ARTS&DESIGN4 THE NEWYORK TIMES INTERNATIONALWEEKLY MONDAY,FEBRUARY24, 2020
Apubescentpopstar
whorosefastandfell
faster isback.
AVastCanvasofPolitical ArtinIraq
ARomanticComedy
ForaNew Generation
Justin Bieber,Still Hiding,but in PlainSight
By ALISSAJ. RUBIN
BAGHDAD—Ateenagerstood
in an unfinishedparking garage,in
frontofamural whose meaninghe
waseager to decode foravisitor.
“See,the maninthe middle,heis
asking thesecurityforces,‘Please
don’t shootus,wehave nothing,
nothing,’ ”the 18-year-oldnamed
Abdullah said thefinal word twice
for emphasis as he studiedthe
black-and-white imageonthe wall.
Drawnincharcoalinasocialist
realiststyle,the mural, overfour
meterslong,showedagroup of men
walkingforward andcarrying their
fallen friendsintheir arms.
Abdullahis anunofficial art
guide to oneofthe most unlikely
galleriesimaginable:a15-story
shellofastructure,knownlocally
astheTurkish Restaurant building,
that overlooksthe Tigris River.
Thefirst five floors of thebuilding
have becomeone ofthehalf-dozen
major artvenuesthathavesprung
up in Baghdadaroundthe recent
protests, with walls, stairwells and
parksnow avastcanvas.
Where didallthisartcome from?
Howis it that acitywherebeauty
andcolor have been largely sup-
pressed for decadesby poverty, and
by theoppression orindifferenceof
successivegovernments,suddenly
came to be so alive?
“You know,wehavemany
thoughts aboutIraq, butnoone
fromthegovernmenteverasked
us,”saidRiadRahim,45, an art
teacher.
Thepaintings,sculptures, pho-
tographsandshrines tokilled pro-
testersarepolitic al artofakind
rarelyseeninIraq, wherearthas
been made f or at least10,000years.
“Inthe beginning, this wasan
uprising, butnow it is arevolution,”
said Bassim al-Shadhir,who has
particip atedinthe protests.
Hismural showed aman shotby
thesecurityforces, theblood pour-
ingout of hisheartinavastpool,too
largeto be hiddenby themasked
military manstandingbehindhim.
Nearby amural begs theU.N.to
rescueIraqis. Another showsamap
of Iraq insideaheart andsays, “Oh
my country, don’t feel pain.”
In apaintingoftheTurkish
Restaurant building,atuktuk
fliesout of theroof. Thetuk tukis
theprotesters’ mascot,athree-wheeledvehiclethat requires no li-
censetodrive andthathas become
an unofficial ambulance, carrying
thewounded to thefirst aidtents.
More than 500protestershave
beenkilled andthousands more
have been injured.
Recently,Mr. Rahimandafriend
were carving maquettes of sixIraqi
sites. They hadfinished theAlHad-
ba minaret in Mosul, whichwas de-
stroyedinthe fightwiththe Islamic
State; theziggurat of Samarra; and
theTurkish Restaurant building.
“Wewanttosendamessageto
theworld that this is ourculture,we
areeducated, we arepaintersand
poets,musiciansandsculptors,this
is what it meanstobeIraqi,” Mr.Ra-
himsaid. “Everyone thinksIraqis
allwarsand fighting.”By ILANAKAPLAN
When “ToAll theBoysI’veLoved
Before”debuted on Netflixin2018, it
seemed like just thelatesttitl einits
“Summer ofLove”promotion.But
“ToAll theBoys” quicklyprovedto
be aphenomenon.
Themaincharacter,aKorean-
Americanhigh schoolernamedLara
Jean (playedbyLanaCondor), won
overaudiences whosaw themselves
mirroredinher life andmixed heri-
tage.There wasathirst forthe inter-
net’snewest crush, Noah Centineo
(playing Lara Jean’s love interest,
PeterKavinsky). Salesfor Yakult,a
Japanese yogurtdrink,increasedaf-
ter beingfeaturedinseveralscenes.
“ToAll theBoys” becameone of
Netflix’s “mostviewedorigi nalfilms
ever,”withmanyfanswatchingit
repeatedly, accordingtoVariety.If
thestreaming service,which selec-
tively releases audience
numbers, isto be believed,
over 80 million subscribers
caught theromantic-come-
dy.The companyalsocited
Instagramdatatoshowthe
film’s impact: Ms.Condor’s
followercount jumped
to 5.5million fromabout
100,000,while Mr.Centi-
neo’sincreased to 13.4 mil-
lion from 800,000.
Now,theteambehind
thefirst filmis hoping its
sequel,“P.S. IStill Love
You,”which premieredon
February 12,will have the
same impact.
BasedonJennyHan’s
best-selling 2014 novelof
thesamename, thefirst moviefol-
lowedLaraJeanasprivate love let-
tersshe penned aresenttoher past
crushes —and to hercurrent one, her
sister’s ex-boyfriendJosh. Whiletry-
ingtomakeJoshjealous, sheendsup
in afakerelationship with Peter.
Castingthe Vietnamese-bornnew-
comer Ms.Condoras Lara Jean op-
posite Mr.Centineo resulted in pal-
pablechemistry that helpedfuel the
success of“ToAll theBoys.”
Butthe film’spopularitywas also
drivenby moretangiblefactors.For
one, there hadbeenalackofsuccess-
ful filmrom-comsfor years; “ToAll
theBoys” wasarom-comfor anew
generation.Italsoinjectednew life
into thegenrewith itsdiverse cast.
Ms.Condor’s castingwas seen as
awin forAsian-Americans.Asian
characters had morphed into white
ones in recent screenadaptations.
Themovie wasapartial answer
to theunderrepresentation of such
characters.Ms. Hansaid: “We’ve
seenacertai ntypeofrom-comma-ny times,and Ihavenever seenan
Asian-American girlasthe lead of
arom-com.SoIthinkbeingableto
experience thefirst blush offirst love
throughher eyes,itf eltreallynew.”
“ToAll theBoys” wasalsore-
leased thesameweekas“CrazyRich
Asians.” Thecombination ofthefilms
propelledinterestinAsian-Ameri-
canromancesonscreen.
In “P.S.IStillLoveYou,”adapt-
ed fromMs.Han’s romancenovel
series, thebuddingrelationshipbe-
tweenLaraJeanand Petercontin-
ues. Butitiscomplicated when one
of herpastcrushes re-enters herlife.
“P.S.IStill Love You” is about
morethanjust romance, though.Just
as one ofthescreenwriters,Sofia Al-
varez,didn’twantthe firstfilmtobe
“about agirlwho wasinlovewithher
sister’s boyfriend,”the second film
followsLaraJeanasshe exploreswhat it “means tobe vulnerable once
you’reactuallyinthatrelationship
anddealing with theother person.”
Ultimately,Ms. Condorsaid,that
willlead to more challenges forview-
ers. “The audienceisgoing to be
morefrustratedatLaraJeanthan
they willbeatthe boys,” shesaid.
“P.S.IStill Love You” is part of a
largerNetflixplan. Ms.Condorand
Mr.Centineosaidtheyendedfilm-
ingonthe finalentry in thetrilogy
in August. Butthe teambehindthe
franchisethinksitwillreverberate
beyond theiniti al releases.Ms. Con-
dorsaid she hoped the“To Allthe
Boys” movies wouldinspire more
rom-comstotakeAsian-American
representationintoconsideration.
“I thinkAsian-Americanactors
have really kind of harnessedtheir
powerand they aretrying to step
into thespace with confidence,”she
said.“Iamsoproud to even be alittle
part of amovement that Ihopeisnot
just amovement, butis averylong
foreverprocess.”By JONCARAMANICA
ThelasttimeJustinBieber released
an album—“Purpose,” in 2015 —he
wasregretful.Returningafter afew
yearsofpublic disintegration, he had
beenhumbled,or wished to appear
that way: aboy forced to disavowthe
person that fame hadturnedhiminto,
singingsongs ofapology.
He wasalso,itturned out,apris-
oner ofthat regret:Heabandoned a
subsequenttourmidway, hisbattery
drained.
Though this wasjustfiveyears
ago, theecosystemforaburgeoning
popiconwas much different. Now,
starsbubbleupfromthe interneton
theirownterms, andarrive in un-
expected shapes.But not longago,
famewas top-downandclaustro-
phobic,and there wasnoapparent
out.Mr. Bieber wasdamnedwhen
he gave in to thesystem anddamned
when he rebelledagainst it.
So he madethe only reasonable
decision:Disappear.Itwas no small
thinggiven that he hadlivedinthe
hungry mawoftabloid hysteriaand
teen-popobsessionsince he was
around12 yearsold.Inthe last three
years, Mr.Bieberhas releasedadoz-
en orso songs; he hasn’ttoured.Pop
music never replaced him, butitkept
moving forward.
Even thoughMr.Bieberaban-
doned thelimelight,hebecameno
less famous.With127 million fol-
lowers,heisthe mostpopularmale
musicianonInstagram.And heis,
at themoment, thelastofacertain
kind of whitemaleR&B-adjacentpop
star —amania-i nducinghurricane
whosepowerisgreaterthan theart
he makes. That kind of fervor doesn’t
fade; it ju st hibernates.
Whichmeans that Mr.Bieberhas
awaiting audience.Heisnow25,
and married, andseeminglyuncon-
cerned with stokingthe flames of
hyperfame. Theubiquityofhis early
yearshas beenreplacedbysome-
thingmuch more temperate.Canyou
be asuperstarandalsobeinhiding?
That’swhathe’sattemptingon
“Changes,”his sinuous, meditative
andlargely impressivefifthstudio
album, andalso with “Justin Bieber:
Seasons,” aYouTube Originalsdocu-
mentaryseries devotedtocapturing
thebehindthe scenes ofhisreturn.In both pro jects, Mr.Bieberis re-
luctant, quieteven. He can’tcontrol
theBieber-sizedreceptionheismet
with whenever he does anything.He
is, however, safe in theknowledge
that whateverhedoeswillberaptur-
ouslyconsumed by afandom desper-
atetohaveits thirst quenched.
On “Changes,” he finallyhones a
vocalapproachthat’s soothing and
tender,althoughmaybe slightly ten-
tati ve.Itisaneffectivealbum,and
also adeliberately unflashyone.
By choosingtomakeR&B,and a
mutedversion ofthat,Mr. Bieber is
both recusinghimselffromthecen-
trist poprat raceandaligninghim-
self with astyle that’s personal.His
desireto avoidscrutinycould be con-
strued as akindofweakness,but itis
also alogicalconclusion forsomeonewho,in histeenage yearsand be-
yond,wasone ofthemostjudgedand
often derided celebritie sinthe world.
He hasbeenfamousfor half of his25
years. Theeffectsare madeclear in
the10-episode“Seasons.”
Younoticehow smallhis circleof
trustis: hiswife, Hailey BaldwinBie-
ber; hislongtimecollaborator,Poo
Bear; hisproducer, Josh Gudwin;
hismanager,Scooter Braun; anda
coupleof others who workwith him.
Mr.Bieberdescribes severalyears
of drug abuse:“Iwas sippinglean, I
waspoppingpills,Iwasdoing molly,
youknow, shrooms, everything.”He
wasnolongerincontrol ofhishealth:
“I waslike, dying.”
Thefirst fewepisodes of “Sea-
sons”are about howthe sausage
getsmade. Butthe subsequentones
aresomethingelsealtogether—a
picture of howthe sausage almost
doesn’t getmade. “Itmight not seem
that hard to somepeopleto just get
outofbed in themorning,” Mr.Bie-
bersays, “but it’s beenreallyhard
formetojustget outof mybed, and
Iknowalotofpeople feel that same
way. So Ijustalsowanttosay thatyou’renot alonein that.”
What if Mr.Bieberwas oneofus?
In theold top-downmodeloffame
that incubatedhim,thatwould have
beenalaughable proposition.But his
realignmentfeels morein keeping
with howstars arebuilt today: An
idiosyncratic creative choice,culti-
vatedinearnest andinprivate,gets
picked up onby millions.
When youdevelopyour famethat
way, you’re free to saynotothe de-
mandscreatedbydoing things the
oldway.Inthiscase, he cancroo n,
holdontothe fans who want to con-
tinue to protecthim, andhopethat
therest oftheworld isn’tpayinghim
toomuchmind.PHOTOGRAPHSBYIVORPRICKETTFORTHENEWYORKTIMESBETTINASTRAUSS/NETFLIX
JordanFisherandLanaCondorina
scenefrom“P. S.IStill LoveYou.”CINDYORD/GETTYIMAGESFORMTV
JustinBieber hasanewalbum
andaYouTubedocumentary
series.Performingthismonth.Painti ngs, sculpturesand photogalleriesappearedinBaghdadas
atribute toaprotest movementagainsttheIraqi government.Fa lihHassan contributed
reporting.