My post this week deals with the idolization of celebrities. I chose to look at the overzealous fan base of Beliebers to drive home my points. If you don’t know, a Belieber is a fan of the 
pop singer Justin Bieber. They are usually girls in middle school with too much access to the internet and not enough parental guidance. Just by looking at social networking sites like Twitter or Tumblr you can see just how excited these fans get over their idol.
An example of this is the incident that occurred this past week. A fake twitter started claiming that Justin Bieber had been diagnosed with cancer and that his fans were shaving their heads to show their support. Now, if I were a Belieber I would do some fact checking before pulling out the scissors. Evidently, some girls didn’t have the same idea because they are now bald and discouraged. Here’s the shocker: Justin Bieber does not have cancer and there was no movement to shave heads to rally support for the singer. At first the incident seems funny that some of his fans were dumb enough to actually shave their heads for their favorite singer. A closer look reveals a trend in our youth culture where they idolize a favorite celebrity to the point of potential harm.
It seems that these superfans forget that Justin Bieber is no more than a person, and not a god to idolize. I think it’s time to examine why we allow the youth of today to become so wrapped up in a person to the point that they would drastically alter their physical appearance in order to somehow please the person. We put these celebrities on a pedestal and then are shocked when the consequences include the idolization of these figures. Celebrities are paraded in the media, seen as glamorous and untouchable. Is it the fault of today’s youth that they worship these people or ours?
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Wow! This idolization of celebrities has definitely reached a new peak today. What I think is truly baffling is the freedom that parents allow their children that lets them do things like shave their heads for Justin Bieber, when no facts are confirmed. Such a rash act really indicates our “now” generation, however, I think that it also indicates a movement toward greater unity. Though his fans may have been rash and wrong, they were working toward a common cause and really attempting to show support. There are definitely a lot of interesting underlying social trends within this event!
Wow, it is at times unbelievable how social media is shaping our youth, tricking and deceiving them, even manipulating them into thinking something unpractical. I think it’s okay that there are fans who admire a certain celebrity for their work in terms of music, art, or fashion, and what they do outside their career, like philanthropic efforts. But you’ve shown a totally extreme side of it. I guess it’s admirable that these girls are so devoted to Bieber that they are supporting them in his time of troubles…only if he was indeed diagnosed with cancer. The media is dangerous. It just hows us how we need to be aware of what is true. It’s up to us to find truth.
Today’s youth is shaped by social media which results in impulse decisions. Ultimately, their actions are their own responsibility but their families must also take some responsibility for the way they were raised. I, for example, would never do something like this because I was raised not to make rash decisions in the heat of the moment that have long-lasting effects. It depends on the people who raised them, I think. However, a parent can only do so much until they give their child the freedom to make their own choices and learn from them.