The End of all that is Holy and Good 20 / 30

There are some things that should never be known.  Those things that haunt us, that keep us awake at nights.  The sorts of things that, just when we are feeling safe and secure, jump out at us and make us jolt upright in our seats, gasping for breath and checking to make sure that no one is standing behind us…

The idea of googling Justin Bieber has that effect on me.  And I have googled a lot of things.  I looked up “Alabama hotpocket”, “goatse” and “two girls one cup”.  I have plumbed the depths of human depravity, I have watched things that no man should ever have to watch, heard sounds replicated only in the seventh level of hell – but I can not google Justin Bieber.

Its not that I dislike him.  Not at all.  He seems like a charming little bo… errr… young man.  I’m sure he’s funny and smart, and I know he can sing.  But the idea of actually searching out that information, to learn more about him, or to find old clips of him pre-fame, makes my skin crawl.  For the record, it has the same effect on my wife (who actually started this conversation with me) and I hope, on millions of other people around the world.

There is something just wrong with the idea of a 12 year old boy (see, I don’t even know how old he is) being as famous as he is.  Haven’t his parents learned anything from the failed child star histories of Michael Jackson, Danny Bonaduce, Drew Barrymore (pre-clean up) and Lindsay Lohan???  When we give children this much fame, power and adulation, we really mess with their ability to understand how the world really works.  We take away the idea of hardship and give them a strong sense of entitlement.  What?  You disagree?  Four words – Never Never Land Ranch.

I commend Justin Bieber for his success.  He, by all accounts, actually has musical talent, unlike scores of other performers schlepping their albums on the top forty charts right now.  He was, according to the review of his new movie I read today (which made me feel dirty) a talented child, and has perhaps earned the adulation he receives.

What is he going to look like in twenty years though?  Are we going to be watching him on Celebrity Rehab XXII?  Will he play Hilary Swank in a biopic?  Alright, that last one is from Shannon.

Seriously though, maybe its just time to step back from Bieber-fever and remember that he’s 12, and needs parents who support him and ground him.  Hopefully he already has that.  I doubt it, but here’s hoping.