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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