Justin Bieber’s “outrageous” demands: Is all the hate and backlash justified?

Are Justin Bieber's demands worthy of so much hatred?

By: Sandhya Raghavan | | Updated: May 10, 2017 4:11 pm

Last month, when TVF s Arunabh Kumar was trolled on Twitter for his alleged role in sexually harassing an intern, his friends and supporters used the term schadenfreude to describe the pleasure his critics derived from trolling him. Oxford Advanced Learner s Diction describes the word quite simply as a feeling of pleasure at the bad things that happen to other people. Well, the Arunabh incident was not the last of it; schadenfreude, it seems, has again struck again with a vengeance! Recently, Justin Bieber s list of demands for his Purpose Tour Mumbai concert has raised a lot of eyebrows. Read the entire list here. Also Read - 5 simple changes to make to improve your mental health

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Now it s a known fact that Justin Bieber is not the most adulated person around (not talking about the hoards of prepubescent Bieber fans or Beliebers). Even 30-somethings who claim to have a more refined musical choice love taking pot shots at his songs. They have strong opinions about teeny-bopper music and love to groan about kids not knowing what is “real music” these days. So, even if a poor chap genuinely likes Bieber s songs, he is forced to take this dark secret to his grave for fear of being ridiculed by his peers. Folks also love to highlight Bieber s bratty behaviour as a justification for why they hate his music (most rock-and-roll artists Bieber-haters worship aren t shining beckons of good behaviour either). And now his list of demands has Bieber baiters fuming. They now have something new to bellyache about. Also Read - A sedentary lifestyle can reduce life expectancy: Know how to avert this

While it is certainly impractical to have a ping pong table, a sofa set and a washing machine flown to another country, it s not the first time that a famous artist has asked for outrageous things. Kanye West insists that his drivers wear clothes made from 100 percent cotton and members of the rock band Van Halen had asked for a bowl of M&Ms with the brown ones removed. The point is, why do love to hate these celebs just because they can have what they want? Is it because their fabulous lives remind us of our less-than-happening ones?

Put yourself in their place. Imagine if you were touring for the good part of the year away from your family, wouldn t you welcome the idea of creating a home away from home? To have your bedroom decorated with the flowers of your choice or to have the foods that comfort you? This is true especially if you have people fawning over you waiting to fulfil your every wish. By expecting modesty out of our celebs, we are clearly living in a fool s paradise. At the most, you could accuse JB of being human.

Or maybe not! Let s not forget that he also happens to be touring with his massive entourage. So probably all the giddying amount of supplies is not just for himself. Can you hate on a man for keeping his crew happy? I think not. Hating on celebs just because they have the means to do what they please clearly reeks of our own insecurities and pathological hatred the haves. It s easy to ignore their philanthropy and imagine them as the high and mighty that make their poor staff suffer.

So next time you scoff at a celeb for making outrageous demands like wanting gluten-free pani puris or exactly 34 Moroccan roses in gradient shades of red delivered to their doorsteps every day, think, would you have been any different? So let s all give JB a break, focus on a little less hate; and in the words of the man himself, You should go and love yourself (Couldn t help myself. My apologies. Is it too late now to say sorry? )

Image source: Shutterstock

Published : May 10, 2017 3:46 pm | Updated:May 10, 2017 4:11 pm

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