Never Say Never

So I got a case of Bieber fever and went to see "Never Say Never" today.  I dragged a friend with me who asked to remain nameless...I think she was a little embarrassed to be there, I went in the name of research!

I have to say that I really enjoyed the movie.  I knew bit about Justin's journey but it was cool to see the whole story come together.  The story takes us through his journey up to his big sold out show at Madison Square Garden.  I had thought going into that Justin was a kid who got lucky.  He was discovered on youtube and then 2 years later he's a superstar.  That's all true but he did work hard to get there. 

A manager in Atlanta Georgia saw his youtube videos and flew his mom and him to Atlanta to meet with producers.  Several record labes said no to him, who i'm sure are kicking themselves now.  He got a chance to sing for Usher who took him to L.A. Reid and he got signed.  He traveled all through the States to push his first single.  He sang acoustic at every radio station he could to get them to play his single.  He would get 50 people out to see him, then 100 then more and more and then the mania began.  His story is proof of the popularity of social networking.  Youtube made him famous, twitter and facebook helped spread his popularity.

The back story is his family.  His mom was just a teenager herself when she had Justin and his grandparents had a huge role in his life which is obvious when you see them all together.  His mom is always with him and his grandparents are there as much as they can.  His mom and dad didn't stay together and it doesn't look like his dad goes on the road with them.  He wasn't interviewed during the movie but we see him at Justin's Toronto show, his first time seeing the show, and I can't imagine what it would be like to see your son up there performing.  You could see the emotion all over his face.  Justin's other family is the team behind him.  The movie gives a good look at who helps with his career and it seems like he is in good hands.  His vocal coach is like a second mom, his manager and road manager take up the role of big brothers and by all accounts, yes everyone is making money from his success, but they all take good care of him.

Justin's Christianity and faith has been a big topic around LIFE lately and it's evident in the movie.  Seeing people pray before a performance doesn't always convince me because even Madonna prays before her shows.  But you see Justin saying grace at a restaurant with his friends when he's back home visiting Stratford, his mom praying over him when he was sick.  So I felt it was genuine and obviously God is an important part of their lives.  There is a clip of his mom on Huntley St. just before they moved to the States to persue Justin's career. 

The movie is 3D which was cool and there are several concert performances around the documentary part of the movie.  This kid is talented, he's not just another bubble gum pre-packed artist.  He plays drums, guitar, piano and is a great singer.  I think his fans will grow up with him and stick with him, but if in a few years Bieber fever goes away what an amazing time in his life to look back on, he lived the dream.

The falling star

Billy Ray Cyrus has an achy breaky heart again.  He's talking to GQ magazine this month about the break up within his family and the behaviour of his daughter Miley.  He blames the Hannah Montana franchise for the problems in his family.  His marriage has ended and Miley has started acting out a bit in public and is slowly on the Britney Spears train of destruction.

The fall of the teen star is nothing new to this generation.  When I was a kid it was the Brat Pack and the 2 Corey's - Feldman and Haim who shot to success only to fall just as fast when the partying the started.  For some they can never get past it.  Corey Haim died just last year from an overdose and Charlie Sheen....well we know what he's going through.  So why is Billy Ray surprised by all of this?  Instead of trying to help his daughter and protect her from business people who could be leading her astray he's spilling all their family laundry to a magazine.  That's definately not going to help put his family back together. 

Some have said that Justin Bieber has a timer on his back to when his destructive behavior begins.  So who is to blame?  The parents for letting their kids get caught up in this world and not controlling it more or US for buying into it all?

Keeping up with the Joneses

I watched an interesting movie over the weekend with David Duchovny and Demi Moore "The Joneses".  I'm not going to recommend the movie but the premise of it really got me thinking.  The Joneses are a fake family who are really sales people and actors place by a company in wealthy neighbourhoods.  Their job is to sell their lifestyle to the neighbours.  They have all the latest gadgets, newest cars, best clothes and beautiful home, they seem to have the perfect life to those around them.  That makes everyone around them want the same perfect life so they start buying everything the Joneses have.  The reality of trying to keep up with the Joneses is that the neighbours start going bankrupt with their new lifestyle.  So they can't really afford all the luxuries but their greed and jealousy prevail so they do whatever they can to have all the "stuff". 

After I watched the movie I started thinking about the truth behind it.  Maybe there aren't fake families out there (or maybe there are) but it's so easy to get consumed with "stuff" and material things, wanting more or wanting what the other guy has.  Look at companies like Apple who roll out new product all the time and people line up all night to be the first to have it.  We can become overpowered with that feeling of greed or want.

Imagine if we were as concerned about our salvation and relationship with God as we were about having the latest video game or iphone.