So here goes. The other day CBC contacted me for a response on something or other teen pop sensation Justin Bieber had said in Rolling Stone. He’d said something about health care the producer said, and had knocked America’s health care system while extolling the virtues of “free” (and broke) Canadian health care. I shrugged it off and as I was sick and had a cramped schedule that night, declined the interview. I thought how Hillarycare was headline-rampant back when I was about Bieber’s age and how I wouldn’t have wanted my developing understanding of such a complex issue under national scrutiny.
The next day I began seeing headlines like this one in my RSS reader and I felt a pang of regret, a missed opportunity to stand up for someone. His quotes?
On abortion: “I really don’t believe in abortion. I think [an embryo] is a human. It’s like killing a baby.”
On abortion in cases of rape: “Um. Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don’t know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.”
This kid, I thought, is going to be devoured.
Here Is the Abortion Conversation Justin Bieber Will Be Apologizing for Tomorrow
Craft your own publicist-approved clarification and apology in the comments!
Why exactly would he feel the need to apologize for this tomorrow? Is the concept of having the balls to stand up for what you believe such a foreign concept to Hollywood that they feel the need to expect a PR-crafted spin on the truth the moment it’s uttered? Why the hell is Rolling Stone grilling him about policy that they themselves don’t even understand? He’s a teenager. Touring the world and selling boatloads of albums, but a teenager, nonetheless. Sure, many would disagree with his remarks (which seeemed facetiously made) on health care – though to his credit, he himself admits that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, more than the poseurs scripting the article will admit, the same folks who will try to ensnare him with his own remarks the following day.
I tell you one sure way to make your ideology unattractive: freak out as exampled above over a teenager’s answer. In a culture that gave us “Skins” and the rehashed, second coming of Ace of Base/Grace Jones/ Madonna, celebrate the little things as a step in the opposite direction of that. I’d hate to see people make a bigger deal over his non-understanding of health care rather than his remarks on life. The latter is huge. He’s a teenager. Give him a break.
Life isn’t like the complexity of nationalized health care where “free” isn’t free; life is a simple issue: you want choice, go to Walmart and choose your brand of condom, diaphragm, lube, et al. Considering that the majority of abortions are obtained solely as a form of birth control, it’s hardly any sort of women’s rights issue – oh, unless the woman in question is the female in utero. And considering worldwide that the female sex is the one obliterated by “choice,” I’d only call it a “women’s rights” issue with extreme sarcasm.
So congratulations to Bieber who is, at the tender age of 16, more of a man than most of the scrubs in Hollywood. The cool thing is that he’s not alone: many of his exact demographic feel the same way.
Shame on the media for trying to paint a target on a 16-year-old. In a world of self-aggrandizing, plasticine brands, it’s refreshing to see a glimmer of something real. When you see that, speak up for it. Loudly.
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