The point that gets made over and over in One Direction: This Is Us is that without the fans being the way they are, none of the fame and none of the experiences by the band’s members would be remotely possible. It’s emphasized in the humble beginnings alluded to in the film’s introduction and the singers’ eventual brief returns to their homes toward the conclusion. Band member Louis characterizes the relationship between the band and its fans as a symbiotic one of sorts, which I haven’t heard a popstar express in terms quite so simple. And even though it’s an obvious point, it highlights the arbitrary nature of cultish fame, and provides the justification and motivation for why someone in a group like this would continue.
The power exercised by the band members over their hoards of fans is revealing. To the boys, it’s mostly a source of amusement. They raise their arms, the crowd screams; they lower them, the crowd goes quiet. They send out a single tweet and an entire arena’s worth of people show up to their show dressed in orange. The source of this power? One girl summarizes One Direction’s appeal perfectly. To paraphrase: they sing words to girls that no boys will ever say to them. This could be taken a couple of ways. One is that boys are socialized to be more hesitant to express strong feelings, and are necessarily cold or act out in inappropriate ways toward girls. The other is that the group’s fans are predominantly girls with deep insecurities and soothe themselves with the lyrics of these mythical superboy figures who they believe are telling them they’re beautiful, special, kind, smart and important. It’s a powerful little moment that you get the sense Spurlock wishes he could dwell on a bit more, but it’s a sentiment quickly drowned out by thousands of other screaming devotees.
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