Justin Bieber and the PR Fail

I have not yet watched “Comeback,” the newest episode of Glee, for two reasons.  First, I was told that Kurt did not appear at all in the episode. When it comes to Glee, No Kurt = No Interest.  But I was also told that the show performed not one, but two, Justin Bieber songs.

As we all know, Justin Bieber is the greatest human being on the face of the planet, and I was deeply offended that Glee would attempt to cover his songs.  Covering such classic artists such as Queen and Michael Jackson is one thing.  Covering the work of a young man who is clearly the second coming of our Lord and Savior is pure sacrilege.  The future President of the World should not be imitated by someone with the ludicrous name of Chord Overstreet.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Then I heard that Justin Bieber spoke about abortion during his Rolling Stone interview.  He was asked whether he would agree with abortion if a woman was raped, and he said, “Um. Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don’t know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.”

Hearing that comment so soon after Lara Logan, the CBS commentator, was gang-raped while reporting on the situation in Egypt, made the cut bleed more deeply.

Everything that came out of Justin Bieber’s mouth smacked of naive privilege from a young man who’s never had to think seriously about any topic in his short, silver-spooned life.  I do not know whether to blame him for being ignorant, or Rolling Stone for asking such questions in the first place.

In short, who cares what Justin Bieber thinks about abortion and rape?

Well, his fans might.

I mentioned once in a post about Jane Austen and Twilight that I think teenagers are more intelligent than most people give them credit for.  A girl who fantasizes about Edward Cullen as a thirteen-year-old will not necessarily make him her model for all men for the rest of her life.  Most people get over their teenage crushes and fantasies.  A girl who thinks that “rape” falls under the “everything happens for a reason” umbrella because Justin Bieber said so will come to her senses when she’s older.

Call me an eternal optimist, but I think even these girls will look back at their behavior in a few years and be embarrassed.

At the same time, words have power.  People with influence have power.  Justin Bieber’s opinions might matter to someone.

For the record, I don’t think he meant “everything happens for a reason” as “well, you meant to get raped.”  I think that was him inserting his foot into his large mouth.

This isn’t an issue of Justin Bieber not understanding bodily autonomy and rape.  This is an issue of people asking mindless celebrities to give opinions on topics they have no business talking about.

Everyone is entitled to hir opinion, but sometimes those opinions aren’t worth knowing.