they win. That being irrational and throwing impromptu strops in the hope of being listened to is an ok thing to do.

Justin Bieber, underneath the commercial production that now angers him to the core and has even brought him to the brink of suicide, is a human being. He lives, breathes and suffers just the same as the rest of us. Despite his fans' best efforts to try and preach this idea across social media, the unneccessary screaming, obscure profanities to both Justin and other spectators in the crowd at his gigs and the mildly offensive stalking that takes place when he arrives in their cities still exists seven years on, because of them. Respect is all Justin wants, and it might be time for those closer to home to start distributing this respect to their 'lord and saviour'

Now beliebers, I'm not in any position to tell you to leave your 'fangirl life' behind and 'grow up' - I'm not trying to be your parents. I am merely stating, maybe a little too obviously, that Justin is a human, and maybe it is time to stop telling professionals (journalists, radio presenters, all those people you resent because they said one misunderstood comment about Justin that one time) to treat him like one and maybe start treating him like one yourselves. Tone down the screaming and start listening, because when you do, he becomes a lot better to understand.