Crazy About One Direction - What is wrong with people?

So last night I watched Channel 4's 'Crazy About One Direction,' a documentary about the incredibly, let's say passionate fans of the UK boy band One Direction. Following several 'Directioners,' the documentary examines the lengths some fans go to meet the members of the band, methods including booking nights in hotels where the band are, going to their home towns and generally stalking them on Twitter at all hours of the day, the final product is film showing obsession and a fairly seedy subculture of young girls dedicated their whole lives to the band.

The ‘Directioners’ interviewed throughout the documentary range from totally insane to quite sad, on girl, Natasha got braces just because Niall Horan had them, she didn't need them just thought they looked good on him. Natasha’s story just made me feel quite sad for her, she’s responsible for looking after her younger sibling and disabled mother, One Direction are her kind of escape from ordinary life. In one scene she’s visually shaken by visiting the band’s waxwork statues. Another girl shown is one of the most intense people I've seen in a long time, she spent her 18^th birthday in the same hotel as the band hoping to see them, at one point she proudly admits that Taylor Swift blocked her on twitter following their break up.

Another disturbing aspect of this was the so called “Shipping,” a fantasy thought up by the ‘Directioners’ of band members having affairs amongst themselves. There’s fan artwork, videos and erotic artwork of romantic interludes with band members, these seem to mainly focus on Harry and Louis with their names being combined to make Larry Stylinson.

Overall this documentary show’s how dark some of these fans can get, it show’s their threats to anyone dating anyone in the band, their constant stalking and dealing with the rejection when the band doesn't meet them. Another aspect I feel is shown is how disinterested the band actually is with meeting the fans, obviously they don’t have the time to meet all of them and there’s risks attached but they seem to actively avoid them at some points; for instance after announcing their tour at Wembley Arena, they’re all seen leaving the venue in cars with blacked out windows, it amazes me that they didn't have some kind of meet and greet to show some connection to the people making them a success.

Finally I feel it’s appropriate to note that this isn't a representation of all of their fans, it’s the fans who've completely dedicated their lives to the band, these are just normal teenage girls feeling they’re part of something that they really don’t need to be a part of.