Justin Bieber

18... O RLY??

It's a name that is used in office jokes, macho punchlines, and in parody of the whole notion of celebrity.

Or, at the least, in cynical mocking of child stars.

The unspoken name in music these days seems to be... Justin Bieber.

As an adult gay without kids, I just didn't get much exposure to The Bieb.  (For the record, homo males are the least likely to be "into" children.  Google if you need to.)

Straights chide anyone who might be gay-ish, suggesting that they must know everything there is to know about Bieber (my straight friends know I'm a homo and I've heard it).  But only after seeing The Movie on Netflix.ca (add more content including more gay-themed flicks or I'm cancelling) can I admit to being aware of him as a performer.  And I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and learned to appreciate his natural musical talents.  He is one of the first internet-born superstars, but, sadly, he might be (like most child stars) caught up in what's probably not the most ideal upbringing.

As a "normal" 40s gay man (ie. not a pedo and barely ever on YouTube) I hadn't had any exposure to him.  But girl, I love a show and The Bieb puts on a show.  The movie seemed to be a respectable, honest portrayal.  I came away learning that the kid is actually talented.

Very talented.

Seems this comes as a surprise to people.

Maybe it's his "distracting" good looks ?  He is as cute as a button in most pictures.  In others, he looks a bit like a mid-30s lesbian farmer (a fashionable one, no doubt).

But what counts is that I now have no question in my mind that Justin Bieber is a talented writer and performer and it's just a matter of time before his music matures.  He had soulful rhythm when he was 6.  By 8, he was drumming better than I ever could.

But by age 16 in the movie, his voice was grovelly, and that's just not "normal" and might not be the best life for a kid (here I go, challenging celebrity worship again... internet micro-celebrities should hopefully balance this whole system eventually).

As I edit this, J-Bieb (as I like to call him) just turned 18.  According to Wikipedia, after March 1st, fellow Canadians are able to legally gaze upon Justin as the full-fledged adult male that he will (probably very, very, very slowly) become.

How to handle that scratchy throat -- heal it, or encourage it to be permanently  raspy -- it's almost surely what his managers discuss in the darkest hours, after Justin falls fast asleep in his "crib."  I bet they hope his voice doesn't shift into adulthood too soon, or ever for that matter.

It's almost impossible not to think of Michael Jackson and his plight.

Hopefully once Justin is "of age" he will still be as grounded as he seems to be now.  Canada usually exports classy, high quality entertainers, of that there's little doubt.  Justin's no exception, so far.

So fellow gays, it's now not (so) wrong to hope for a leaked celebrity nude pic of J-Babe's post-18th-bash showing one big, hairy J-Biev.