I’ve sat a bit thinking on Louis’ words about his solo fans “whinging about too many One Direction songs” at Zoa City Festival, his recent Larry IG reel “like,” his new reality star girlfriend Zara McDermott, his interview specifically answering that he’s still “good friends” with Harry Styles who is “taking over the world, isn’t he?”
So with a calmer head, here are some thoughts.
At the end of the day, fandom passion isn’t worth much unless it leads to revenue, and pop musician’s revenue comes from touring, merch sales, and sync/ rep deals.
As far as revenue is concerned, the facts that fans send hateful comments to Zara, openly mock and harass Freddie, carry penis balloons to concerts, chant No Control, hold up “Larrie Mass Extinction” signs, or tabloids’ publishing clickbait articles on Louis + Zara are net positives for publicity. So is fanfiction depicting explicit Larry porn; much of this is publicity that fans generate, free of charge. Fandom chatter is more stimulating to ticket sales than anything Matt Vines could dream up.
So is, frankly, Louis bringing Freddie into his documentary or his concerts. This is a cynical take but it isn’t unrealistic.
Louis can complain about Larries from time to time to encourage his fandom to carry on fighting. The goal was never to reset the narrative or discourage Larries. The goal was to continue the mutual parasocial dependence. In the end, all are welcome, as long as concert attendance is robust. The bigger the fandom faction, the more welcome.
In this universe, the most toxic Harries and Larries (and Zara/Louis-shipping Louies) still have a function. All keep the fandom discourse alive.
Is it mentally healthy? Not at all. But short of fandom’s losing interest and leaving, fandom’s mental health is not Louis Tomlinson’s problem.
Louis has several disadvantages, one being the fact that the music industry has been actively turned against him for so long that many fans forget the power of the industry united against an artist, even one as famous as Louis Tomlinson.
A second disadvantage is Louis’ willingness to keep an ineffectual team that lacks the skill or imagination to expand the solo Louis Tomlinson fandom. The old narratives live on because they have no second plan; One Direction nostalgia is the entire LT promo plan. Hence the stubborn defense of a band that Harry Styles abandoned ten years ago (something his fans celebrate). The interview questions and answers repeat; we all experience déjà vu, if we are reliving 2017 or 2019. Some FITF or Walls songs (played a handful of times on stage) are permanently gone. He’s gone back to covering 7. Even the 1D covers haven’t changed for two years. We old-timer fans are waiting for the change that will never come.
I personally don’t think that Louis’ objective is more wealth or fame. An artist who has faced as much bias and criticism over many years must develop a survivor’s mentality, and I bet Louis has compartmentalized “fandom” as a known, toxic entity that he can tune out to keep his own sanity, but nevertheless relies on because we are the centerpiece of his team’s success story.
Louis’ contemporaries, artists like Sam Fender and Yungblud, Inhaler and Fontaines D.C., may have smaller and less passionate fandoms, but these artists carry authenticity. It isn’t just a sales pitch. Their promo and narrative are consistent with their artistic output. They believe in what they say, and it isn’t tailored to the mythologies in the fandom. They can protest the genocide in Gaza despite the unpopularity of this stance in the industry. They believe in and have confidence in the power of their music. As frustrated as Louis feels about the contradictions in his fandom, in the end, his own feelings about his solo vs. One Direction music are writ large in his choices.
