Justin Bieber vs. 500 Days of Summer

Here’s what happens in the Children’s Room at the library during summer vacation and seasonal breaks: the tween girls tend to either play digital paper dolls or watch Justin Bieber videos, over, and over, and over. 

With the tween boys, I have to worry about them cursing in response to losing their computer games.  With the girls, it’s a tad more comical.  They tend to try and sing loud enough so they can hear their own voices through their headphones.  Then, there are my cousins, who roll their eyes about the phenomenon that is Bieber Fever, while simultaneously quoting lyrics from his songs and scenes from his videos at the drop of a hat. 

So, I Googled Justin Bieber and watched the first video that came up, Baby featuring Ludicrous.

Bieber’s character is attempting to win back his crush in a bowling alley where he and the girl who has shunned him are surrounded by their friends.  There is a boys vs. girls mentality, and Bieber’s crush interest doesn’t appear impressed by Bieber’s heart felt lyrics.  That’s when the dance off begins.  Once Bieber and his friends begin to dance, and in so many movements, challenge their female counterparts to a dance off, the girls get interested.  Ludicrous raps while the tweens dance, as if narrating the scene taking place.  In the end, because of his stealth moves rather than his lyrics (even though he is known for being a singer), Bieber gets the girl.

  

The dance sequence in the bowling alley reminded me of the dance sequence in the movie 500 Days of Summer.  Both dance numbers take place in an ‘everyday’ setting, while paying homage to musicals.

Joseph Gordan-Levitt’s character Tom, leaves for work the morning after his first night spent with his love interest Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel (yeah, my friends and I kind of can’t get enough of her).  Like Bieber, Tom conveys his emotions to the audience through movement, rather than words.  Dance in the place of, or in conjunction to, dialog, seems to be effective.  My friends and I never really discussed any lines Gordan-Levitt said during the movie, but we were all quite taken by his dance scene.  We thought it was adorable, which means I guess we can sympathize with the girls in the library who watch the Justin Bieber videos over and over.  I wonder why members of the male gender dancing rather than speaking is seen and portrayed as appealing, and what the reasons are behind why it’s enforced as a mode of communication rather than dialog in certain instances.