It appears that the adults of America, particularly those who spend a great deal of time on the internet, have decided that Justin Bieber is the worst thing to ever happen to the world, ever. But it’s not true, girl!
On the contrary, we should be celebrating Bieber, and all of his absolutely ridiculous teen idol accessories, including his lustrous hair and “swagger coach,” for carrying on the dumb but important rite-of-passage that is the teen idol dreamboat. Your grandmother swooned over Fabian, for example.And perhaps you kissed pictures of Leif Garrett, shown here singing his hit, “I Was Made For Dancin.”
And I know there are some of us here who wished we were on the other line when New Edition sang “Mr. Telephone Man.”
Or maybe, at the age of 12 or so, you were entranced by Joey Lawrence’s jean jacket?
Or perhaps you screamed at the sight of Donnie Wahlberg doin’ the New Kids dance in his “Homeboy” shirt?
Or maybe you, like Gabby Sidibe, stood outside of the TRL studios and screamed for N’Sync?
Or maybe you just wanted to get invited to Aaron’s party? (Remember when Lindsay Lohan and Hillary Duff fought over this kid!? Oh, the 00s!)
The point is, every generation has its tween idol that adults don’t really understand. Are the songs terrible? Sometimes. Are they catchy as hell? Nearly always. We may feel inundated by Justin Bieber due to the fact that stars who used to find their brightest spotlights on the cover of Bop or in the TRL studios are now enjoying more visibility online, (where their target audience is, naturally), but can we all stop acting like Justin Bieber is the devil sent to ruin music forever, please? Is he annoying? Sure. But every generation has their irritating, unintentionally hilarious, goofy idol to fall in love with in a completely safe and silly way, and unless you can honestly say that your crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas or Rider Strong or Devon Sawa or Justin Timberlake in his shiny pants days was somehow more legit, let’s just give this kid, and his 11-year-old fans, a break. They’ll move on soon enough: you might as well enjoy the stupidity of the show while it lasts.
Want to celebrate your own teen dream? Feel free to post your favorite videos in the comments.
Join the discussion...