14 DAY TRIAL // Even if you’re not a fan of One Direction, if you use social media or browse the Internet for gossip and news from showbiz, chances are you already heard of the huge tragedy that befell One Directioners, as their fans are called.
Indeed, Zayn Malik, one of the 5 members, has decided to get out of the band 5 years after their start on the X Factor. This happened smack in the middle of a tour and somewhat out of the blue, but if you knew how to read the signs, you could have seen it coming at least half a year ago.
But that’s not what’s captivating about the whole story; after all, greater, better and more popular bands have disbanded in the history of music. What’s fascinating is the way in which fans reacted to the news and the hysteria they generated (and are still feeding at the time of writing) online.
Zayn’s departure: a bit of context
Zayn’s announcement came one week after he was photographed holding hands with a mystery brunette and apparently cheating on his fiancée Perrie Edwards. Following online attacks, he explained that the hand-holding wasn’t what he seemed, but the very next day, he left his bandmates and flew back to London, citing “stress.”
Fans chose to believe his departure, even if it occurred in the middle of the tour, was only a temporary thing, so he’d be back the instant he’d feel like his old self again. So imagine their shock when he announced this morning that he was out of the band for good.
Moreover, the announcement said, One Direction would continue as a 4-piece and they would record a new album as promised, which meant that the door had been closed for good on the possibility of Zayn’s return.
That was what probably sent One Directioners over the edge completely.
Hashtags, tears and en masse hysteria
This is how One Directioners reacted to news that Zayn was leaving the band. It was as if the world had stopped turning, to paraphrase some of the tweets I saw on the topic. Despite assurances from One Direction that they would still record music and perform, it just didn’t compute to live in a world in which Zayn was no longer a part of the band.
Hashtags like #ByeZayn, #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik, #PleaseZaynBackForUs and #ZaynWillAlwaysBeAPartOf1D are still trending on Twitter as we speak.
#BlamePerrie is also very popular, as fans angry with Zayn’s fiancée blame her for ruining One Direction, and their life. Apparently, because Zayn left the group to have a “normal life” (with her, it is understood), she is the Yoko Ono of One Direction.
I wouldn’t go as far as comparing One Direction to The Beatles, but hey, each generation with their faves.
However, in between tragi-comic tweets, videos of fans crying hysterically upon hearing the news (yup, that’s a thing too) and prophecies of a very somber future for music and the world in general, now that Zayn is out, perhaps the most chilling thing to happen online is a hashtag dubbed #cut4zayn.
Apparently, some fans urged others to start cutting themselves and to post photos of it online, because the more cuts they made on their arms and legs, the quicker Zayn would come back. Right now, the hashtag is used for a good purpose, namely that of raising awareness on self-harm, but it didn’t start this way: there actually were One Direction fans who thought this would be a good way to show their love for their musical idols.
Fandom at its worst
I will sound old in saying this, but is this what being a fan of someone’s work means these days? I have been living under the impression that fandom was all about showing support for your favorite act by buying their music / films / whatever, and engaging in conversation with other fans on the topic of said work.
Fandom once meant getting together with other people who shared your tastes and doing activities that involved in one way or another the act you were supporting, be it attending concerts or viewings or buying merchandise.
Since the advent of the Internet, we have seen fans do amazing things for their idols, from Tom Hiddleston’s fanbase getting him more screentime in the Marvel movies, to Benedict Cumberbatch becoming a sex symbol when he had every odds against him.
We have seen fans raise money for charity, and fans reaching out to their idols to fulfill dying fans’ wishes. The Internet can be an amazing thing sometimes, right?
At the opposite pole, we have One Directioners (Justin Bieber’s Beliebers also fall in this category) who send death threats, have rage fits in class, and think posting videos of themselves crying over what is ultimately a personal decision is a solution to a problem. The problem with that is that there is no problem in the first place: they are allowed to express outrage or grief, but the decision is not theirs, it’s Zayn’s. And he already made it.
Cutting yourself or embarrassing yourself on a public forum won’t bring him back. Sending his fiancée threats or yelling in all-CAPS that life isn’t worth living for you anymore won’t bring him back.
He wanted out of One Direction and he got out. It’s not the end of the world. He didn’t die or fall off the face of the earth. It’s bad, but it’s not that bad. Have some chill.