A fortysomething never says never to Justin Bieber
I was thinking of excuses to tell friends who might see me as I entered the cinema, dragged by my 11-year old daughter, to watch "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never." "It's for my daughter's homework." "I'm doing research for a new script that I'm writing". I was willing to say anything so as not to give the impression that a guy like me is a Justin Bieber fan… until I donned the 3-D glasses and the film started playing.
In this concert documentary, there's a scene where Justin Bieber visits his old hometown of Stratford, Canada. He stops by the Avon Theater's entrance to watch a little girl play violin in exchange for coins. The young unknown violinist stops and asks one of her audience, "Are you Justin Bieber?". He replies "Yes" and tells her to keep on playing and that she is good. Before he leaves he tells her that he also used to play in the same exact spot where she's playing. Bieber places dollar bills in her violin case. Cut to an old footage of a 12 year-old Bieber strumming his guitar and singing out loud on the sidewalk of the same Avon Theater. My daughter looks at me, taking a peek at what she has noticed trickling between the 3-D glasses and my cheeks. "Daddy, are you crying?".I get a crumpled napkin from my pocket to wipe the tears and tell her, "Ehem, (clearing my throat), me? Crying? No, anak, I think I got something in my eye from these 3-D glasses." The excuse worked for a few minutes until more endearing scenes happen in the film. "Sandali lang, anak. I'll get lang some more tissue paper."
I have seen so many classic concert films and admittedly never really liked them. I always thought that the concert film is a genre made to satisfy the fan who was too poor to get into the concert. If you're not a U2 (Bloody Sunday) or a Beatles (Hard Day's Night) fan, you have no business watching a concert film much less paying extra for 3D. But as the saying goes (and worked perfectly well for a film title)- Never Say Never.
The film creates an epiphany that somehow answers questions like —What the heck is so appealing with Justin Bieber to people? The jaded Pinoy in me even thought- Naku, give it ten years baka nagre-rehab din yan. But the boy has talent. Justin Bieber is the next Jacko, who, I hope, won't turn Wacko. He can sing, play instruments and dance (luckily without the need to grab his crotch once in awhile). I've seen girls as young as three cry over a song by JB. My 4-year old niece is a die-hard JB fan. And yes, ultimately, so is this straight, male, fortysomething film director.
