''Crazy About One Direction'' is a 2013 British

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by Daisy Asquith and distributed by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

exploring the relationship between English-Irish boy band

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

and their fans, called Directioners. The documentary consisted of interviews with fans and explored the fandom, including Larries, conspiracy theorists who believed band members

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His showmanship, artistry, and flamboyant fashion have had a Cultural impact of Harry Styles, significant impact on popular culture. Styles's musical ca ...

and

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson ( ; born 24 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, Tomlinson auditioned for British singing competition ''The X Factor'' as a solo artist in 2010, w ...

were in a relationship. It received mixed reviews from critics, and significant backlash from Directioners. Following its release, Channel 4 and Asquith received bomb and death threats from Directioners who claimed the portrayal was inaccurate.

Synopsis

The film showcases the lives of fans of boy band

, 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 Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

" 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

, 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

The film was commissioned during a time of extensive media coverage of One Direction's fans and the fandom's behaviour. The film was directed by Daisy Asquith and produced and distributed by

. In order to prepare for the shoot, Asquith followed One Direction themed hashtags on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and waited at the back gates of arenas for hours. The documentary began shooting at

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena (currently known as AO Arena for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. Pr ...

in April 2013, where 500 people waited for a One Direction concert. 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. The film premiered on 15 August 2013, on

at 10 PM.

Reception

Critical response

Sam Wollaston for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described the film as "sensitive and gentle" in its portrayal of the fandom. Wollaston also compared the fans featured in the documentary to the song " Stan" by the American rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

, 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. Tom Rowley for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' 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 Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

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 Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles from 1963 to 1966. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom in late 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and " She Loves Yo ...

which occurred over fifty years prior to the documentary's release. Andrew Billen for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 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. Simon Usborne for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' described the film as "assaulting to the ears". 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, associate professor in popular culture, in the book ''Seeing Fans: Representations of Fandom in Media and Popular Culture''. 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". Proctor also criticised the documentary's claim that Directioners were a "new breed of fan", noting that fan hysteria of similar levels have existed before the band, such as Beatlemania. ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' described the documentary as characterising Directioners as "borderline stalkers".

Fandom

Immediately following the premiere, the documentary was met with extreme backlash from the One Direction fandom. Journalist 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". Directioners believed they were misrepresented in the documentary, claiming it inaccurately depicted the majority of the fandom's practices. 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''. Fans also believed the documentary exploited its interview subjects. In addition, Directioners' "rival" fandom,

Beliebers Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the ...

, voiced support for the band using the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a form of user-generated tagging that enable ...

"BeliebersareHereforDirectioners". Channel 4 experienced thousands of bomb threats, and Asquith faced death threats. The film faced backlash from Directioners for addressing Larries, a subsection of the fandom who are conspiracy theorists that believe One Direction band members Harry Styles and

are or were in a secret romantic relationship. The documentary led to an increased amount of hate against Larries, as well as encouragement for them to commit suicide. 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.

One Direction

Band member

Liam Payne Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Loui ...

reacted to the documentary on Twitter, calling it "bullshit" and claiming he "couldn't give a fuck" about the programme.

References

External links

* {{One Direction One Direction 2013 films 2013 documentary films 2013 LGBTQ-related films 2010s teen films British documentary television films British LGBTQ-related documentary films British teen LGBTQ-related films Channel 4 documentaries Documentary films about conspiracy theories Documentary films about fandom Film controversies in the United Kingdom LGBTQ-related controversies in film LGBTQ-related controversies in television Television controversies in the United Kingdom