Brace yourselves, folks. There’s a new rockumentary (or is it popumentary?) about One Direction that’s about to hit theaters. The film in question is called This is Us and will follow the recent trend of 3-D concert movies from Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Jonas Brothers. These photos are from the movie’s photocall, and the boys are currently running through a publicity blitz. I never really remember the other dudes’ names in this group other than Harry, but my daughter tells me that there is a Niall, a Liam, a Louis, and a Zayn. I wondered why Morgan Spurlock (far right in the above photo) was in these photos, but then I realized he’s directing the movie. Poor guy.
Anyway, I suspect that most people and even some of 1D’s fans don’t realize that there’s any other member of this band other than Harry Styles. And many of us gossip addicts only know who he is because he dated Taylor Swift! He really should thank Taylor for that bit of publicity, not that Harry needs it. In regard to this movie, Harry promises that this movie will reveal the truth: “We just want to show what we’re about and with social media and stuff there’s only so much you can get across in terms of your personality.” Okay, kiddo. Any fan of documentaries will tell you that they are entirely subjective and march to the beat of their own agenda, but Harry is still very young (19), and he has pretty hair, so I’ll forgive him. Here are some excerpts from Harry’s new interview with the Sun:
Why does his love life get so much attention? “The only time it can get annoying is when you like someone, but they’re thinking: ‘But I’ve seen him with all of these others.’ It’s OK. I get it. It’s not something I complain about. If I looked at everything going on in my life and chose to focus on that then my priorities are in the wrong place. People who are close to me understand, so that’s fine. But take 10 of the people I’ve been linked to and eight or nine of them are just friends or people I’ve met once.”
Does he worry about it? “Yeah. I just don’t want to be seen as a d–khead. I don’t worry about my mum because she gets it and she knows what I’m like. But I don’t want other people to think I’m an a-hole.”
Does he have a girlfriend: “No, I’m single at the moment and I haven’t been mingling that much, either. Touring is so hard and it’s hard to get to know someone in a day. You don’t get enough time to meet someone and say: ‘I really like you. Do you want to come on the road a bit?’ We’re rarely anywhere for even two days at the moment.”
Any crushes, perhaps? There is… I’ve got someone that I like, yeah. There’s just someone in mind. There’s always someone who’s the person you think about if something happens. But , yeah. There’s nothing really happening at the moment.”
[From Fabulous Mag (The Sun)
Harry has previously stated that he’s only ever slept with two girls in his lifetime, which could be possible if he’s not counting the beej-groupie factor. I don’t know, maybe he’s telling the truth. Anyway, Harry recently put a liplock on James Corden as a joke on a UK television show. They’re friends, so I guess it was all in fun. Harry has also just revealed that even though he performs in front of sold-out crowds, giving a speech at his mother’s wedding has been his toughest gig yet. What a sweet guy.
Photos courtesy of WENN
i don’t care for them but today, i for the first time listened to their song “Best song ever” and it is really catchy. i can not stop listening to this! haha. the only other song i know from them is “what makes you beautiful” and it is good too. lol..
How? That song is awful. Almost as bad as their butchering of One Way Or Another.
I know their success is to do with female tweens coming into their sexuality and needing to express that on non-threatening males but is it too much to ask that they atleast produce decent music?
All their songs sound kind o the same.
SWOON.
love his style.happening.
I didn’t like boy bands even when I was of an age to like boy bands (I refer to my own salad days as BT – before tumblr).
But whenever I see these boys, they seem to make a point of being gay-friendly. Whether this is because it has fandom appeal or not, I like this about them.
On the other hand, they murderised Teenage Kicks. I dislike this about them.
And I like Morgan Spurlock.
These are the totality of my thoughts about 1D.
I like how Lainey puts it – they are ‘sex positive.’ It’s not about gender, or sex, or preference, or labels of any kind. Just all-friendly, and thus totally neutering any kind of potential stigma.
See I’ve seen a lot of boy bands do the same thing these guys do so I’m kind of wondering why they are considered unique and sex positive in this sense? What exactly do they do that is considered gay friendly or sex positive?
They way there are very openly touchy-feely, often in a flirty or overtly sexual way, with each other and other males. And yes, NOW other boy-banders are like that, but that was not the case in the NSYNC-BSB era.
I wasnt thinking about nsync or BB. the only american one i can think of is joe bros…and theyre bros so eww. im not sure of any other bands beside 1D out there. Boy bands are a bigger thing in Asia.
Boy bands in Korea seemed to be doing all this for several years already. They even have a term for it, ‘skinship.’ One member of a very popular group has tongued kissed his memebers in concerts. One of the guys he tongue kissed was a very conservative christian boy too! For a while it seemed like every kpop boy band had some secret relationship with one of the others.
Fans have paired these guys off like anything and then combined their names a la brangelina. They’ve crossed dressed, made googley eyes, flirted with each other, held hands (apparently in korea its perfectly acceptable for two guys to hold hands walking down the street, it doesnt mean theyre gay) and it’s all hunky dory for them to do that. But the minute they get a girlfriend it’s literally termed a ‘scandal’ and fan-girls lose their sh-t.
I should note that it’s encouraged for girls too although not as openly. The girl on girl pairings arent really as popular as the boy on boy from what ive seen at least, but theyre still reallly popular. Fans ship their ‘idols’ with one another all the time. People seem to openly flirt with one another in kpop.
I figured 1D was Simon cowels answer to te kpop bands trying to cross over and acheieve mainstream attention. Because kpop music has been on the rise and interest for years. 1D could so fit in over in Korea if they learned to dance better. Practically everything they do is textbook kpop band behavior. Guess I’m a jealous kpop fan girl.
I’m not bagging on them for it. I’m just surprised how its treated differently in one part of the globe then another.
Heavens to Betsy. You learn a new thing every day. Thanks for the insight, Bijlee!
Wow, Bijlee, this was very insightful.
The only K-Pop story that comes to mind (now that you brought up that market), is some girl getting kicked out from the band for having a bf or being caught spending the night with him. That is the opposite of sex-positive, and makes me think that maybe the boy stuff you described it more about fetishizing them, for show, then generally just being affectionate and not caring about labels, whether they are all straight or gay or who cares? But again, pure speculation, on my part
@Anna Honestly… that’s not the worst I’ve heard. I haven’t heard specifically what you’re talking about, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened.
One time the lead member in a boy band was kicked out for writing ‘Korea is gay’ 3 or 4 years before he debuted while he was in training with the company. Not only was he vilified for a small innocuous comment he made as a young teen boy. He was subsequently kicked out of the group and sent home back to America. And it’s not the fact that he said that Korea was gay. It’s the mere fact that he insulted Korea at all.
As far as the dating thing goes a member of a very popular boy band was caught dating and he went into ‘hiding’ and apologized to his fans multiple times for dating the girl. They still continued dating, but holy hannah it’s not like dating is even a taboo thing in Korea.
Koreans don’t care that people date. Actors and actresses and solo singers date all the time in Korea. It’s difficult, but it happens. The only people not allowed to date are ‘idols.’ Idols are so much more different then regular entertainers. Idols are built to be in love with their fans they say thing like “love us and support us”, “don’t cheat on us”, and casually say “love you (saranghey)” to their fans. Saying I love you is a big deal in Korea.
So when idols date, their fanclubs LOSE it. It’s f*cking lunacy. A dating idol destroys the image, the concept they’ve built for themselves and basically crushes the dreams of thousands of screaming girls. The idea that their idol might spend time holding the hand of another girl instead of dreaming about them all night is soul destroying. I’m sure it’s gotten better now, but I don’t know. I’m also an outsider so the issue may be played up much bigger outside of Korean than in.
Thus, fan service is a big part of the package and the things they do like kissing, teasing, playing up the homeoerotic overtones in their group is fanservice and highly encouraged by the company. They brand it.
Oh and you know how Lady Gaga, Jbieber, and all them have fanclub names? Yeah, that’s just part of the package in Korean pop music scene and has been for a long time. They started that in the early 2000s. It’s huge and scary. And what MaiReads is talking about below about how fanboys/girls bully whoever their idol is dating and whatnot is exactly what happens in kpop. And then FREAKING GROUP RIVALS!
So what I see alot in these crazy directioners, beliebers, and etc now is what I saw in kpop fandoms and it frightens me. You guys see the death threats and the awful things they say on twitter as something novel, but it’s been done in Korea for much longer (because they’ve been on the cutting edge of technology for the last 20 years). I don’t think it’s particularly healthy, but that’s just me. I’m sure there are many more people that can handle it then can’t.
I think that’s where my cynicism comes from. I didn’t even think of it as sex-positive, just fan-service used to entice and manipulate fans into buying the product because I’m looking at it from a kpop fan context.
Side-note: I love Korea. I love Korean food. I love the Korean language. I love Korean dramas, film, and even music. But the obsession and kpop fandoms and talent agencies scare me. But I just found it all so fascinating and the things you learn about these countries by watching their dramas is amazing. And if you’re Korean and feel insulted by anything I’ve said feel free to correct me.
They are not just gay friendly. Macklemore is gay friendly, these guys are straight up homoerotic. They kiss each other at concerts. They conduct interviews while stroking each others knees. They mime blowjobs at each other, stare longingly into each others eyes etc.
I mean look closely at Harrys interview today and previous ones. He goes out of his way to not use gender specific pronouns. Oh and he never said that he has slept with two girls, he said he slept with two PEOPLE. I know this because that interview set the fandom off. Even when asked about his sexuality he merely denies being bi but doesnt say that he is straight or gay.
Its all by design. It allows their young fans to fantasize about erotic situations that dont involve themselves (because that feels safe) or another female (because that would trigger jealousy).
In Kpop fandoms they call this “fan-service.”
@ Dani – I can quite believe that it’s by design, as I said above. Presumably this informs the Larry Shippers nonsense that exploded over the weekend to such an extent it was on the bloody tea-time news. (Sigh).
Nevertheless, fandom madness aside, I like open boy-on-boy flirtiness. Outside the narrow world of obsessed followers, it’s a healthy thing to see flirting as fun (or funny, or “normal”, or whatever) regardless of gender. So, although I know bugger all about 1D, I like this about them.
Oh-oh. What set off the Larry shippers this time?
Those people are batshit cray-cray. They actually send death threats to Louis gf, his mom and anyone who denies that Larry is a thing.
And they are the reason why I disagree with you, Sixer. Its clear that their Management scripts the pairings and the suggestive behavior. I say this because you can often see how uncomfortable the guys are. I saw a clip with Zane and Louis that was just painful. Ofcourse Zouis fans claimed that was just chemistry. But I am a grown woman, I can tell when two people are being forced to sing a love song to each other. It was terrible. Nobody should be forced to pretend to be straight, gay, bi or romantically interested in another person.
Secondly, its clear that Louis has paid the greatest price for all the fakery. Kids cant distinguish between Louis the Onstage Character and Louis the Real Person. So they have created a narrative about why those two Louis dont jive and that narrative involves an “evil beard”. They stalk her, write to her uni, send her death threats, jeer at her, its insane. Its made Louis relationship so hellish, he has had to give interviews directly denying being gay. Its ridiculous
Now if their management had orchestrated the faking as part of a Sexual Equality movement that would be very slightly different. But they didnt. They’ve put these people in this situation for no other reason other than for money.
Put in another way, if Adam Lambert was in a mixed band and was required to be suggestive with a female whenever they were in public together for paps and screaming fans. If Adams bf and mom were subject to a two year hate campaign for refuting that he is dating that girl. If Adam was barely out of his teens when all this is going down. I think most would be uncomfortable with this.
I wish I was 19 again!
My god, I find him so sexy. He’s only 2 years younger than me though so it’s not that creepy? Right?
No it’s not creepy. He dated a woman fifteen years his senior, so two years is nothing. And I was crushing on him for awhile and I’m 25 so you’re fine.
I am 31 and I would hit that 10 ways till Sunday and pull on that gorgeous hair all night (and day) long. And the fact that he’s been with an older gal makes me hopeful that I wont have to teach him from scratch.
I’ll be 25 next month and I have a major crush on him. Even before his thing with Taylor. Where did my life go wrong?
I’d hit that so hard I wouldn’t be able to walk straight for a week. He’s over 18, so it’s all good. Oh the things we could do together!!
I have developed a kinda creepy one direction thing, I am soooo ashamed of myself. Harry is definately an extremely charming lad, and it doesn’t seem to be put on at all. Actually they all seem to be sweet boys who just happened to be very very lucky. And they have some catchy songs. I will be seeing this movie *is ashamed* *not really*. Oh and I’m 26 just to up my shame factor.
Don’t feel ashamed. I’m 25 and I absolutely love them and I refuse to apologize for it.
You know what, you’re right. I don’t apologise for being a cumberloon so why apologise for this. I really like one direction. My bff and I are supposed to be going to london next year, and i wanna see if i can score some concert tix!
I think that’s prefectly okay. You’re a grown ass woman and no one should tell you what to like/dislike, I mean if you wanna like the freaking Teletubbies then why the hell not?
lucy, sarcasm? I really can’t tell. You know what I’ll just assume that you’re not being sarcastic. yay!
No no no, no sarcasm at all!!! I meant every single word (the teletubbie thing was just a random example). Sorry, didn’t mean to sound like an a-hole.
@lucy, not an a-hole at all. Sexy teenaged boys for everyone!!!
Is it sad that until January I had no idea who they were? And that was because someone on tumblr was freaking out at Packers/Georgia bulldog fans because one of them got a “G” tattoo?
In comparison to Justin Beiber, they’re harmless so they get a pass. Like most boy bands though, they’ll be gone in 5 years.
My God, he’s adorable. I would have been swooning all over that band if I was a tween girl.
I had the Backstreet Boys/N*Sync/Aaron Carter days, and I loved me some boy bands.
He’s the cutest of all the new age boybanders right now, there’s no doubt about that. He’s got that Brit charm and wit, and the looks of Mick Jagger, so the kid can go places if he wants to. I am curious to see who he dates next. I’ve never heard a One Direction song, and I don’t know the other members, but young Harry is quite compelling and it’s interesting to see him navigate through fame.
Heechul already did all this. It’s weird how the boy band scene here is being inspired from the east. It’s kind of cool actually.
Not a 1D fan and don’t really pay any attention to them, but kudos to Harry for how responded to the Nick Grimshaw rumours, some older and more PR experienced celebs could learn a lot from how to deal with gay rumours without sounding defensive or homophobic.
1D always got on my nerves because they seem to be imitating puppies in their videos- look how cute, adorable, jumping everywhere, rolling, falling, all big eyes and happy sounds. But I like how Harry is firmly anti-homophobic and I admit that a lot of their songs (not that they write them) are catchy.
I get that tweens like him he has that girlie look that that little girls find unthreathning, see bieber and countless boyband stars. But i will never understand how grown woman can swoon over a girlie looking boy like that.
umm because sexual attraction is not simply defined by the gender binary? A lot of people are attracted to femme boys, and butch girls and a number of gender presentations!
Um gretchen.. he looks 15 years old, i wouldnt mix gender politics and sexuality into it.
Sure, but he is 19. I personally don’t find him attractive, because he looks too young for my tastes, I do however take issue with “girlie looking” part. Clearly we both interpreted Dee’s comment differently, if it was just about age (or the age he looks) could it not have just been written as such without bringing “girlie” into it?
Sorry if you think I’m reading too much into things, but I don’t like the idea that men have to be coded as purely ‘masculine’ to be attractive. I know men in their 20s and 30’s who get shit (mostly homophobic slurs) for looking “girlie” because of their bone structure and or/the way they dress and I don’t like the implication that them being attractive is somehow unfathomable.
Best Song Ever is very catchy. They just seem so happy all the time except for douche Louis. I like Harry. He seems like a sweet and thoughtful kid. He’s really maturing well despite all of his success which could have easily derailed him.
It’s a fact that very young girls like more femine looking guys. Which Is why most teen idols tend to have something effeminate about them, biber is a good example of this. There’s nothing wrong with this of course. But it’s no coincidence that both Harry and bieber have something feminine about them. A guy with stubble and a very masculine energy would never sell in a teen market . I guess people forget these boys are a product of a talent show and simon Cowell Is the svengali behind them. It’s all very calculated and marketed as with all of cowells acts.
Hannah, there is nothing feminine looking about Harry or Bieber. They’re just boys, and that’s what boys that age look like. They’re not ripped with chiseled jawlines because they still have baby faces like the girls of similar ages.
I assure you that to girls their age they do not look girly or femme.
It’s what people used to say about Hanson when I was growing up.
Older people would say “They look like girls!” but they never actually looked like girls. They looked like boys with long hair.
Their faces still looked male.
Btw, Harry and Bieber still look like boys/young men to me. Their faces don’t look girly at all to me. Still.
I am only 1 year older than harry so i think i know what boys our age look like, honestly there is boys and then there is effeminate boys. Harry and Justin Bieber belong in the latter category.
I’m not much older than Harry myself and I still think he looks masculine, both in the face and body.
And I doubt he’d have millions of fangirls if they all thought he looked girly.
My attraction to him was always a result of my belief that he had a serious kinky side. If he continues this more prudish narrative, I am going to have to go back to Zac Efron as my most inappropriate crush.
He does have a kinky side. In a couple of his interviews there’s a lot of naughty tounge in cheek humour. At least I think so. so crack that whip Miz eyre.
I have the crop at the ready for whenever this boy is ready to take the chastity belt off again.
J. eyre, I see our little friend wants to come out and play. We’ve talked about this before, and am in total agreement with you, darling. Harry looks like a good time, and by that I mean, dirty as hell.
Not a 1D fan, but I’ve always liked him. Not just physically speaking, to me he seems to be an actually cool, decent guy. Can’t say the same about some of his bandmates, though. Anyways, I wish him all the best!
They’re all so Keebler elves looking not attractive or cute at all
And thats froma galw/ a hard thing for british men
Enjoy it kid while it lasts. This is a fickle business and you will only be hot for a couple of years, sure hope you have other talents. Remember the Hansons? What are they doing now? Who was before them? And so it goes!
this kid reminds me of a young mick Jagger.
I totally thought that was a picture of LeAnn…
I love One Direction, and here’s why: They are the biggest trolls ever. EVER. They know what they’re doing is a joke, look at their last video, it was basically saying we will put out the crappiest lamest song with the dumbest dancing and cheesiest music video and people will eat it up. They’ve figured out at this point they can do no wrong and they’re just having fun with it.
Its hilarious and obnoxious and for some reason it grows on me every day!
my daughter is 16 and IN LOVE with Harry Styles. they seem like good kids, so far… (I thought that about Justin Beiber too) if they stay out of trouble, I think they seem like positive roll models an they are all pretty damn good looking 🙂 so they get my approval as a mom.
He looks like a girl I went to middle school with.
i was just thinking that too
also, he’s one wax away from having carrot top’s eyebrows
his hair looks ridiculous
in my personal experience, literally all of my dads family is from England and i have noticed theres an unabashed affection between friends and especially amongst the younger generation an ease that comes.with their joking around that would make a lot of americans squirm just because we’re so uptight about certain things. I had a cousin visit with his best friend and they walked around holding hands for a laugh and reaction from passersby. we had a conversation at a bar with a bunch of friends and they both said they would accept a drink from a gay man and take it as a complement but all of American guy friends felt too squeamish at a. the connotation of interest b. the expectations from accepting it. of course not all Americans are this way but that’s what I’ve observed and why I don’t really think twice about how these boys interact. hang out with a bunch of English guys and that comraderie is similar.
OMG I thought the header photo was Milla Jovovich, I was like “DAMN, she ages well”.
If I were you, I would be more concerned about being seen as a woman? I totally thought that first solo picture was a lesbian. Too much lip gloss…among other issues.
He looks like a girl in these photos. The dark haired guy, zayn is way more attractive.
Thought this was a pic of a woman I’d never seen before. My gawd, he is effeminate looking.
he’d be perfect casting for the remake of Annie the musical. He looks like annie.
The fake bake, The overly groomed eyebrows, the lipgloss. The shirley Temple curls… Just NO.
I’m sorry, but he looks like a woman. Their music sucks. Just… no. STOP.