My 'Never Say Never' Experience

...........Is "Bieber Fever" contagious?.........

     I have never watched a Justin Bieber  pre or post fameYouTube video.  I have never listened to an entire Bieber song, not counting my 4 year old niece singing 'Baby' while he is barely audible in the background.  I have never seen one of his music videos.  The most I knew about him before tonight was that he made me smile when he became a middle aged man in a Super Bowl commercial. 



     Notice I said "before tonight"?  Let me tell you about what I did tonight.  I braved taking my three daughters and two of my nieces to see the biography film 'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never'.  Not knowing what I was in for I smartly enlisted a friend to keep me company.  Luckily, all the girls have never had fan love or mania of any sort so we were free of incessant giggling and over excitement.  Just five girls excited about staying up late on a school night by going to the movies.  I was also dreading it due to a very full schedule to begin the next day and span about 19 hours.  Let me tell you, it was worth taking all the girls to see it.



     I will admit it,  I was one of those people who had doubts as to how talented he was.  Was it his talent, or more because of young girls thinking he's cute and many having an extreme,and almost disturbing crush on him?  Also, can a teenager seriously have a biography?  Is his talent truly deserving of all this "Bieber Fever"?  Well, yes and no.

     The movie goes between home videos, concerts, interviews, behind the scenes of the concerts and the camera following in his off time all while building up to his sold out appearance at Madison Square Garden.  Which, by the way, is a huge accomplishment for even the biggest artists in the world who have been around for many, many years.  Visually the film is really great.  The concerts and a few other things were recorded in 3D and it made for an awesome "concert" experience.    All of the home videos showed he has a true God given talent and has had it majority of his young life.  The way that kid could hit beats is amazing.  He plays at least 5 instruments and he really can sing.  It isn't severely altered in the recording studio *cough* Britney Spears.

                                                                          

      This kid is so lucky to have such a huge support system.  Raised by a teenage mom and her parents who want him to be a respectful and good man.  A manager, vocal coach , security guard and so many others who want him to be as much of a teenager as he can be and all seem to truly love this kid.  Justin acts in a way that makes you feel that all of these people mean the world for him and that he does look to them for guidance, support and possibly most of all, protection.

                                                                        



     You see, I believe that yes, Justin Bieber is deserving of his career.  This kid has to be just as responsible, if not more, than most adults.  He cannot call in to work if he is sick.  The only time that happened was due to possible damage to his vocal chords.  Without those, the kid has no singing career.  He has to record in the studio, rehearse all of the dances for each concert, make press appearances, do all of his school work and when he can fit in time to visit family and friends and a little bit of sleep. By the way, he did over 80 performances in one year at age 16. His performances are all real and all of them really good.  This kid is living his dream and that is fantastic, but I don't know if his dream included the mania that follows him most everywhere.

  I also believe that no, he is not deserving of the insanity that surrounds his life.  Justin Bieber is loved and admire around the world, which is a very good thing.  Without all of his fans he would not be where he is today.  Obviously any amount of fame for a teenager takes away an "average" life and that is fine.  It is the price you pay to be able to make a living doing what you love and fulfilling your dream.  The problem is when a star can do close to none of the things a person any age can normally do.  Not because people want to just say hi or to shake his hand or get an autograph everywhere he goes.  But because he is chased, grabbed, pushed, shoved and basically mauled and molested by frenzied fans who are, for the majority, young girls.  This is not during his concerts, it is just going outside on a regular day.  It was like watching an out of control mob who was attacking him while he was trying to play.  Yes, I said play.  Let's not forget he is still a kid.  During his concerts girls actually storm the stage, try to run past over security detail, pull cables to trying to climb up to him all while screaming and hysterically crying.  It was sad and disturbing to see people behave in such a manner. 

                                                                               

     On the whole the film was very good.  It gave insight into his daily life, was informative of his rise to fame, entertaining and touching.  I may not be dowloading his songs to my iPod, but I definitely see why people do.  there are multiple appearances by, and songs performed with several celebrities like Usher, Snoop Dogg, Miley Cyrus, Ludacris and Jaden Smith.  Justin Bieber is a very musically talented person and thank goodness he seems to be a very thankful kid.  Even if you aren't a fan of his, I really think you will enjoy this film.  It is a must to anyone whose kid enjoys music, and any adults who do should put it on their watch list as well.


~ Pattie Hart

                                          Video of 4 year old Rylee singing Bieber's 'Baby'.

The girls commenting on the Justin Bieber film.