Fans analyze his tattoos and worship his puke: why the One Direction heartthrob is more than a pop star
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In 2014, Harry Styles is more than a pop star. He's the place where pop dreams intersect. The One Direction heartthrob has turned into the beatific embodiment of all that glitters right now. A new paradigm of manhood. A pin-up boy. A feminist icon. A 20-year-old pop prince born the day Green Day released Dookie. A mop-top with George Michael lyrics tattooed on his body — "never gonna" on his right foot, "dance again" on the left. A stud with four nipples, perpetually tousled hair and that James Dean daydream look in his eyes. This guy actually wore a Rush T-shirt while on a date with Taylor Swift — now that's some next-level confidence.
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Harry fits every type of pop obsession, from filthy fan-fiction to squeaky-clean teen dreams — the shiny and the sleazy, the romance and the raunch.
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No pop star has summed up the cultural moment like this since vintage python-era Britney. Except Brit was an unfiltered-and-proud mess of a Southern girl, while Harry is pure enigma. If he has any inner turmoil, he keeps it to himself. He remains a blank space (so to speak) on which we can project any style (so again to speak) of fantasy. He's the last of the great English fabs, upholding a 50-year tradition. Yet the more famous he gets, the more mysterious he seems.
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Make no mistake: There's only one Harry in this or any other solar system. And in 2014, anything worthy of the name "hotness" was mixed up with him somehow. That's why Harry's reinventing the pop-star game. And that's why the whole world craves a little touch of Harry in the night.
I wouldn't be proud of this if I were him, I would have preferred something about my talent and my songs. This over-obsession with look and style needs to stop, he's not a model.
I wouldn't be proud of this if I were him, I would have preferred something about my talent and my songs. This over-obsession with look and style needs to stop, he's not a model.
