You may ask, but where is the evidence as to why boy bands are considered as an implicit religion? Below I list a few topics and trends which may vary from being outrageous to heartening; regardless of what others think, these events and trends have arguably made a huge impact on the fans themselves.
"Is One Direction Jesus?"
"No psychiatrist, no speech and language, no doctor or nurse could bring my voice back, but One Direction could." -Laura Yeates, 15
According to Metro UK, Laura Yeates was a Directioner that had not spoken for six months after losing her voice to a double whammy of laryngitis and pharyngitis.
After four trips to the hospital and sessions with speech therapists failed to have an impact on her, she was taken to see One Direction at Wembley Stadium by her mother Carly in order to cheer her up. Although Laura did not expect to enjoy herself as much as everyone else would, she was in for an experience of a lifetime. In her own words, Laura states that "we got so close to the stage and as Harry came over, he chucked water over us. I tried to scream, just to make him notice me, and when he blew a kiss in my direction, a scream came out."
After this fortunate incident, Laura's mother, Carly, claims she has turned into a huge fan of One Direction while Laura, who cannot stop talking after regaining her voice, claims that this incident clearly proves that One Direction (or Harry to be specific) is basically Jesus and that he created a miracle in her life.
AND GOD SAID, "LET THERE BE ZAYN."
In 2014, One Direction's Zayn Malik missed the band's appearance on the "Today" show as well as their album FOUR's release due to illness.
You would think that this was no biggie as celebrities had their fair share of bad days too; but apparently, Directioners went crazy over the news that he went missing for a few days. It is apparent that Zayn as well as the other members of One Direction mean more than the world to fans as while Zayn was M.I.A., Twitter was ablaze with #FeelBetterZayn tweets. According to MTV News, fans prayed hard and after long hours spent full on worries, the resurrection of Zayn Malik had finally happened. Zayn reunited with his mates Tuesday night in Orlando although he was still feeling under the weather. During his time off, fans even tweeted absurd things such as:
"When Zayn Malik comes back to one direction like the actual resurrection of Jesus Christ"— Olivia (@oliviacardinale)
Hence, it is evident that fans look up to Zayn as if he is literally Jesus Christ. After all, it is one heck of a bold statement to make when you compare your idol to the real resurrection of Jesus.
"Baby You Light Up My World Like Nobody Else"
Perhaps inspired by the famous line of "baby you light up my world like nobody else" in "What Makes You Beautiful", one of the most popular vintage and handmade items marketplace, Etsy, has sellers that put out celebrity candles for sale; meaning you can now purchase prayer candles to worship your idols at home! For each member fans adore on One Direction as well as 5 Seconds of Summer, fans can now collect each and every one of them to form an altar of collectible candles that is perhaps highly sacred.
5 Seconds of Summer's Rolling Stone Cover Story
On Christmas afternoon, an image of Rolling Stone's January cover--a photo of 5SOS, fully nude, with hands over their genitals, hit the world wide web. The quartet's bodies were covered in red and black text, with each message one of their own lyrics or song titles. Although there was some uproar over the controversial image, there was mostly excitement from the fans themselves. However, the issue of double standards and sexism in the entertainment industry is brought up by several parties. According to Jess Lauren, "men can sing about one thing and be commended for it, but if women go down the same path, it’s suddenly inexcusable and not appropriate for any audience" ( Lauren, 2015). In the case of posing nude in front of a magazine cover, Lauren claims that it is unfair that women are unable to do the same without facing backlash or getting called dirty names. Thus, it is undeniable that sexism is indeed a major problem in the industry.
However, the 5SOSFam was not shaken by the controversy, instead they were very supportive while praising the boys for raising awareness to be confident in one own’s body; they also claim that the boys are not just naked for no reason, as their most important lyrics are written on them. This implies their vulnerability as humans, since they’re almost completely uncovered. All in all, it is apparent that the loyal fans of the band are potentially being bias since they choose to ignore the bigger problem altogether. In other words, it is highly unlikely for most individuals to go against what they look up to and worship just so someone says otherwise about it.
"5 Seconds of Summer saved my life."
An anonymous fan wrote into MTV early 2017 to tell her story of how 5 Seconds of Summer saved her life by stopping her from self-harming once and for all.
This fan was in a very dark place; she felt as though she had no one to turn to, and that no matter how hard she tried, she was constantly doing everything wrong. Therefore, she was that convinced she had no purpose in life; no reason to live and no reason to keep breathing. This negative feeling unfortunately led her to o the only thing she felt was right at the time – to attempt suicide not once but three times.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to do it because she was scared. She did not want to feel the immense pain rushing to her all at once. Hence, she continued to harm herself slowly by cutting her own wrist.
On December 7th, 2014, the girl realized that there was hope for her after all; she was listening to music on YouTube when she clicked on a self-harm awareness video from none other than her favourite band, 5 Seconds of Summer. In it, each of the members talked about how expressing sadness, anger, and pain through self-harm was not the answer, and that everything will eventually get better in the end.
She especially remembered Michael from 5 Seconds of Summer saying "Stay strong beautiful, you’re going to be okay." Altogether, the band made her realize she was given the opportunity to live her life, to find love, to be successful, and she was about to throw that all away just because she wasn’t dealing with her problems, but instead she was running away from them. From that day onwards, this courageous fan promised to put down her weapon that she used to hurt herself and fight for a new chance at life. She wanted every girl out there who was facing what she faced to know that they were not alone.
The girl also states that if individuals are still not convince that their lives are not worth fighting for, she would like to pass on some wise words from 5 Seconds of Summer:
“Say a prayer for the broken bones/’Cause who cares? We’re all going home/And it won’t be long/You know it’s gonna get better.” Trust me, it will get better, but you need to give yourself a chance first.”
All in all, this true story from a fan is very inspiring and it is amazing to know how much of an impact our idols can have on our personal lives. It just goes to show that fans truly connect to bands such as 5 Seconds of Summer on a higher level and that they seek solace in their favorite bands when they feel like all hope is lost.
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