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Crazy About One Direction

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Crazy About One Direction
A teenage girl sits on a large bed with a grey blanket in her room, which has purple walls. The walls are adorned with posters of teenage boys.
A still from the documentary depicting a fan, Natasha, in her bedroom
Directed byDaisy Asquith
Distributed byChannel 4
Release date
  • 15 August 2013 (2013-08-15)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Crazy About One Direction is a 2013 British made-for-television documentary film directed by Daisy Asquith and distributed by Channel 4 exploring the relationship between English-Irish boy band One Direction and their fans, called Directioners. The documentary received mixed reviews and significant backlash from Directioners.

Synopsis

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Five teenage boys wearing formal clothes standing next to each other and posing on a red carpet at the Logie Awards. From left to right: Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson.
One Direction on the red carpet at the Logie Awards of 2012 in Melbourne, Australia

The film showcases the lives of fans of boy band One Direction, all with varying levels of obsession. The film follows groups of self-identified "Directioners" as they express their devotion to the band through fan art, social media, public gatherings, and emotional declarations. These girls, mostly teenagers, share intense feelings of connection to the band, often describing them as their reason for living or a source of identity and community.

The documentary captures behaviours ranging from "shipping" to stalking band members' homes and obsessively monitoring their online activity. Some fans claim they would commit extreme acts to meet the boys, including self-harm or public outbursts. One girl admits she would "probably kill a cat" for the chance to be in a room with band member Harry Styles, whilst another declares she would "go to jail" just to be near him. A Twitter post is shown in which a fan threatens suicide if not followed back by the band.

Asquith presents the fandom as both a form of intense adolescent expression and a symptom of deeper emotional needs. Many of the girls describe crying daily, feeling lost without the band's attention, and experiencing despair when ticket prices or lack of response leave them shut out.

Production and release

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The film was commissioned during a time of extensive media coverage of One Direction's fans and the fandom's behaviour.[1]: 2  The film was directed by Daisy Asquith and produced and distributed by Channel 4.[2] In order to prepare for the shoot, Asquith followed One Direction themed hashtags on YouTube and Twitter and waited at the back gates of arenas for hours.[1]: 5  The documentary began shooting at Manchester Arena in April 2013, where 500 people waited for a One Direction concert.[1]: 3  On the last day of editing, the film's title was changed from "I Heart One Direction" to "Crazy About One Direction". Asquith admitted she preferred the former title, and that the new one could "stigmatise" if taken at face value.[3]: 19  The film premiered on 15 August 2013, on Channel 4 at 10 PM.[3]: 11 

Reception

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Critical response

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Sam Wollaston for The Guardian described the film as "sensitive and gentle" in its portrayal of the fandom.[4] Wollaston also compared the fans featured in the documentary to the song "Stan" by the American rapper Eminem, a reference to the song's narrative of an obsessive fan killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend when his idol fails to respond to him.[4][3]: 19  Tom Rowley for The Daily Telegraph gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, criticising its interviews with teenage fans for lacking insight. Rowley remarked that interviews with the most "obsessive" fans were the most interesting and criticised the film for failing to explore those aspects of the fandom, such as a brief scene of a fan threatening to commit suicide if the band did not respond to her. Rowley also questioned the film's claim that it depicted a "new breed of fan", comparing the fan hysteria to Beatlemania which occurred over fifty years prior to the documentary's release.[5] Andrew Billen for The Times noted that while the film aimed to highlight the unsettling intimacy between fans and stars via social media, the most extreme fans appeared harmless, fantasising innocently and behaving with group solidarity. Billen also criticised Asquith's interviews.[6] Simon Usborne for The Independent described the film as "assaulting to the ears".[7]

The documentary was the subject of the chapter "A new breed of fan?: Regimes of truth, One Direction fans and representations of enfreakment" by William Proctor in the book Seeing Fans: Representations of Fandom in Media and Popular Culture.[8]: 69  Proctor criticised the portrayal of fans, believing the documentary stereotyped Directioners as "non-normative" and claimed those seen in the documentary were treated as "an entertainment spectacle" and seen through a "predatory camera".[8]: 68–69  Proctor also criticised the documentary's claim that Directioners were a "new breed of fan",[8]: 69  noting that fan hysteria of similar levels have existed before the band, such as Beatlemania.[8]: 79–80  The Atlantic described the documentary as characterising Directioners as "borderline stalkers".[9]

Fandom

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Fans at a concert with their arms stretched above their heads. The image is taken from above.
Fans at One Direction's concert in the Ziggo Dome in 2013

Immediately following the premiere, the documentary was met with extreme backlash from the One Direction fandom.[1]: 7  Hannah Ewens in her book Fangirls: Scenes From Modern Music Culture described the collective fandom response as "one of the largest, most far-reaching and dramatic responses to the media in fan history".[3]: 20  Directioners believed they were misrepresented in the documentary, claiming it inaccurately depicted the majority of the fandom's practices.[10]: 3  This led to #THISISNOTUS becoming a top trend on Twitter, a reference to the title of One Direction's then upcoming film, One Direction: This Is Us.[11] Fans also believed the documentary exploited its interview subjects.[9] In addition, Directioners' "rival" fandom, Beliebers, voiced support for the band using the hashtag "BeliebersareHereforDirectioners".[3]: 21 

Channel 4 experienced thousands of bomb threats, and Asquith faced death threats.[1]: 7 [3]: 21  The film faced backlash from Directioners for addressing Larries,[10]: 3  a subsection of the fandom who are conspiracy theorists that believe One Direction band members Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are or were in a secret romantic relationship.[12][10]: 3  The documentary led to an increased amount of hate against Larries, as well as encouragement for them to commit suicide.[1]: 7  The hashtag #RIPLarryShippers trended on Twitter after the premiere, falsely claiming that 42 Larries committed suicide as a result of the documentary including their homoerotic Larry fan art.[1]: 1 [13][14]

One Direction

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Band member Liam Payne reacted to the documentary on Twitter, calling it "bullshit" and claiming he "couldn't give a fuck" about the programme.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Asquith, Daisy (14 July 2016). "Crazy About One Direction: Whose Shame Is It Anyway?" (PDF). In Bennett, Lucy; Booth, Paul (eds.). Seeing Fans: Representations of Fandom in Media and Popular Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781501318450. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 January 2025.
  2. ^ Izundu, Chi Chi (22 August 2013). "Director defends Channel 4 One Direction documentary". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Ewens, Hannah (2019). "An animal within an animal: A brief fangirl history". Fangirls: Scenes from Modern Music Culture. Quadrille. pp. 19–25. ISBN 978-1-78713-327-3.
  4. ^ a b Wollaston, Sam (15 August 2013). "Crazy About One Direction – TV review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  5. ^ Rowley, Tom (15 August 2013). "Crazy About One Direction, Channel 4, review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  6. ^ Billen, Andrew (16 August 2013). "Last night's TV: Crazy About One Direction". The Times. Archived from the original on 30 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  7. ^ Usborne, Simon (16 August 2013). "Last night's viewing: Crazy about One Direction, Channel 4 Paul O'Grady's Working Britain, BBC1". The Independent. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Proctor, William (2016). "A new breed of fan?: Regimes of truth, One Direction fans and representations of enfreakment" (PDF). In Bennet, Lucy; Booth, Paul (eds.). Seeing Fans: Representations of Fandom in Media and Popular Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 67–77. ISBN 978-1501318450.
  9. ^ a b Feeney, Nolan (30 August 2013). "Crazy Talk: How One Direction's Movie Defends Boy Bands' Female Fans". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Julia, Jameson (19 December 2021). "'Story of My Life': Why One Direction fans are still participating". Southwestern Mass Communication Journal. 37 (1): 1–19. doi:10.58997/smc.v37i1.97 (inactive 28 May 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of May 2025 (link)
  11. ^ Klompus, Jack (16 August 2013). "One Direction fans react angrily to Channel 4 documentary: 'This is not us'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  12. ^ Trinidad, Andrea (2021). "'Shipping' Larry Stylinson: What makes pairing appealing boys romantic". In Brooks, Ann (ed.). The Routledge Companion to Romantic Love. Routledge. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-032-06147-4.
  13. ^ Abad-Santos, Alexander (16 August 2013). "The Internet Is Mourning 42 Suicidal, Potentially Non-Existent One Direction Fans". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  14. ^ "One Direction Fan Suicide Rumours Hit Twitter". Sky News. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 30 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  15. ^ Taylor, Frances (16 August 2013). "One Direction's Liam Payne brands Channel 4 documentary "bulls**t"". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
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