It almost goes without saying that we love us some bad boys. With his addiction of driving fast cars, rebellious behavior and squeezing as much adventure into his short life as humanly possible, bisexual actor James Dean remains one of the immortal screen icons of all time. But Justin Bieber, you sir are no James Dean.
The teen idol, who’s been in an endless mess of legal trouble, posted a photo of himself attempting to channel Dean on Instagram with the caption “This is James Dean inspired. Don’t ask me if I smoke ciggys cuz I don’t.”
Poser! Not since Lindsay Lohan imitated Elizabeth Taylor have we been so unimpressed. We think he just needs another spanking.
Ed
Bieber a) has no acting chops, b) has little talent beyond rhythm, and c) is most likely to be the next Kurt Cobain.
jasonut29
Bieber is nothing more than a spoiled child star. His talent is limited and unless he pulls his head out of his ass he’ll loose what teeny bopper followers he has. I told my daughter his video were forbidden because he was such a loser and the funny thing is she said she was thinking the same thing!! He may have been a cute teen kid but he’s showing the world how a spoiled rich brat can behave!!
Billy Budd
Pathetic.
RhonaW
Hi Queerty,
Bieber didn’t say he was comparing himself to Dean. The picture is a look tons of guys – actors, singers, dancers – have copied over the years.
The Brando, the Dean, the Sinatra, Gene Kelly. The same way gals go for Bardot, Monroe, Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and so on.
It doesn’t mean they they’re think they are these icons them, it means it’s an iconic look and it’s fun to dress up.
I’m actually quite shocked you’ve gone for the lets-drag-Bieber angle as you don’t normally.
On this occasion it’s a completely Pheavy-handed misreading of a bit of Instagram fun, that you could have used the opportunity to research and discover there are quite a few similarities between Dean and Bieber — as a number of other less lazy outlets have done.
Kieran
I think it’s unseemly for a bunch of supposed adults getting their jollies bullying a teenaged boy.
HirsuteOne
HAHAHAHAHA! No.
Pistolo
He’s this generation’s Leif Garrett. There never will be another James Dean just like there won’t be another Marilyn Monroe, another Audrey Hepburn, another Marlon Brando, or another Elizabeth Taylor. That’s why they’re legends, they had something no one else had before them.
Horse Lips
I don’t really think about Justin Bieber at all.
RhonaW
@Pistolo No-said Bieber was this generation’s Dean, least of all him.
Bieber quite clearly said he was “inspired” by Dean not comparing.
But of course, that’s too subtle for those who need and want to hate, right?
As you were guys. Don’t let me hold you up.
Snapper59
It’s much more of a knee-slapper when he compares himself to Michael Jackson. Which from what I’ve read he’s done numerous times. Btw, is he still a “teen”? Don’t think so.
kevininbuffalo
Dean actually lit his cigarettes, didn’t he?
Just a little boy playing dress up.
BrianZ
/shrug I like the picture, and believe the assertion that it is James Dean inspired is an accurate one.
I also believe the article is a itsy bit asinine. You say “addiction of driving fast cars, rebellious behavior and squeezing as much adventure into his short life as humanly possible” and then claim this doesn’t apply to Bieber. Ridiculous. Whether you approve of his methods or not, the description fits. Serrrriously people, get a grip on yourselves.
Merv
I’m torn. He’s a first class douchebag, but he’s also really hot (except for the tats).
oilburner
HOPEFULLY THE BEIBS GETS IN A CAR ACCIDENT TOO AND IS ALSO TERRIBLY DISFIGURED AND DIES YOUNG AND THEN WE CAN ALL COMPARE HIM TO JAMES DEAN.
Cam
@RhonaW: said…”Bieber didn’t say he was comparing himself to Dean.
________________________________________
I love it when the sad little fangurls com on here trying to defend their idol. (The Clay Aiken ones still hold the record for most delusional)
But you Rhona are up there to. Hilariously you claim that Bieber didn’t say he was comparing himself to Dean when his EXACT WORDS were “This is James Dean Inspired”.
If you feel the sad need to defend this embarrassment to spoiled children you may at least want to read the post all the way before you make up a lit.
Now shoo! Go back to Gap Kids and by yourself a new One Direction Backpack.
HirsuteOne
@Kieran:
He’s a 20 year old adult.
BrokebackBob
He is a man who acts like a petulant child and probably always will. He and Myley Cyrus who is a woman who acts like a bitchy little girl child should get married. They will cancel each other out and disappear. No harm done.
lxwkl31
NO!! I literally had no idea something like this could so absolutely piss me off but it has. It’s ridiculously offensive to James Dean’s memory. I can’t stand Justin Beiber…
sangsue
@BrokebackBob:
At least Miley and Lindsay have talent.
hephaestion
James Dean was a brilliant man.
Bieber has shown no intellect at all yet. I hope that if he is inspired by James Dean that he will read some books on him, not just look at photos of him.
RhonaW
@Snapper59:
Yes, he woke up on day, 20, and all the immaturity vanished because that’s how it works.
RhonaW
@Cam:
Glad to see you’re having fun. I could say the same about so-called ‘haters.’
RhonaW
Just pure viciousness from most of you.
You think yourselves better than Bieber, but all you demonstrate is hate and ignorance for someone you don’t know – the very thing your community is fighting against.
Come back and talk to me when you’ve given the millions Bieber has to charity, when you’ve built a school in South America for impoverished children and when you have done the amazing things he has done.
Yes, he’s made some mistakes too. So have you, so have I.
But he’s still standing, he’s not slating you or cursing your character or morality, although he has every right to.
So keep hating and wasting your own time in doing so, it’s the best future I could wish any for you.
And do you see what I mean Queerty? You had an opportunity to change some minds, talk about teenage icons and they have changed and yet not changed with time. How legends are made from tragedy sometimes more than merit and all the rest. But all you’ve done is write something understood and devoured by the flotsam ‘minds’ *such as they are* posting here.
What an achievement.
Snapper59
@RhonaW:
“Yes, he woke up on day, 20, and all the immaturity vanished because that’s how it works.”
Oh honey, it will still be there when he’s 50.
Rangerboy
ridiculous….hahaha
Cobalt Blue
James Dean had talent. Bieber has nothing to offer.
JimboinLA
Inspired by a poster. Doubt if he watched East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause or Giant. He might have seen the Pepsi commercial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQfikxbS4zE
martinbakman
If he drives his car head on into a tree while drag racing, I promise to give the idea a couple laps around my brain. Until then? Phuk no. Never.
martinbakman
@RhonaW: Like Using the F bomb? Tossing eggs at his neighbors house? Running around with his drawers showing? James Dean did that right?
1EqualityUSA
King Shit on Turd Island, college would be good for you. Study hard, met new people, and earn a degree.
NateOcean
”This is James Dean inspired. Don’t ask me if I smoke ciggys cuz I don’t.”
Another difference: James Dean actually had talent.
DjARD
@RhonaW:
Oh, sweetie. You haven’t seen vicious yet.
“You think yourselves better than Bieber, but all you demonstrate is hate and ignorance for someone you don’t know – the very thing your community is fighting against.”
Let’s examine this first part, shall we?
At several points, you claim that we believe ourselves better than Bieber. However, upon further examination, no such claims were made by either the comments or the original article. Disparagement, yes, but outright claims of being better than Bieber as an individual were lacking. You, however, made a point that assuming was wrong and something “morons” do (a logical fallacy in itself). And yet, you assumed something yourself.
“Your” – oddly enough, not “our”. Obviously heterosexuals are free to comment here, but were I to *assume*, I would say judging from my own personal lack of having seen on you on here before (unless they were articles on JB, which I do not check, but I would gather you might), and your choice of words, that you may have little to no connection to this community. Again, this is just an assumption. I can’t say, but that is at least how it appears. However, this is irrelevant to the case at hand, and merely an observation. So…
Moving on.
“Come back and talk to me when you’ve given the millions Bieber has to charity, when you’ve built a school in South America for impoverished children and when you have done the amazing things he has done.
Yes, he’s made some mistakes too. So have you, so have I.
But he’s still standing, he’s not slating you or cursing your character or morality, although he has every right to.
So keep hating and wasting your own time in doing so, it’s the best future I could wish any for you.”
Oh dear. Where does one begin? Well, lets see. Most noticeable is the fact that you’re resorting to what is known as “argumentum ad hominem”, and, more generally, a red herring.
Bieber doing these things has little to do with whether he is a good person, let alone whether he thinks of himself as the next James Dean. You’re making an argument with no backing, because the circumstances do not apply to the opposing party. In all likelihood, most of us commenting are not exorbitantly wealthy individuals like Bieber. Nor do we have same type of encouragement as he does, therefore we have not given millions to charity.
Since you brought those things up, lets switch gears. Let’s let that be the argument. In that case, you’re still using faulty logic. You’re making a correlation that just because he’s done those good things, that it means he can’t possible be a bad person.
This is your argument:
“X is called Z. But Y is good. X has done Y, there for X is good.” You’re ignoring the factor of Z, or in this case, sweeping it away with something like “He’s made mistakes, so have I.” You’re then backing this up by saying that he hasn’t trashed me directly (thus further providing evidence for his “goodness”). But how could he? He doesn’t know me. My name, my twitter handle, my youtube channel – he knows none of these things. He’s had no chance to trash me.
So I’ll go against your idea that Bieber’s a good person. Why? It’s very simple – because his actual candid, private behavior that has been exposed has indicated otherwise. He has illustrated a very large lack of maturity and self absorption, as well as extreme egotism. This things do not necessarily mean that at his core he is bad, but they do indicate a significant negative side to him
Further, him doing those things – the school, the charity – does not necessarily mean that it came about organically. Yes, he did them. But did he do them because it was his choice, not merely something born from a desire for positive publicity/his agent? This is only a theory, but it is nevertheless one with credence considering the history of such celebrity actions.
But to return to one of your original assertions – yes, I do believe I’m better than Justin Bieber. That’s simply a statement and personal belief of my own, but I look forward to presenting an argument as to why in the future.
misterhollywood
Another PR stunt from him?
hotshot70
The only thing I want him to have in common with James Dean would be how he dies!
Geoff B
Rebel without a clue. And @DjARD , That.Was. Epic!
RhonaW
@Cam:
Not a Bieber fan, don’t shop at The Gap, 1D are vile.
But please carry on making assumptions, after all that is the MO of ignorance and hate.
RhonaW
@DjARD: @DjARD: @DjARD:
Great. I’ll get in contact when I have a spare hour. Always up for a discussion.
If you’ve got something of value and not just mindless late and regurgitation of TMZ claims to bring to the table, we can talk.
Either contact me privately through this site DM, or wait until I’m back on here after work.
Cheers.
RhonaW
@Snapper59:
That made me chuckle!
RhonaW
@martinbakman:
Yes, they are different. Who knows what Dean have got up to if he’s love longer, had a 24/hr pap industry shoved in his face, and all the rest.
He lived and died in a different time sweetheart. It’s a free-for-all now.
gauty
@RhonaW: LOL look at you, aren’t you cute? You tell @DjARD you would love to reply to his very well thought-out and informed reply, but you don’t have an hour… Yet from reading the timestamp on your comments it seems you have been fielding “hater talk” for at least a couple of hours! But carry on, I’m sure that you’ll be able to turn the tide of righteous indignation leveled at a spoiled child star one comment on one internet forum at a time 🙂
Louis
I think hes a dumbass who let his ego go to his head.
He needs people around him that say NO every once in a while instead of constantly yes Justin yes Justin etc…
Louis
@oilburner:
Now THAT was fucked up too say whether you like him or not.
Louis
@RhonaW:
So you are saying he has every right too curse our morality or character?
Justin has never been gay friendly too begin with so whatever too his useless opinion either way especially in that regard.
Mike
wasn’t he supposed to be retiring?
cleo1
Not a fan of the kids music, but as a 62 year old man who spend the best part of his teens trying to imitate James Dean, I think he pulled it off nicely.
Somewhat disappointed by all the vitriolic comments from the Bieber haters.
Queerty, you sometimes come across as bitter old queens.
Cam
@cleo1:
Bieber Fans, if you’re going to pretend to be a 62 year old gay guy I have two suggestions.
1. If you are going to try to use more old fashioned language, don’t screw it up. Better to use the more casual language correctly than attempt to seem older and make it obvious you are not.
2. If you are going to start off saying you are older, you mean not want to finish up the post by calling people old queens.
There Bieber fans, you have gotten your first lesson in how to not give yourself away when you are trying to lie and pretend to be somebody else.
cleo1
@Cam:
Sorry Cam, but I really am a 62 year old gay man, and no, I am not a Bieber fan. I simply felt his picture was a reasonable attempt at capturing the essence of James Dean, for whom I’ve always been a fan.
I’m not really sure by what you mean by old fashion language.
My comment about the bitter old queens was directed at Queerty’s editorial board. And yes, sadly, you also are also ranting on like a bitter old queen.
Cam
@cleo1:
I forgot, one other thing to do is to change your screen name. Cleo, Hmm, we could try something like, I don’t know, what’s a good gay 61 year old name? Bruce? Lance?
Stache99
@cleo1: Most of the Queerty staff is fairly young. So other then insulting old people why don’t you just say “bitter queens”.
Stache99
@Mike: She’s a drama queen and easy $ tends to keep you in place.
LubbockGayMale
So, he’s gonna die too young in a car wreck?
TerrenM
I truly see NO 30, 40, 50, 60 year olds on this thread; however, I do see MANY eleven year olds arguing about a pic of Justin Bieber. Hilarious. And DjARD, put down the thesaurus, get outta mom’s basement and get some sunshine.
cleo1
@Stache99:
Good point. My apologies.
Sebizzar
Can we please not give this brat anymore attention thanks.
DarthKitsune
He should do the world a favour and die young, then.
DuMaurier
It’s like a glossy cologne ad version of James Dean. Bieber’s smooth face doesn’t have Dean’s complicated, dark charisma. That being said, this over-the-top, reflexive slamming of a sullen, developmentally arrested adolescent/legal adult is getting more boring than he is.
SteveDenver
Bieber definitely has NO CAUSE; but he’s a spoiled brat, not a “rebel.”
rghodges
Ok, really people. Can’t you see? Justin Bieber is trying to look like Phranc trying to look like James Dean.
Phranc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phranc
Justin Bieber: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1461309/thumbs/s-COW-MANURE-large.jpg?6
1EqualityUSA
rghodges,
Phranc is more cool than James Dean. Google image her. Total babe and true blue to the core. Out and proud in a time when being out was not easy. Aging has only made her cooler. Most importantly, she’s brave enough to live a long life and produce art. (See Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica.)
Being humble goes a long way. Being honest is brave.
EvonCook
Justin Blooper is not much more than the faux lesbian everyone has identified him as for years. No style, no art, no wit, no substance and little charisma! A media airhead, inane and pathetic, a non-event if ever there was one.
DjARD
@TerrenM:
Anti-intellectualism. How lovely.
rghodges
@1EqualityUSA: @1EqualityUSA:
I totally AGREE!