Last week, Justin Bieber shocked the public with his note in the Anne Frank House guest book: “Anne Frank was a great girl, and hopefully she would have been a Beileber.” At first, I was appalled by Bieber’s insensitivity. Bieber made the trip to the museum all about him, when it should have been about Frank.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the media’s extensive reporting on the event was what really allowed Bieber to steal the spotlight from Frank. The Washington Post and countless other publications wrote ruthless
articles mocking him, which only added to the media frenzy.

“The saddest part of Anne Frank’s experience was that she never witnessed ‘Never Say Never: 3-D’. When Justin Bieber heard about the Holocoust he shuddered—those kids could have followed him on Twitter,” Washington Post humor columnist Alexandra Petri wrote.

But instead of making this all about Bieber, we should listen to the youthful wisdom of Anne Frank: “Despite everything, I believe people are good at heart,” she wrote in her diary. Granted, she was talking about the Holocaust, but her idea still rings true in 2013.

The public should take a step back and realize that Bieber’s comment, though egocenetric and idiotic, was well meaning. He only made it through sophomore year of high school, but we expect him to be perfectly appropriate in every situation. He’s still young, just as Anne Frank was. But unlike Bieber, Frank was forced to mature under incredibly difficult circumstances. Bieber’s comment begged for a reality check. If you had crowds of screaming girls following you around everywhere, it’d be hard to step back and realize that you’re just a teenage boy. So instead of blowing an innocent comment out of proportion, we should all take a moment to recognize the young women whose outlook continues to inspire people 68 years after her untimely death.