Pop star hysteria is nothing new. The spectacle of crying, convulsing fans was born well before even Beatlemania, and you might even call it innate in collective society, the psychic end-result of mass adoration. The phenomenon of Lisztomania was first described in the mid-1800s to describe the intense freaking out on the part of fans of composer/pianist Franz Liszt. Popular history has it that female fans of the figure would collect his used cigar butts and keep them in their cleavage. And you could trace the general phenomenon even further back to Jerusalem syndrome: psychosis brought on by confrontation with religious settings. An article in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences describes it as such: “behavioral phenomena observed in eccentric and psychotic tourists with religious delusions.”I’m wary of the generalization — from sexualized modern media construct to anti-sexual old-school god-awe — but maybe the construction doesn’t matter so much if you follow the the thing all the way back to its psychological roots. In any case, PBS’ weekly Idea Channel series is willing to take that road and it’s worth six minutes of your time. The interesting Bieber hysteria connection that I think is missing in the clip is summarized well enough in the current first comment on the video’s YouTube page: “What is the difference between Hitler and Justin Bieber?” In other words, how extreme phenomenons of popular personality lead to the worst things in human history. Which is not to say that Justin Bieber is going to wind up a malevolent dictator, but just imagine facing down an army of his most manic fans.
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