Justin Bieber: Is Immaturity Still A Viable Excuse?

I would like to preface this article by saying that I happen to be a Bieber fan, I wouldn’t go as far to say I’m a ‘Belieber‘ (I have far too much pride) but I like the kid and think that he has genuine talent. That being said, I have been very lenient with my judgement of his behavior up until now. Every person, famous or not, deserves a chance to grow up and go through the motions of maturing. Being thrust into the limelight with his first hit “One Time” at the age of 15 and not remotely slowing down since then, no one really expected or held Justin to unreasonable standards of maturity. In fact, mothers of little pubescent girls all over the world spent millions of dollars funding their daughters’ obsession with the, then, innocent role model. As Justin continues to progress in age, so does his fan base and his image. None of that is an issue. But as a 19 year-old, it’s about time Bieber starts being held accountable for his maturity level- or lack there of.

Unless you live under a rock at the bottom of the ocean, you’ve probably read Justin Bieber‘s name in the news more than you’ve written your own name in the past year- let alone the last couple of months! Unfortunately, the inundation of this young celeb’s name in the media is feeding more into his infamy than his fame. From getting (or attempting to get) physical with paparazzi, flaunting his shirtless body, and just making a scene about everywhere he goes, it seems as if Bieber has drawn attention further away from his talents and is falling victim to a case of late-onset rebellious immaturity (a fancy term I created to sum up sheer childish stubbornness). Judging from his overtly arrogant acceptance speech at the 2013 Billboard Awards during which Bieber made a plea (came off more like a slap in the face) to the public to pay attention to the strength of his craft and not that other “bull”, it seems like Bieber’s desires and actions have reached somewhat of a disconnect. Does he really expect people to make his music their primary focus when he is in the news every other week for speeding in one of his luxury cars or making a scene at a public event? Is he too immature to even realize how contradictory his message and his actions have become? Frankly, I think it’s about time that Bieber start taking responsibility for his actions and man up if he expects to be treated like an adult– a lesson we all have to learn when making the transition from childhood to adulthood.

None of this isn’t to say that paparazzi haven’t become too invasive when it comes to preventing celebrities from carrying out normal every day lives. However, Bieber is practically licking the seal of handwritten invitations to every paparazzo on the planet. I mean, how many people are on the road in a fully leopard print Audi? It’s definitely not going to assist him in his desire to go under the radar…

When it comes down to it, Bieber has a very serious choice to make. He can take the Lady Gaga approach of being a complete and intentional sensationalist by continuing to make obscure public appearances and drawing attention to everything but his craft. Or, he can choke down a nice serving of humble pie and start bringing the focus back to the talent we all know he has! For his sake, and the sake of his PR handler (God bless them if they haven’t had a nervous breakdown by now) I hope he chooses the latter!