Is J-Beebs letting down Beliebers?
Glossy-eyed with his trademark quaff unruffled, Justin Bieber smiles for his now-famous mug shot. Bieber was arrested for drag racing in Miami Beach last week, police allege he was under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and Xanax, according to the CNN report.
This is not Bieber’s first run-in with the law. On Jan. 9 of this year he was accused of felony vandalism. The security camera evidence shows him allegedly egging his neighbor’s home in L.A., causing an estimated $20,000 in damage, according to CNN.
The charges are currently under investigation. The question on many people’s minds asks: is Bieber spiraling out like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan before him?
Erin Hilow, a junior at Keene State College and secondary education and math major, said she thinks Bieber is getting out of control.
Hilow said, “This is what happened to Britney Spears too and she just lost all of her popularity.”
The junior continued, “[Spears] just got weird and that’s what Justin Bieber’s going do to.”
While some could care less, an empire of so-called Beliebers are strongly affected by this current spiral.
Hilow commented on Bieber’s concerned fans and said, “His fans are children and they’re not going to want to look up to some druggy who’s in jail right now, nor would parents want them to look up to him.”
Professor of Psychology at KSC, Lawrence Welkowitz said he believes that society gives celebrities like Bieber too much power. “People like Justin Bieber have a lot of potential to do good,” Welkowitz said.
Welkowitz indicated that he believes society takes celebrities too seriously. Welkowitz said, “the media loves a freak show.”
The influence celebrities have on society, especially today’s youth, is discussed in a journal article by Patrick F. Parnaby and Vincent F. Sacco featured in 2006 in the North American Journal of Psychology called “Fame And Strain: The Contributions Of Mertonian Deviance Theory To An Understanding Of The Relationship Between Celebrity And Deviant Behavior.” The article states, “our cultural preoccupation with fame and celebrity has manifested itself even in the minutia of daily living.”
“He’s just being ridiculous and stupid, and he doesn’t realize that he might have money right now but this is how he’s blowing it, he’s blowing his reputation,” Hilow said.
Another celebrity with a similar level of fame status, Miley Cyrus, has been under somewhat similar scrutiny. Perhaps her recent personality change had less potential to hurt her image.
“I have no objection to anything that Miley Cyrus does,” Welkowitz said.
Cyrus’ image makeover has stirred up her fans as well, but “Miley Cyrus is doing really weird stuff like the Wrecking Ball video that seemed ridiculous at first, at least to me, but it had meaning behind it and Justin Bieber is just being stupid,” Hilowsaid.
Hannah Sundell can be contacted at hsundell@ksc.keene.edu