Why is Harry treated differently
It’s quite evident that Harry can do things the other boys can’t. It’s also apparent that his social media is not handled the way the others are. So why can that be?
I’ve read two theories that seems plausible (I can’t remember where, please tell me if you want credit).
1. Harry is the youngest so he got to rewrite his contract with additions when he was eighteen (the same goes for Liam and Niall).
2. The porn favourite on Twitter violated Harry’s contract in a way that allowed him to negotiate even further with 1DHQ.
My thought is that both of those can be true, and that they make the best sense in combination.
When did they write their respective contracts?
Let’s assume 1D signed their first contracts some time in the first quarter of 2011. The only ones that were legal adults at the time were Louis and Zayn. They are probably still under their original contract, and they are also the ones that seem to have been treated the harshest by their management with regard to stunting over the years.
After the boys were signed they went on the X-factor tour where they probably got some sense of what their new lives was going to be like, but not much had really happened yet by the time Liam and Niall turned 18 in August/September. I’d guess their contracts are similar to each other and not much different from Louis’ and Zayn’s, though there are probably some alterations. Liam and Niall seem to have a little more leeway than Louis and Zayn.
From a boyband in the making to a phenomenon in a few months
So right after Liam and Niall turned 18 What Makes You Beautiful is released in the UK. In November 2011 the boys sign with Columbia Records for the US, their A Year In The Making documentary is released and in December WMYB is released in the US. They are set up for a world tour.
By the time Harry is about to turn 18, only five months after Liam and Niall, there’s suddenly a lot more room for dealing. 1D now have a huge hit single, the US market is very, very promising and, in addition, Harry is the one with the dimples and the curly hair who teenage girls go crazy for. Before rewriting his contract Harry’s also got a fair taste of how both they and their social media are going to be used by 1DHQ. Eleanor has been in place for a while and there are lots of water under the bridge already. My guess is that he negotiates some alterations in his contract so that his social media can’t be used without his consent. Probably with an exception for promotion of other artists (as that’s what we’ve seen Harry Tweet about). Of course he can’t post whatever he’d like to, but more importantly, no one else can post things he doesn’t want there. That’s not the case for the other boys (though I’d argue that Niall’s twitter is kept relatively “clean” so that Harry’s won’t stand out to much).
Around comes 2014. Management have four boys fighting their closets with determination and their methods towards Zayn and Louis are getting nastier and harsher by the day, and it seems to get to them. Liam is back with the beard he just got rid of in the aftermath of the weed leak (probably Louis and Zayn rebelling, maybe with assistance from Azoff).
Harry’s been heavily linked to the Azoff’s since the beginning of the year. Maybe there’s even an intention to provoke a reaction towards Harry, and if so it’s a success, because in Juli Harry’s Twitter account favourites an explicit (and very heterosexual) porn tweet. I think this is probably the breaking point as it’s a violation of Harry’s contract, and Azoff is in his ringside to help him make the most out of it.
Since August 2014 Harry has pretty much been in a glass closet. Without his boyfriend mind you, but a personal glass closet all the same. He’s allowed (or at least not prohibited) to allure to queerness, and he can support queer rights to an extent. I also think he’s very careful not to use his social media in a way that is not totally okay with his contract. He’s only got an upper hand as long as he himself keeps in his lane. That’s probably also the reason that he doesn’t use it much. Maybe it’s also a personal statement as it’s still not properly “his” and his bandmates are not free to use theirs. There’s also a possibility that 1DHQ doesn’t let him post anything personal at all any longer (if that’s in their power).
Harrys Instagram can also be seen as giving hints of a personal/private glass closet lately. All pictures out in the public eye are black and white, as are all pictures of famous (public) people, but some images – like that of a bedroom, two taken from the privacy of a car and two of playing board games – are in colour. (It just hit me that the pictures of scrabble boards can be Harry saying – look what I’m doing, I’m playing games with you.)
How do 1DHQ use all this to their advantage?
There’s not much Syco/Modest can do about all this as it’s contractual stuff and they risk getting sued if they go against it. What they can do on the other hand is Divide and Conquer. That’s an effective strategy if ever there was one so why not try it out.
Divide Harry from the rest of the band as much as possible. Control the others harder so that Harry’s freedom seems strange and can be held against him. Spread rumours about him wanting to go solo. Make the others keep quiet (or be blatantly heteronormative or homophobic) when Harry reference queerness. Don’t let him attend events the others care about and that are important to all of them. Sound as if Harry’s the one who hung the moon and lit the stars, but trash talk the others as much as possible. Make it seem like he is the one who avoids the others.
This is their tactic, and they are doing quite a good job of it I’d say. I’ve seen many people in fandom picking sides and fighting amongst themselves about what Harry should have done or what Louis should have said. Being petty about good publicity for one over the other.
I’m telling you – there is a reason Harry can prance and wave rainbow flags when the others can’t. Be glad for him. If it’s one thing I’m convinced of it’s that those boys don’t want to hold each other back. Look at them and how happy they all seem compared from a year ago when they all agreed their superpower of choice was time traveling (wonder why, as Liam said). They’ll be okay. Just don’t pit them against each other. Any of them. Including Zayn.
romaincrisis
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
