So. Justin Bieber.
Last spring he visited the Anne Frank House and wrote in the guestbook that he hoped Anne would have been one of his fans. When I first heard about this in our class discussions I was shocked at the egoism and arrogance of that little comment. It's almost like Bieber said "This historical figure's humanity is irrelevant unless it applies to me".
But after reading the articles I just got more and more depressed. One of the teenagers in question makes over 50 million dollars a year and has been under the pop-star image since he was a tween. And, presumably, he started his career doing something he loved. Yet he's unsatisfied. The other teenager spent two years in hiding from the Nazis while doing something she loved: writing about her experiences. She lived during one of the worst periods in recent history and ultimately did not survive. One of these teenagers will probably be remembered for another hundred years while the other will probably only be known in the next couple of years for various controversies. Out of these two teenagers, Justin Bieber seems to have the better deal. He's alive and he has enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life even if he never sings again. But Anne Frank has something Justin Bieber can't get a hold of. Anne Frank is, for all intents and purposes, immortal. The diary that she kept has subsequently been published and translated into over 60 languages. She has a museum devoted to telling her story.
With this in mind, is Justin Bieber's comment in the Anne House guestbook excusable? I think that it wasn't appropriate or that it could have been worded more eloquently, but it's understandable. It's understandable that Bieber would try to comprehend Anne's struggles through his own experience (that's kind of the basis for empathy - imagining yourself in someone else's shoes) and wonder what she would be like if things had gone differently. So while it wasn't the best comment to leave in the guestbook at least it shows some reflection and sincerity (no matter how egocentric) on Bieber's part in attempting to relate to Anne Frank.
I like how you talked about how Anne Frank will be remembered long after Justin Bieber has been more or less totally forgotten, because of the history and emotional intensity behind her. As you said, her dairy has been translated into over 60 languages and I'll take a bet and say that Justin Bieber's songs have not and probably, hopefully will never be translated into 60 languages. In 30 years, if I ever hear one of his songs on some kind of classic hits radio/cd/mp3 thing, I might cry.
ReplyDeleteI want him to grow up. If he had grown up in Michael Jackson's situation or similar (a childhood robbed), then I could understand such childishness from a near adult. It is that sort of childishness that will have him forgotten in history's oblivion.
ReplyDeleteI'm being harsh...but that's ok. It's the internet.
I can't help recall this essay in light of your blog: "Deaths of Little Children" by Leigh Hunt (http://www.bartleby.com/27/19.html). It basically mediates on the type of painful experience you raise in the blog: the deaths of young people generally leads to an intense pain, even as it also engenders a kind of image of immortality and eternal presence. Hunt's point is that this pain is intimately connected to a certain type of pleasure, one that, while we wish it were avoidable, is the next best thing: since it is unavoidable, it at least introduces a note of comfort. Our tears can't bring back such tragic figures, but they can provide a substitute of sorts, however imperfect.
ReplyDeleteHunt is talking, of course, about little children, which is an important difference. It is interesting to note how much of the writing on Frank sees her in the Angelic tones he associates with the deaths of infants and toddlers. Perhaps part of her staying power is that she is both a symbol of innocence lost (represented more in her earlier writings) and also a symbol of the courage of a young adult in the face of adversity (her later writings)
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