One Direction - is this a legit new threat wrt to a new boy band invasion? y/n

it seems absurd to deny that some strands of fandom are unhealthy

it seems absurd to think this is about fandom rather than people just being horrendous to each other!

Whenever something (the doc, the GQ feature) presents fans as unbalanced fanatics some of them retaliate by playing to the worst stereotypes.

this is a super important point tho-- i know i did this as a teenager, i feel like this is a very common reaction although it's completely nonsensical.

xp Of course a lot of it reeks of sexism and has done since Lisztomania but "nbd, same as it ever was" isn't interesting to me. There's a new dimension to online fandom that fan scholars have been studying for years and that does interest me.

but hardly any of the mainstream pieces i've seen on this bother to engage with online fandom at all - they focus on the wacky end of it, they don't discuss the multiplicity of it, they don't discuss the complicated social interactions/politics that drive it, they don't even bother getting to grips with online stan slang (that tends way towards exaggeration).

"look how cray-cray teenage girls are" is NOT good analysis or a fully accurate reflection of what is going on, basically.

Well I'm not defending any of the mainstream articles about it. It's not about taking sides.

it's the convergence of a few things -- the general tendency on the internet for people to be massively thin-skinned while expecting everyone else to be absurdly thick-skinned, the standard monstrosity of the teenager learning how to interact in society by appalling trial and error, the wildness of gangs. it is interesting! i like thinking about how they come together! but... it's not "disturbing", particularly.

think of the rumours there were about manics fans back in the day!

but you guys they are seriously being so cray-cray right now.

#RIPLarryShippers So sad to hear that 42 beautiful directioners committed suicide over a stupid documentary, are happy now Channel 4 ??

We lost 42 directioners over ONE stupid documentary. WE LOST THEM.. All because of channel 4. Hope your happy. #RIPLarryShippers

@Real_Liam_Payne we lost 42 of our true directioners who are now beautiful angels in heaven #RIPLarryShippers you will be 4eva loved x2

CHANNEL 4 KILLED MY KIND. May you all live in peace, you beautiful 28 Larry Shippers. Forever in our hearts. ❤#RIPLarryShippers

xp Personally I find it uncomfortable but that's probably because I've never had obsessive fan tendencies so I have a hesitant fascination with that mindset. I don't think it's disturbing in a moral panic way, no.

reddening's tweets kind of prove my earlier point though - they (by which I mean some not all) are angry at being portrayed as crazy but they behave in a way that confirms that portrayal. I'm not sure there aren't equivalent stereotypes about teenage boys obsessed with gaming or sci-fi anyway - it's just that in pop it tends to be girls and that brings out the sexist generalisations. Yes it's partly "ugh girls" but it's also "ugh teenagers".

also they concern troll like crazy! it's always like "calm down guys 42 people have killed themselves!!!! why can't we just get along!!!!!!"

they would like very much to be the mature and reasonable and kind voice in the crowd but they are SO EXCITED about the idea that people are killing themselves out there.

It reads to me as a genuine concern for their fans, not concern trolling. I was playing catch-up with a bunch of Youtube celebs this morning and I came away very impressed with how this new batch of pop gremlins have been making plays for online fandom in a way that seems driven by a desire to be a member of a digital community, a symbiotic member, like, maintaining a romantic relationship with their fans-- as opposed to an "advancement of brand". For example, I was looking at a Youtube celeb's Twitter feed this morning where dude was full-on asking his fans to write fan fiction about him, posting songs about maintaining online relationships. But it doesn't read as cynical, or money-driven, or perverted, but reads as an ego-driven desire for attention, like, maintaining a romantic relationship with a mass of people. I don't know if that makes any sense.

xp Yeah I realised that my first reaction - "Why don't you google first to see if there are any reliable reports of suicides?" - was a ridiculously adult response to teenagers' love of drama. I used to believe any old rumour if it felt exciting, especially if it involved death.

i've never had quite that level of obsession but i've certainly been around it (tori amos fandom, oh my) and the thing is...up close, apart from in a few loony cases, it seems less mental unhingement and more self-indulgence, and i certainly get how speaking in that language and saying OTT things would be attractive or funny, especially if you combine that with the teenage need to fit in. (and this is where the highly self-aware "obsessive" language of internet stans comes into play)

It reads to me as a genuine concern for their fans, not concern trolling.

oh dude all of these "42 people have killed themselves"/rip tweets are from teen 1 direction fans, not the group -- the group generally have the media training to stay the fuck away.

oh! I was under the impression this morning they'd responded

I like lex's posts this morning btw

It is curious that self-harm and the boyband have come together as phenomena - when i was a teenager, in those there 90s, self-harm and suicide were generally associated with angry/sad/alternative music, not with pop. Reading tweets where 1D fans tell each other to go home and cut themselves is vaguely unnerving, it makes me wonder when self-injury got so... mainstream. Though admittedly these lot are quite fringe.

I kind of wonder - this is also wrt the ask.fm stuff that's happening recently - whether it's not in part a reaction to the very salience of the anti-bullying conversation, and the anti-self-injury conversation, that telling someone to hurt themself has become such a popular form of bullying.

I don't know anything about these guys' music but 1 Direction member Liam's tweets this morning are really moving & right on imo

“Just so all of you know we love you guys and we know how dedicated you are and tbh we can't believe it that you gus [sic] spend all you time on us,” he tweeted. “We couldn't give a f--- what any documentary says there dramatized for entertainment and full of bulls--- anyway we all know... ... How hard you work for us and see it everyday at our shows, Let's all take a step back and think about what we/you have all achieved... You should be proud.”

so did kids kill themselves or not

kendrick lamar literally murdered them

not confirmed and nobody's even sure where the rumor started afaik - this component of pop-band hysteria ("somebody died at the show") is old as pop hysteria.

i just can't get over the sheer scale of it. FORTY-TWO SUICIDES IN ONE DAY with no media coverage or specific names given!

well I mean generally you don't give specific names of kids in situations like this at the outset

HarryMyCatDied has the count escalating gradually from 14 to 100

The thing about all the Larry stuff is that yes, at worst it's a weird form of fetishizing homosexuality that mostly straight people do, and at best it's based on very spurious to the point of being nonexistence evidence. However, as an idea, is it really all that different from Britney and Justin having to pretend they were virgins, or certain J-Pop groups' no-dating causes, or Lance Bass or Rock Hudson? This isn't, like, Illuminati conspiracy theories; morality clauses are things that exist.

well I mean generally you don't give specific names of kids in situations like this at the outset

there are no reports of any suicides. there are reports that people on twitter have said they heard about suicides.

xp: of course, but it's valid to be bemused at anger that the puppet show being presented by management doesn't match the one this subset of fans have written in their heads

However, as an idea, is it really all that different from Britney and Justin having to pretend they were virgins, or certain J-Pop groups' no-dating causes, or Lance Bass or Rock Hudson? This isn't, like, Illuminati conspiracy theories; morality clauses are things that exist.

lance bass being gay:larry stylinson being real::the cia supporting groups that also trafficked drugs in foreign countries:the cia inventing crack cocaine

please point out the part in that where I ever suggested it was real, as opposed to "plausible to a 13-year-old with a basic understanding of what is generally heard of and not"

i'm not saying you suggested it was real! rather, that it is of an order of magnitude that is actually pretty similar to illuminati conspiracy theories.

do you even understand what orders of magnitude are?

"these two people might actually be dating rather than these two people" = "the U.S. government, for decades, has been kidnapping babies and brainwashing teenage girls using magical technology that works by conspiracy theory logic, for reasons nobody really gives a shit about explaining, in a manner that is suspiciously similar to anti-semitic tracts or bad porn"

sorry, let me rephrase:

the extent to which "lance bass stayed in the closet while in nsync" is like "larry stylinson is real, louis' girlfriend is a beard, anyone who expresses the idea that this is not true is being paid off by management to hush up their true love (but they nevertheless keep showing it in their body language so that we True Believers can recognise)"
is of a comparable order to the extent to which "jay-z has made a lot of canny business deals in order to have success" is like "jay-z has taken a blood oath and joined the devil-worshipping illuminati in order to have success (but he nevertheless keeps showing it in his accessories and aesthetic choices so that we True Believers can recognise)".

i.e. the order or magnitude i'm talking about is how much the conspiracy theory has exploded beyond the part that relates to known fact. i don't feel like i'm saying something very controversial?

lol

in that case then yeah

The thing about all the Larry stuff is that yes, at worst it's a weird form of fetishizing homosexuality that mostly straight people do, and at best it's based on very spurious to the point of being nonexistence evidence.

Spurious?

http://static.tumblr.com/68031e1cdf744a70cb3b828689b6f7ae/1vge2nl/XGmmmxs43/tumblr_static_a99cj4lccaeqbd_.jpeg

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/30900000/Larry-larry-stylinson-30903893-470-345.jpg

etc.

Those aren't even the steamy ones

Like, I'm pretty sure Larryshippers, mostly have a reasonable level of belief that This Relationship Exists. "Spurious evidence" is kind of beside the point. Like I said upthread, these guys are deliberately allowing fans to cultivate their shipping fantasies. Evidence isn't an issue.

(apologies for shitty punc)

hazel robinson:

http://piratemoggy.tumblr.com/post/58456757322/five-posts-about-that-one-direction-fan-documentary

also http://piratemoggy.tumblr.com/post/58443637677/five-posts-about-that-one-direction-documentary-part and http://piratemoggy.tumblr.com/post/58451917375/five-posts-about-that-one-direction-fan-documentary and the next two whenever she posts them

basically just read everything hazel ever says

also Amanda Hess who wrote about Larry shipping months ago: http://tomorrowthemag.com/articles/slash-and-burn

So what song are they talking about? You know, "the best song ever"? They dance to it ALL NIGHT. What song could possibly be good enough to play again and again and again AND AGAIN AND AGAIN? AND DANCE TO? ALL NIGHT?

That one about Lucky.

we're up all night to dance to get lucky, all night

"Like, I'm pretty sure Larryshippers, mostly have a reasonable level of belief that This Relationship Exists. "Spurious evidence" is kind of beside the point. Like I said upthread, these guys are deliberately allowing fans to cultivate their shipping fantasies. Evidence isn't an issue.

yeah, an interesting thing about one direction is how shipping-aware they seem to be. not sure whether this is a new thing -- shipping was around (HOLY SHIT WAS IT AROUND) for bsb/nsync but I'm not sure how much they played to it. for all I know they totally did and I just didn't notice it.

It's like these 1D fans have never heard of fanservice or something

"Best Song Ever" debuted in Billboard at number two, but then sunk into the bottom part of the top twenty in week number two and is now out of the top twenty in week number four. Haven't heard it on the radio.