One Direction invades movies

Maybe it’s my age. While I do still appreciate the sounds created by the boy bands of old, I am hard put to find something to like in the English/Irish group One Direction. As the years have effortlessly proven, there was indeed a lot of merit in the adulation that the likes of New Kids On The Block (NKOTB), the Backstreet Boys (BSB), ‘N’Sync and even Boyzone enjoyed during their heydays. I will not even go into why the The Beatles is now considered a legend.

I watch Blue Bloods on TV and I marvel over what a sensitive actor NKOTB Donnie Wahlberg has become. I know a lot of people who still swoon whenever they hear the BSB croon I’ll Never Break Your Heart. Now, was it not a goosey moment at the recent MTV Video Music Awards when the members of ‘N’Sync joined Justin Timberlake to sing Bye Bye Bye? As a result, fans of the group are now moving heaven and earth to reunite ‘N’Sync.

Now tell me, 10 years from today, which One Direction song do you think will fans continue to swoon over? Will there be One Direction songs that will last through the ages? What Makes You Beautiful or Tonight While We’re Young? Which One Direction boy, do you think would have matured into an actor like Donnie or even better, into an all- around star like Justin? I cannot think of any at this point.

What I saw though, as the group’s shortcomings were all relegated to the sidelines in the movie One Direction: This Is Us. As seen in the documentary about their unlikely origins, rise to fame and record-breaking first world tour, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson are the cutest, nicest, most wholesome boys who ever lived. Sure, they look sexy with their shirts off and they make a lot of money, but they are really just kids, with mothers who love them, just like their fans.

Of course, there is a chance that they are indeed all that the movie says they are, boys, that parents will not mind sending their daughters out on a date with. The exposes of reality always come out later. But true or not, I think this most positive image projected in the picture is the handiwork of the astute director Morgan Spurlock. This Is Us is a sales aid. One Direction is a product. The end in view is to sell the band to a wider market. If you want to attain that, then Spurlock is the man for the job.

Spurlock was the Academy Award-nominated director of Super Size Me, the movie that sent chills down the spines of McDonald’s and its loyal clientele. He was also at the helm of POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, which is about product marketing, placement and advertising. Can you just imagine how nice it was to be able to put all his theories to use with a very marketable product like these boys? And he certainly made One Direction glow.

This is Us tells of the beginning: How the boys tried out for the X-Factor talent show in the UK and were turned down. They got a second chance when the famous Simon Cowell told them to come back as a boy band. They did but still did not win. Of course, that did not matter anymore by that time because One Direction had already become phenomenal. And this was even before the boys had recorded their first single. Spurlock then follows the 1D on tour with excellent concert and backstage footage.

The most heartwarming parts of the picture though are the coming-home scenes and the interviews with their mothers. These give fans a close look at their private lives. So this is what they are like at home. The ones I like best though are those that show the lads just goofing around like ordinary boys. The latter echoes the very young Beatles in the now classic A Hard Day’s Night. Something like that would have been really nice for One Direction. The boys are only on the threshold of 20 so there is still time enough for a movie like that in their future.

 We still do not know how succeeding generations will judge One Direction. For now though, they are the ones fulfilling the need of teen girls practicing their would-be reactions to real-life encounters with the opposite sex. As seen in This Is Us, these boys set a very high standard. Let us just hope when devoid of the gloss, they will still be able to live up to the hype.

If you want more of One Direction, you should check out the band’s current big-selling albums. There are the CD, Take Me Home, that includes Live While We’re Young and Little Things and the concert DVD Up All Night the Live Tour of the US of A Edition. Aside from the concert and backstage footage, this one also includes the videos of What Makes You Beautiful, Gotta Be You and One Thing. A real keeper for One Direction fans.