The biggest pop band in the world almost broke the Internet. So why should anyone over the age of 13 care?
To much of the world, the biggest news of the week of 23 March, 2015 had nothing to do with the Ukraine, ISIS, Israel, homelessness, Ted Cruz, or the lack of potable water in much of the developing world.
It was the departure of one of the members of One Direction. 22-year-old Zayn Malik, to be exact (and in the interest of full disclosure, I had to look up his last name). There are literally dozens of hashtags devoted to this, as many mocking the deadly-serious and heartbroken as there are deadly serious and heartbroken.
But I’m not writing this to mock anyone. I’m a guy, I’m almost 41, and I’m an unashamed One Direction fan. I can tell you the names of…three of them, maybe? But they’ve got some qualities that I think are sadly lacking in a lot of young pop stars, and I hope the departure of one of their members doesn’t disturb the strange thing they’ve managed to create.
So, why does a boy band manufactured by a British reality singing show matter?
1. They have a rare ability to make fun of themselves, and in surprising ways.
I’ve chosen Best Song Ever (above) as the perfect example of taking risks with their image. You have five 20-ish guys who are the darlings of tweens-and-teens around the world. So what do they do? Make a video starring themselves as themselves…and hairy, sweaty old men, and a woman, and a hunched-over nerd-guy, and a fabuuuuulous flameboyant dancer. The list keeps going. The mournfully beautiful Night Changes begins with five charmingly romantic dates and ends with an arrest, a sweater fire, an ambulance, a tilt-a-whirl disaster, and an ex-encounter and lap full of spagehetti. Oh, and there’s the one with Danny DeVito, ballerinas, and an orangutan, and the one made with a handheld (the Monkees would be jealous).
You could argue that they are just doing what they’re told. But they are having too much fun. If there are expectations to give the two fingers to, they’re all about that. Which brings up to…
2. If there are rules about proper appearance and self-decoration, they’ve chucked those.
If someone were to describe a group of 5 skinny-ish guys (well, 4 of the 5), early 20s, kinds of short, heavily tattooed, with longish hair and not fond of shaving, and said you almost couldn’t understand what they were saying, I doubt your first thought would be, “Yeah! Those guys are the biggest pop stars in the world!”
They are unbuttoned or tight-shirted or shirtless in their videos & interviews as often as the ripped rock and hip-hop stars and models that are held up a male image ideals. But these guys do not have Calvin Klein model bodies. You can follow their tattoos over time, across their mostly unmuscled chests, down their unbrawny arms, and they aren’t shy about sharing them. Harry Styles bears a striking resemblance to a young Mic Jagger, including a cloud of hair. Even the two guys who are softer bodied don’t hide this. In a time of tanned, polished,muscled bodies where even a hint that one may not be Superman (Biebs, I’m looking at you) brings howls of indignation, the 1D guys are giving the rules a big ol’ whatever.
2b. If there are proper rules about touching or whatnot, they’ve chucked those, too.
They hug. They sling their arms around each other, they push and shove, they land in a pile, and not just in their videos. Granted, the rumors of “are they or aren’t they” have resulted in some grumbling, but not because they don’t want to be thought of as gay (the least “manly” get it the most), but because they’re tired of hearing it. Honestly, at their level of fame, I think they could come out as a bunch of homosexual neo-druid vegan communists and the worst part of that for them would be “VEGANS!”
3. These guys can sing. Alone or together.
They do enough “unplugged” performances to not leave any doubt.
4. And sometimes they can’t. And they take no pride in this.
They are not always perfect, but there’s no pride in imperfection. You see plenty of stars who disrespect their fans, give half-hearted performances or shrug at opportunity. Whether it’s youth or don’t give a f–ck, you can see in their faces when they are off. They’re not prima donnas. There aren’t public tantrums and blaming. But they care about doing it right.
5. For all of their youth and fame and access to…anything…you almost never hear them associated with scandal.
Save for dating/breaking up with a female pop star or three, or a slip of the tongue that gets the tabloids going “gay or not gay”, these guys are pretty clean. I dug around. There may have been some toking, there were rumors of a cheated-on girlfriend, and dropping trou on stage to show off your new hip tattoo might not have been a great idea. But on the whole, when scandal sites have to dig for a falling-down-on-stage incident to fill out a “bad boy” list, that’s a sign of some sort of sense. They’re as close to good boys as I think you are going to find now. When they’re interviewed, they’re real. They slump in their chairs. They’re a little awkward. They’re not rehearsed. They don’t pull their accents (anymore). They don’t behave like The Celebrities They Are. I’m sure it makes their handlers crazy. They don’t have to bail them out of jail…but they don’t have a batch of suave leading men, either.
And this is why, as much as I hope their performances continue, I respect Malik for walking away to be, in his words, “a regular 22-year-old.” He’s been at the center of universes for better than five years. And whether he goes silent or goes sings with someone else, if there’s one thing that speaks to the intelligence and maturity of these guys, it’s that one is walking away when the time is right for him…and the rest are graciously letting him go.