I was thoroughly thrilled when I logged on to Twitter the other day to be met by the new V Magazine cover with Justin Bieber. Shot by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin in their signature black and white, and styled in Dolce & Gabbana by the great Nicola Formichetti, I thought Justin looked part adorable, part pretty, and yes, part hot. Like Prince and Michael Jackson before him – and I’m not saying Justin is the new them! – there’s something really hot about a little man with all that talent. (I can say this now, he’s almost 18.) I do however realise that my view of things is not the popularly accepted one. And if there was ever any doubt in my mind, people’s comments on the V pictures as they made their rounds on blogs certainly reminded me: we’re not supposed to like Justin Bieber.
“Big fail with this photo shoot. Him in ordinary levi’s and a tee with mussed up hair and no makeup would have been way better for this kid’s image,” was one [non-edited] commented from a reader on JustJared.com. Over on DListed.com, a reader wrote: “why does he or they keep making him look like a girl? DID THEY TAKE THIS SHIRT OUT THE MJ SCREAM VIDEO ? I THINK moths got to it first”. Right, where do we begin? First of all, the Dexter Wong top worn by Michael Jackson in the Scream video is probably one of the most iconic fashion pieces ever made. That someone out there can look at it and see something bad is beyond me. Why is it that the mainstream likes a boy in a flannel shirt more than a boy in an amazingly made stage piece? For the life of me I don’t understand why people insist on being bored.
As for the ‘looking like a girl’ part, isn’t that one of the reasons we love Justin Bieber? Do people actually look at LesbiansWhoLookLikeJustinBieber and consider it a vilification of him? I look at it and see a tribute. For God’s sake, it’s brilliant – I wish I had thousands of lesbians wanting to look like me! I thought it was refreshing that Nicola put Justin in some showpiece-y pieces, and not his usual American R&B-wear. If anything, Justin looks more right in a pair of tight silver trousers than he does in baggy skaterwear. If Justin had the guts to get costumes made in the vein of Prince and Michael Jackson, and get on stage and dazzle in a really flamboyant fitted suit, I’d love him even more. Because this is what Justin is: he’s a performer, a star (!), a Las Vegas-y, larger-than-life character much like Liza Minelli or Cher. And that’s why I don’t understand how people can’t help but love him?
It takes a certain understanding of eccentrics and amazing freaks to appreciate Justin Bieber. It also takes a certain amount of humour. Say what you want about his music – I for one love it but whatever – but Justin is an amazing character and a great, great talent, without whom the world would be a little less fun. People who can’t see the brilliance in Justin are boring people with boring lives. He’s adorable in pictures, hot on stage, and not everyone can rock a Mugler t-shirt like he does in that V shoot. As for Justin’s comments in the accompanying interview that he’d like to be more like Michael Jackson, all I can say is: at least he has a proper role model. No one will ever be the next MJ, but imagine if he said he wanted to be more like Eminem… Come to think of it, people would probably respect that more. And that’s the really sad part.
Feature and detail images via vmagazine.com