The writer and author kait_tiffany explores her obsession with One Direction in 'Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created The Internet As We Know It.' Below, we chat with her about incels, puke shrines, and the power of online fandom.
On the brink of adulthood, Kaitlyn Tiffany tells us, people cling to the things that make them feel young again. For the Brooklyn-based writer, that thing was One Direction. When Tiffany was a lonely college student, One Direction was still a gaggle of mop-headed boys in braces and bow ties who performed saccharine songs for hysterical fans.
LEE: There’s something very interesting about this book and the writing that you do outside of it—where you’re translating something digital into print. LEE: What was it like getting in contact with people who played a role in these pop culture moments, like the girl who made a, or the Harry Fairy, who anonymously scattered images of a pregnant Harry Styles? Were they surprised to be hearing about this years later?
TIFFANY: I think I do, especially after engaging with [Theodor] Adorno’s work, and his theory that pop culture is a way of self-medicating in order to cope with ultimately being a worker with no freedom or power. It’s prescribed and numbing. I can obviously see some truth in that, but I think my experience with fandom was that these communities are extremely creative. Fandom is not necessarily making people more productive members of a capitalist society.
LEE: You tease them in a way I think only real fans can—so specifically, and so bitingly. It’s one of the great things about fandom, you come together to make fun of these people that you love so much, in really creative ways. But I do wonder if you’re worried about the response to this. It’s a very honest portrayal of them and of fandom.
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