by BJW Nashe
If you are like me, you may have missed the magnitude of the Justin Bieber saga, as it is now unfolding. Yet somehow we need to come to terms with this phenomenon. Justin Bieber is a huge story. In fact, right now he seems to be the only huge story — maybe the only story that truly reveals who we are as a society. Forget about the Super Bowl and the Olympics. Forget about the State of the Union Address. Forget about Chris Christie’s “Bridgegate” scandal, the NSA spying program, Pope Francis, President Obama, WikiLeaks, Afghanistan and Iran. What really matters right now is that earlier this month Justin Bieber’s house in LA was raided. Then he was arrested last week for drag racing while intoxicated in Miami. For some reason, everything else pales in comparison.
To help us understand the Bieber phenomenon, we can turn to a caustic French philosopher named Guy Debord. More than fifty years ago, Debord — the founder of the radical Situationist International — could sense the Justin Bieber-types looming on the horizon of western culture. In his most highly regarded work, The Society of the Spectacle (1967), Debord argued that in the media-saturated landscape of modern techno-capitalism, people’s authentic lives tend to be dominated and degraded by images, pseudo-events, and “news stories.” In fact, the spectacles of politics, entertainment, and marketing somehow take precedence over, and interfere with, any attempt to meaningfully engage with the real world. Debord wrote: “In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation. ”
Even more succinctly, Debord claimed: “All that once was directly lived has become mere representation.”
It is not difficult to see just how dramatically a person such as Justin Bieber — as well as those who follow him — has “moved away into a representation.” In fact, to the world at large, Justin Bieber is not a real person at all. He is a representation of a “celebrity pop star.” He is nineteen years old. He sings and dances and sells a gazillion records. He is filthy rich. He has a gazillion Twitter followers and Facebook friends eager to hear about every hang nail or bowel movement. He wears funny hats and big pants. He takes drugs and gets drunk and eggs houses. He sleeps with starlets and models. He parties in nightclubs and flies around on our city streets late at night in his space age hot rods. He has paparazzi following him everywhere he goes, stalking him and his girlfriends, snapping photos, digging through his garbage, chasing him in and out of hotel lobbies and airport lounges. For Justin Bieber, all that once may have been directly lived has become mere representation.
Justin Bieber is a spectacle, and the spectacle is being served up to us as “news.” The whole process is utterly disconnected from reality. Thus, it is very difficult to take the Bieber saga seriously. To do so runs the risk of participating in a process that is ultimately degrading.
The heightened coverage of Justin Bieber’s arrest is no more serious or relevant to us than the Dos Equis beer commercial in which a suave Hispanic gentleman with a neat gray beard is proclaimed “the most interesting man in the world.” Is Justin Bieber now the most interesting celebrity in the world? Saying so is no different than all of the media chatter about Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman acting like a “thug.” We might as well argue that Justin Bieber is the true bad-ass. Mess with him, and he’s coming back at you with a carton of eggs, ready to seriously mess you up. “I got two dozen Foster Farms Grade A’s right here. Go ahead punk, make my day.”
The egging incident in LA County was big news according to many people who should have known better, yet it was just a prelude to the drag racing debacle in Miami. That’s when the guano really hit the fan. The whole saga is not so much a cross-country crime spree, however, as it is pure media spectacle.
Let’s break it down. Earlier this month, on January 15, Bieber’s “animal house” in Calabasas, California was raided following a police complaint alleging that the pop star had hurled eggs at a neighbor’s home, causing $20,000 in damage. Eight people, including Bieber, were detained while the property was searched. A deputy found what appeared to be illegal drugs at the bedside of Justin’s friend and house guest — a rapper named Lil Za, who is now facing a felony drug charge. Authorities have stated there was “no sign of drugs” elsewhere on the premises. Bieber is facing a possible felony vandalism charge for the egging. According to the LA Times, prosecutors have asked for further investigation into the alleged vandalism.
Following hot on the heels of the egg-related raid is the Miami DUI arrest. In the early morning hours of Thursday, January 23, Bieber was charged with drunken driving, resisting arrest, and driving without a valid license after police saw him speeding in a yellow Lamborghini as he raced alongside a red Ferrari in a residential area of Miami Beach. Both cars were doing roughly 60 mph in a 30 mph zone. Nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m. — especially not in Miami Beach — and it was just after 4 a.m. when Bieber was pulled over for speeding. He was immediately belligerent toward the police, hollering at them, dropping F-bombs left and right. According to the arrest report, Bieber shouted at the cop who flagged him down, “What the fuck did I do? Why did you stop me?” When asked to step out of his Lamborghini and submit to a search, Bieber said:
“I ain’t got no fucking weapons. Why do you have to search me? What the fuck is this about?” The arrest report describes Bieber as having a “flushed face, bloodshot eyes, and the odor of alcohol on his breath.” According to police, Bieber stated that “he had consumed some alcohol, and that he had been smoking marijuana and consumed some prescription medication.”
After failing his sobriety test, Bieber was booked into a Miami jail. He was subsequently released after a brief appearance before a Miami judge, who set a “standard” bond of $2,500, which is no more than pocket change for the millionaire pop star. The court appearance was conducted via video link, just to keep the heavy simulation vibe intact. In the world of Justin Bieber, nothing is “real” — everything is a simulation, constantly mediated by technology. His own actions are not “real” — they are coded representations of celebrity bad boy behavior, without a trace of authenticity.
For Bieber, the legal ramifications of operating automobiles are no more “real” than the action involved in video games. Bieber has reportedly never owned a California driver’s license, even though he spends considerable time in the LA area. In fact, he hasn’t had a valid license anywhere during the past six months. This technicality has done nothing to stop him from getting behind the wheel of his pricey sports cars. And he has had multiple run-ins with the law out on the road. (These too are simulations.) In July 2012, he was cited and eventually convicted of driving at an unsafe speed. In 2013, he was investigated by the LA County Sheriff’s Department for a possible hit-and-run outside the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, where a tabloid journalist accused the singer of ramming him with his car. No charges were filed, however. (Again, it’s all simulation.) Last August, Bieber was cited by a sheriff’s deputy for running a stop sign and driving without a license. A friend was able to drive Bieber the rest of the way home.
But the Canadian-born pop star’s DUI arrest launched him into a surreal stratosphere of celebrity scandal-worship that we have unfortunately grown quite accustomed to. By now, our culture takes Guy Debord’s theories for granted. We are living inside them. When the story of Bieber’s arrest broke, it spread like radiation across the cable news airwaves and throughout the Internet. Twitter and Facebook blew up. The folks at TMZ went into a multi-orgasmic frenzy that is yet to subside. One of their big scoops was a story about Bieber’s mom supplying him with prescription pills. Apparently Justin doesn’t even know what these medications are. Xanax? Anti-depressants? Painkillers? Who cares. Just grab a handful and go hit the clubs.
For TMZ, reporting on celebrity scandals is not simply part of their job description. It’s the heart of their mission statement. What’s remarkable is the way in which supposedly “serious” news outlets such as CNN and HLN were so quick to join in the Bieber orgy. For a while on Thursday, January 23, nothing else seemed to matter. We were almost — but not quite — thrust into an “O.J. in-the-white- Bronco” mode of coverage, where everything had to be pre-empted or bumped to make way for Bieber’s arrest. MSNBC even had Andrea Mitchell cut off a Congresswoman in mid-sentence in order to break away for a Bieber update.
Much of the reporting was sanctimonious and self-serving — which is Dr. Drew Pinsky’s specialty on the HLN network. And Dr. Drew did not disappoint when it came to the Bieber fiasco. He took to the air for an “exclusive interview” with one of Bieber’s neighbors, in an attempt to glean some understanding of the egg-throwing incident. Nothing like a steady stream of hearsay to feed the media beast. In light of the DUI, Dr. Drew did not hesitate to offer his own “professional medical opinion,” stating that Bieber’s mixing of marijuana, alcohol and prescription medications has him very concerned as a doctor. Pinsky claimed that substance abuse is likely the “core problem” for Bieber. “The real issue here,” said Dr. Drew, “is that there is no way to get this young man into treatment.”
Yes, if only there was a way for Dr. Drew to literally force stars such as Justin Bieber, Charlie Sheen, and Lindsay Lohan to appear on new episodes of his VH1 show “Celebrity Rehab.” The treatment might not work all that well — after all, the show is no more than the simulation of recovery. In fact, these stars might even end up dead. Five celebrity “cast members” from Dr. Drew’s show – Mike Starr, Jeff Conaway, Rodney King, Joey Kovar, Mindy McCready — have passed away during the past two years. But what the hell — if a new season kicked off with Bieber in the house, the ratings would be fantastic. What a spectacle that would be.
Needless to say, Bieber has no plans for rehab. Dr. Drew can make all the concerned pleas for “treatment” that he wants. His words will fall on deaf ears. Even if Dr. Drew was talking about reality — which he isn’t — his diagnosis would be too premature. No one even knows for sure if Bieber is an addict. No one knows anything about Bieber apart from the spectacle of Bieber. And right now, addiction is not part of the Bieber spectacle. But there is time for all that.
Instead of rehab, Justin is strolling along the beaches of Panama. He quickly fled Florida in order to “decompress” in a decidedly more low-key environment, which nonetheless still has plenty of hookers and blow, should the need arise. Bieber’s latest girlfriend, a model named Chantal Jeffries, is there to keep him company. In order to join him on this romantic getaway, Chantal broke off negotiations with the tabloids over the rights to publish her version of the DUI bust for $20,000. Meanwhile the paparazzi are swarming a place called Punta Chame. Drug mules are probably flying into Panama City every day with rectums stuffed full of Molly. In the executive suites of cable news networks big wigs are sitting around whispering to each other: “Is there a sex tape yet?”
Elsewhere, concerned citizens are yammering on about possible deportation. According to Time, more than 74,000 people have signed a petition “urging the Obama administration to revoke the Biebs’ green card and send him back to his native Canada.” This is not likely to happen any time soon, no matter how many hypocritical petitions are circulated. Cash is king here in the USA. Someone as rich as Bieber will have to do far worse than egg houses or race around drunk in cars to get kicked out of the country. Besides, if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that if nothing else, one thing has been made crystal clear during this whole affair: Justin Bieber belongs in America. He is one of us now. He is a true all-American spectacle. He has “gone native,” as they say. We may as well grant him honorary citizenship, give him the keys to the city, let him sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House whenever he feels like it.
No one personifies the current state of the American zeitgeist better than Justin Bieber. Kim Kardashian comes close, but she hasn’t been getting into much trouble lately. It’s not enough to be spoiled, rich and famous based on no discernible talent or intelligence. One must also fall to pieces, become addicted, go crazy, have sex in public, fight with cops, and wind up in jail. One must commit some crimes.
Many of us are jaded enough to realize that Bieber’s bad behavior and infractions are not that big of a deal — not yet, at least. Drag racing in a Lamborghini while slightly intoxicated? OK, but there was no cocaine or heroin or guns or naked women or dead animals in the car. Bieber is still young, though. He’s just starting out. Sometimes it takes time for celebrities to reach their full potential, in terms of full-blown scandal and outrage. No doubt, we can expect big things in the future from the young man who’s main contribution to humanity is a song called “Boyfriend,” and whose whole life is no more than a spectacle.
Bieber is scheduled to be arraigned in a Miami-Dade County courtroom on Valentine’s Day. This will no doubt be a major media event — unless Bieber simply sends a lawyer to appear for him. Then again, perhaps Bieber can appear in the form of a life-size hologram beamed into the courthouse, to make sure everyone knows he’s “just keeping it real.”