One Direction Hysteria



Picture Source

In case you've been living under a rock, which I obviously was until about two weeks ago, this is all-singing, all-dancing British/Irish boy-band, One Direction. And these are some of their Aussie Directionites, as they like to call themselves.


So, is all this screaming, crying and fainting normal? Well, I guess it depends on your definition of normal but what I do know, is that Directionites are doing the same thing that hundreds of thousands of fans have done before them, not just in their own generation but in their parents' and possibly their grandparents' generations. Music and fashion differences aside, these are snapshots of fans of The Beatles on their Australian tour in 1964...

Images found here and here

And these are images of some of Elvis Presley's fans.

Images found here

Girls were screaming, crying, fainting and declaring their undying love and devotion way back then, just like today. I think it's a bit of a misrepresentation to say that it is  only today's generation that is "out of control" or "hysterical" or "hormonal". 

Childhood Behaviour Consultant, Teenage Mentor and Parent Counsellor, Nathalie Brown from Easy Peasy Kids admits that "hysteria happens quicker" these days because teenagers are inundated with information and pictures virtually 24/7. Teenagers get caught up in the moment and really, they are not very different to teenage fans from other eras. Nathalie suspects boy bands are always popular amongst girls because there are multiple band members to choose from and hence there "is more chance of getting the fairytale date".

Facebook and Twitter conversations this past week made me wonder whether One Directionites had taken their devotion a step too far. The media reported that a radio station receptionist who had been asked out by the band, was hunted down on Facebook and threatened. After speaking to Nathalie and doing some research, I realised there was nothing new about this either. Yoko Ono and Priscilla Presley, to this day bear the brunt of Beatles and Elvis fans who blame them for the downfall of their idols. Yet just as they are despised, and like the young receptionist mentioned above, they also offer hope to every teenage girl/fan that maybe, just maybe, fate will deliver their idol to them.

Priscilla Beaulieu was just 14 years old when she apparently stole the heart of the King of Rock 'n' Roll, then aged 24 years old! And she managed to walk all the way to the altar with him when she was old enough to marry! So perhaps it's not an impossible dream that the Directionites are living...

There are conflicting accounts of how Elvis and Priscilla
came to meet, with some die-hard fans believing Priscilla
schemed and manipulated her way into Elvis' life.
Image source

Whatever the truth about how they met, Priscilla lived out every girl's
fairytale at the time, when she married Elvis. Image source

So getting back to today's Directionites...we all did what they are doing to some degree or another. We may not all have cried uncontrollably or physically followed our idols across the country, but we were all besotted with someone at some stage or another and we dreamt of being swept off our feet by them.

I don't remember who I was completely besotted by but New Kids on the Block were definitely up on my bedroom wall and Jordan was my favourite from memory!

NKOTB - image source

There were many before NKOTB and many after them that I idolised. Embarrassingly, I think one of my first concerts may have been to see Bros and like every teenage girl there that night, I wore bike pants! Cringe!!! "When will I, will I be famous?"

Bros - image source here

This is what Matt (one of the blonde twins above) looks like today!
Source here

Okay, I think I'm wandering off track and too far down memory lane!

Nathalie Brown points out that as adults we sometimes forget how we behaved or how we felt as teenagers, or if we do remember, we tend to "see it through adult eyes". As long as nobody gets hurt, and nobody usually does, then fans like One Directionites are harmless and not as crazy as we may think.

 Are you a One Directionite?

Who is or was your teenage music crush?