Rant: Bieber Fever, or Pretty Is As Pretty Does

Today's blog topic brought to you by The Kid, who liked one song one time, but she swears she didn't know who it was. 

I do not have Bieber Fever. I find him to be repellant in every way, from his terrible songs to his ridiculous outfits.

*barf*

But who am I to judge? I've certainly had my share of boy-band (sort of - they were bands of boys) crushes - Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Cure - and they have certainly not been terribly attractive to all who beheld them.

 Robert I think there's something living on your head.

My idols may have been unattractive to others, almost as unattractive as New Kids on the Block were to me then, and Justin Bieber is to my daughter now, but it's not just about looks. I could forgive Bieber for looking like a total tool 100% of the time if he played an instrument, or wrote his own lyrics. I could have even gotten on board with NKOTB if they had taken the time to put the work in beyond just showing up for choreography practice and making sure their jeans were artfully ripped. I'm sure they worked hard, but at what exactly?

Some say that those of us who eschew pop acts like Bieber are simply being too-cool-for-school, but I disagree. I never made fun of Hanson specifically because they played instruments and wrote songs (though I did tease my friend Christine for loving them, but only because she was old enough to be their mother). The same is true for modern acts like Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers - they may not be your cup of tea or mine, but they are at least making music that is their own creation. Hell even the Monkees played instruments, and they were created by a music company. So I guess it's really not a matter of "I don't like popular things" so much as it is "I don't care for blatant artifice."

This is not to say, of course, that I don't love a good mindlessly manufactured pop tune - I'm a big fan of Katy Perry (though even there, her humor is her art - that is not a girl who takes herself too seriously). I just believe it goes beyond whether or not you're listening to what's on the Top 100 as a teenager; I believe it translates to life in general, and whether or not you believe only what you see, or if you look deeper than the surface.

It's not about being hipper-than-thou, it's about choosing based on lots of parameters, and that's a good habit to be in no matter what you're choosing in life, from what you eat to what you watch on TV to what kind of exercise you do to who you pick for President and everything in between.

It's okay to indulge in junk now and again (see my love of Twilight movies, for example), but it should be the exception and not the rule in my very humble opinion.

/rant

Thank you, gentle readers, for sticking with me. I'm so glad to be back.