I have a confession. I love Justin Bieber. I love his voice, anyway. And his songs are so darn catchy! To be honest, I cringe to think about the effect that millions upon millions of sceaming girls has upon the ego of a 15 year-old male, but you’ve got to admit…the kid’s really good.
But I’m not here to talk about his vocal abilities. I more want to dive into the content of his music. Imagine the scene: a 15 year-old kid auditions for Usher and it’s clear the kid’s got amazing talent. After a bidding war with Justin Timberlake, Usher gets the rights to raise up this pop prodigy into celebrity greatness. Put yourself in Usher’s shoes:
Now what?
How do we make him larger than life? How can we maximize revenue given his talent? Who is his audience? What will he sing about?
The music industry has very calculated answers to those questions because there’s so much money riding on the right answers. And it appears that said industry has realized that Justin would do well to appeal to pre-teen and teenage girls by singing a certain variety of pop love song. The kind that guarantees masses of screaming girls in sold-out stadiums.
I’m going to show you what the industry machine produces when you tell it that it needs to pump out millions of lovestruck screaming adolescents. As you watch, I want you to try really hard to put yourself in the shoes of middle school you. I want you to process your own emotions and think about why this product so predictably churns out such intense emotions among one of our nation’s most vulnerable populations.
So what did it? What was the secret ingredient? If you came up with a list of elements that drive teenagers (especially girls) crazy, I want to take the question one step further: Why? Why do those elements drive teens aboslutely insane? I’ll actually extend the question to you: Did your heart flutter a bit as you watched? What kind of longings did this stir up inside of you? What seduced middle school you? I’d love to hear your response in the comments section.
The industry doesn’t want us to really think about or answer these questions, because once we start doing that, it’s not long before their master plan is unveiled:
1) Convince young women that their worth is defined by how many boys are physically and romantically interested in them.
2) Leave them to pursue romantic relationships before they’re mature enough to know what love means or look likes.
3) Wait for the serious heartbreak and emotional wounds that inevitably result when two adolescents invest deeply in one another romantically.
4) Prey upon their wounded hearts and shattered dreams by providing a hero (Justin Bieber) who claims the power to be the counter-example and love perfectly. Then let the money to pile up from the pockets of these broken dreamers. Now back to step 2, and let the cycle continue and intensify with each repetition.
It is one of the most twisted money-making schemes that our nation’s laws allow for.
I want to weigh in with how I understand this phenomenon on a spiritual level. I think this video is so appealing because it paints a potentially beautiful, even perfect reality. The intense pursuit, desire, and lack of conflict that epitomize the video relationship reflect deeper relational dynamics of the Kingdom of Heaven. Relational dynamics that satisfy the eternal longings in each of us (Ecclesiastes 3:10-11). And I think it’s created with the intention of convincing you that a romantic relationship that is typified by that kind of perpetual joyful intimacy is really possible here on earth. And we love believing that, so we buy it. By the millions.
The images and sounds are made to sort of lull you into this belief, so that you eventually begin to long for it yourself. 14 year-old girls, who don’t know any better, begin to believe that Justin can provide this for them since he promises it in his music. If you missed the promise, it took the form of the bridge:
I can fix up your broken heart
I can give you a brand new start
I can make you believe,
I just wanna set one girl free to fall,
Fall in love
But he’s lying to you. He can’t actually do any of those things. In fact, nobody can. No human being actually has the power to free you, fix you, or make you do anything. Especially celebrities. Of course Justin has no idea how to love a woman. He’s 15, people. The rates of martial dissatisfaction and divorce in America suggests that most full-grown men around here don’t even know how to love a woman. So the video makes a cripplingly empty promise that looks something like this: “You can find that unwavering perfect intimacy that always fulfills all of your heart’s deepest longings in a romantic relationship with another broken, hurting, selfish, sinful person.” You, being your mature, wise, experienced self would quickly call this promise ridiculous. But millions of young women don’t think it’s ridiculous when they watch the video. They want it…
(In Part II I’ll try my hand at what I think the Church can do to begin to repair the pain this pattern has caused our nation and restore our young people to a healthy place of hope and longing)
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That note that he leaves her: “I’ll make every moment magical”… How much pain in our society is the result of being brainwashed into believing that is possible from the time we are little kids! What a horrible lie!
And anyway, what the heck did she do with that puppy he bought her?
Hollywood can be so lame.
Not to mention the fact that it’s a total lie that even a _good_ marriage can take away your loneliness. How many divorces have happened because shortly after getting married, people say to themselves, “Hey, I still feel lonely sometimes! I guess I married the ‘wrong’ person…”
One experienced marriage counselor I know says that the first year of marriage is often the loneliest year of a person’s life; because that’s when a person has to realize, “Shoot… here I am with everything I dreamed of and I STILL feel lonely sometimes.”
I couldn’t agree more, Mike. This is the same reason the Twilight series is so popular (strong and attractive male character having a hyperbolic love for a girl). It seems like there are many who are out to exploit the emotions of young women.
Ick, I shudder at returning to middle school me. This video is so gross.
However, I think my heart would have fluttered at the idea that I could be that captivating to someone, that he would put all this effort into making me feel loved.
I’m not sure I wouldn’t have seen through this even at 13 (I was never one for sappy stuff, except Pride & Prejudice, of course), but it’s very clear to me that there are tons of *college* students who don’t. The cycle perpetuates itself and becomes so degrading that by the time a girl comes to college, she’s willing to traipse around half-naked, in high heels, in the snow. And then walk home alone, freezing (and often barefoot), the next morning. Is she still looking for someone to keep those promises?
I am only now, at 26, realizing how much effort God puts in to show me His love for me. We have to teach these girls how to pay attention.
Not gonna lie, I too am a Justin Bieber fan. I was watching him on youtube before he was a star and such! A few weeks ago I had a status saying how he is the next Usher or Justin Timberlake. Anyways… You make some very good points. I work with kids (mostly girls) a lot and see this stuff. Everyone is searching for the way to feel special and beautiful (internally and externally). The world view does make it seem like the solution is finding that boy that will make you feel all of this. Lonely? Find a boy. Need to feel that you and your appearance is beautiful? Be physically involved. I think if young people could realize that all of it is temporary and you constantly need more, they would search for more meaningful relationships. And hopefully we can lead people to realize that the only eternal fulfillment is Christ. He’s the only man that will never leave you alone.
I think it’s more than just wanting it. They’re (we’re – I’m 26 and not free from it) made for it.
Eve was made in the garden, a place of beauty. She was a new creation – made after the seventh day rest. She was the crowning piece on God’s perfect, beautiful world. She was made to be loved and adored by her husband, and she was the first picture of Christ’s bride.
I think every woman who’s ever lived has a piece of Eve in her. I don’t think it’s something the media creates, although they definitely abuse it. Every woman wants to be the favorite, most beautiful, most loved – because she was made (1) to search out God’s love and (2) to demonstrate to the world how the bride of Christ is loved … which is a lot.
I think it’s pretty interesting how very good marketers are at identifying the deep desires of their demographic. And then offer ridiculous answers, which we don’t really question most of the time.
Do you want value? To be respected and know that you matter? Buy this car!
Do you want to know that there is everlasting love, faithfulness, and intimacy between you and your spouse? Buy (or receive/ask for) a diamond!
Are you lonely? Do you feel like you deserve to be cherished and treated well, and not abandoned? If you’re a big enough fan of this singer, maybe he’ll notice you at a concert and fall in love with you at first sight and be everything you ever wanted!
The sad part is that this marketing works. When we hear someone mention the things we really want in life, we feel as though we know them, and that makes us trust them to an extent, and believe their answers. Which usually happen to be lies.
Anyway, I think this is a good post Mike. I’ve actually thought quite a bit about the culture of false perceptions of (earthly) romance, and about the power of marketing to create, perpetuate, and profit from it. Go figure.