Everyone has a different idea of what it means to be Canadian. For some it's our shared history, our environment, our diverse culture. For some the sight of a maple leaf is enough to stir patriotic sentiments. For others, being from the Great White North is about picking up a hockey stick, or buying a cup of Tim Hortons coffee on a cold winter's morning. For Justin Bieber, being Canadian is none of the above.
The young pop star is Canadian in name only.
Colin Horgan has already blogged about this topic quite well for Maclean's back in November, calling Bieber out on his "fabricated nationalism" which I will summarize here. Being Canadian for the 18-year-old from Stratford, Ontario is not about pride in one's country, standing for a particular set of values, or any sort of substantive reasoning. Rather, being Canadian is a marketing tool. Sometimes it doesn't even have to make sense. Bieber told TMZ that "in Canada, we like to have spaghetti and milk" as if the combination was a national culinary staple. Whatever happened to maple syrup and poutine? I would be interested in knowing where he got that idea. Bieber also seems to be confused about Canadian domestic policy and status of Aboriginals in his home country -- not to mention confusion about his own self-identity. He told Rolling Stone that he's "part Indian. I think Inuit or something?" which, according to him, gives him the privilege of receiving free gasoline. He should have stopped after Inuit.
Colin's scrutiny does not go far enough. In all fairness, Bieber doesn't seem to know anything at all about Canada or its history. Maybe it's from being on the road too much and away from a Canadian classroom. If he wants to use his country as a marketing tool, he should learn something about it first. In his mind, Canada is not a real entity with an entrenched culture, but an image that can be thrown into whatever he's saying to make a point. Or use it as a shield.
Case in point -- when Bieber went on a British television show and didn't quite understand the host's humour regarding the Queen, he irrelevantly responded by saying "I don't really get, like, I'm from Canada, I don't really know what's, like, this, all this humour." Right. His Canadianess prevented him from understanding a joke.
While it all seems funny, the world is taking notice.
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When Justin Bieber went on the Late Show in June and was told by David Letterman not to get so many tattoos that he would look like the Sistine Chapel, he answered by talking about the sixteenth chapel. The crowd chuckled and applauded the mistake, which turned to roaring laughter when Letterman made the snide comment "Canadian high school." Bieber just stared into the abyss, the last one to understand the joke -- ahem, himself.
That's the price of his fake identity. People expect him to represent the country, and when he fails, the country suffers. Of course, we don't expect Bieber to have a PhD in Canadian Studies, but why can't he add a little substance to his nationalist claims? Or the flip side, if he's going to continue spouting ignorant comments about Canada, is it too much to ask that he stop? Many others have been successful on the international scene without having to milk their Canadian identity: Jim Carrey, Seth Rogen, Ryan Reynolds, and countless others. Some have even done well being Canadian internationally. Who could forget Jay Baruchel's many roles in both Canadian and American films -- and his glorious maple leaf tattoo, shown proudly in the film Knocked Up?
Bieber's latest prop -- or victim -- in his imaginary-fairy-tale-land of Canada is the Prime Minister himself. In November Stephen Harper presented Justin Bieber with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, a medal given to those who "have made a significant contribution to a particular province, territory, region or community within Canada, or an achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada." Of the 60,000 recipients many were veterans, volunteers, and generally people who have sacrificed their time and efforts for their fellow country mates. People take pride and receiving this award because it is a real honour.
However for Bieber, it was just another publicity stunt. He met the PM wearing unbuttoned overalls --overhauls, as he calls them -- a backwards baseball cap, and an oversized white T-shirt. When Bieber tweeted the photo, he added in a lol for good cheer. Granted, the ceremony took place right before he performed a concert and he claims it would have been "crazy" to get changed, but how long does it take to put a proper suit on? Five minutes? Maybe 30 seconds less if you get a clip-on tie. Suffice it to say, receiving the honour meant nothing to the "white trash prince," an honorary title granted to him by the Daily Mail. But the backdrop of Canadian flags provided a good image boost for his made up narrative. Again, no one expects him to be a complete patriot, but a little respect would be nice.
Justin Bieber is about as representative of Canada as those Jersey Shore characters are of Italy. The things that Bieber believes makes him Canadian -- a lie about free gasoline, eating pasta with milk, and a reaction of oblivion upon hearing a joke -- are not real Canadian traits. No one would associate these with Canada. Yet his insistence of spreading falsehoods around the world is corrupting his main, impressionable group of fans: young teenagers, especially Canadian ones, who may not know much about their own country and take on Bieber's delusional nationalism as their own. While his music isn't exactly my style, he's talented enough as a singer that he shouldn't have to supplement his act with this false nationalist shtick.
Who knows, maybe spaghetti and milk will one day become a trend. But it is not the Canada that I know.
This article was originally published in the Prince Arthur Herald
Follow Tom Kott on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TomK0tt
However, Bieber is a world class entertainer, humanitarian, and for a boy who has been fawned over since 14 or younger .... He is an amazing young man. I would even say he is such a nice polite young man, he would never use the nasty remarks and criticisms. That is why he is a far better Canadian representative than the naysayers making cruel and cutting remarks.
Compared to many of teens, he stands in very good stead. Some teens who are in control of millions and millions of dollars, would not fair half so well.
Why do Canadians take such great pleasure by ripping apart a kid who is respected enough to be nominated for Grammys?
What you would like is for Justin Bieber to continue to perpetuate a CARICATURE of Canada. Perhaps Mr. Bieber's point was that we are regular people, that eat regular food. NOT poutine every single day.
And for the record, Justin Bieber was clearly joking when he said the "sixteenth chapel" on Letterman. It was pretty obvious. It set Mr. Letterman up for his joke. Respectful and self-depracating, no? Not bad for a teenager.
And yes, when a particular nation such as Britain, seems to have a certain style of humour, based on their culture, and one doesn't seem to "get it", it might make sense to explain your ignorance because you are from another country. I know plenty of Canadians who don't "get" British humour.
I might suggest that you have pretty lofty expectations for Justin Bieber, simply because he is a famous performer. (Your article smacks of immaturity on your part, and not a little bit of jealousy.) But since you clearly have WAY too much time on your hands, why not track down the average 18 year old boy in Canada and see just how respectful, patriotic and knowledgeable they are. Go ahead.
Jim Carrey, Seth Rogen, Ryan Reynolds and a host of others aren't restraining from milking their Canadian identity. They are hiding it as best they can so as not to arouse suspicion from all the Americans that are surrounding them.
Second, despite being born and raised canadian (as well as my parents and grandparents), I don't care at all about sports, certainly not hockey. I hated playing hockey as a kid. I drink tons of coffee every day but avoid "Timmies" like a plague because, sorry, their coffee sucks. People go there because of branding and because they like saying "double double". But the reality is you have to get a double double to make their coffee more tolerable. I'd rather just avoid the insane lines and get good coffee almost anywhere else.
Maple syrup and poutine? OK, I like those things but I don't feel a national connection or loyalty to them. And one of the things I REALLY HATE about a lot of Canadian content and Canadian commedy is it always seems to be about the olden days or references the queen. Sorry, but the queen is even less relevant to Canada as she is to Brittain.
In short, who elected Bieber as spokesperson for Canada? Yes he is a famous Canadian, but he's also a stupid, naive kid still. He's also a global product and therefore has no real need or purpose for those things you label as standard canadiana.
Put Pierre Poutine in any multiple question test about Canada and see how many 18 year olds that did not finish high school will put that name down as a former Prime Minister.
Maybe we can find his mailing address, and send him some Canadian history books and books about Canadian culture.
What is more ignorant and a disservice to Canada, corporations lying about their products, politicians lying about their budgets, cops lying about evidence or a squeaky rich kid being wrong about trivia?
How dare he get a Diamond Jubilee in place of the people who strived to make this country a better place and instead received a pat on the back. I wish Bieber or I could ever be half the people they are.