Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Movies, One Direction
Ilana Frost
Every Directioner is aware that The Idea of You is coming out on Amazon Prime on May 2. It’s marked on our calendars. Tattooed on our brains. We have nostalgia boy band playlists to help prepare ourselves. Why? Because the movie, based on Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel of the same name, is about a popular boy band, August Moon, with a hot lead singer who pursues an older woman. And I think I’ve heard that story somewhere before. Ah, yes — because it sounds like one of the main events of recent pop culture history.
One Direction lived from 2010 to 2016 and remains the most important boy band phenomenon of the century and the most important thing to happen in my life in general. It’s no wonder social media users, authors, and filmmakers continue to be inspired by the British icons. When we first heard about The Idea of You plot and saw the trailer, a lot of us 1D fans jumped to understandable conclusions. So, is The Idea of You actually based on a true (One Direction) story?
The short answer is technically no. Despite the major fanfic energy of The Idea of You, the author of the novel did not base her story on fans’ wild ideas. The heartthrob character Hayes is supposed to be a new fictional creation, so we’re not looking at a Harry biopic here. Robinne explained to Vogue that the story is about Anne’s character, Solène, “a woman approaching 40 and reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself, just at the point that society traditionally writes women off as desirable and viable and whole.” Yes… I’d say it’s about that and One Direction.
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It’s strikingly obvious to everyone that there are plenty of One Direction and Harry references in this film. In The Idea of You, August Moon has five members and a tatted Brit lead singer who has a preference for dating older women. Plus, they got One Direction songwriters Carl Folk and Savan Kotecha to write music for the movie, sooo it’s more than fair to compare August Moon to 1D and Hayes to Harry.
Although Robinne has said that she didn’t base her book on a true story, she has admitted that 1D and Harry inspired her. While chatting with Vogue, she called Hayes a “Prince Harry-meets-Harry [Styles]” figure and revealed that she wrote The Idea of You after enjoying lots of Harry YouTube videos. Basically, The Idea of You would probably be a very different film without the existence of the 1D boys and Harry’s juicy love life.