Part of me feels like an
uber nerd for making a Jack London reference for this, but then I remember that
Morgan Spurlock directed One Direction:
This Is Us and I feel OK with it. And, appropriately, from henceforth we
will call the 1D movie “the film.” It legitimizes me. For myself.
As I watched the film
with my esteemed colleagues sipping boxed Sauvignon Blanc and eating red vines,
I was mesmerized by the whimsy of the carefree musical geniuses from the UK
(can’t forget about Niall, that Irish fool). From Liam saying he wanted to be a
fireman so he could save people to the lads singing “Let Me Be Your Last
Kiss-Reggae Version” to Zayn’s Bob
Marley board shorts, it was nothing short of amazing. I laughed. I sang
along. I heckled. (#sauvignonblanc)
And then the snob cloud
shrouded me.
The lads went camping,
and Louis coyly stepped out as the other four tried to assemble their tents. (I
am certain some poor camera crew member had to step in and assemble the tarp
tipis for them in the end.) Then all five attempted to make a fire to warm
their manly bristles called facial hair and illuminate their luscious locks in
the night. But they were, as it were, unable to build a fire.
So I leaned over to my
fellow film-watcher and whispered, “It’s like Jack London’s ‘To Build A Fire!’” Allow me to explain. In the short story, we meet
“the man” who falls through ice on the Yukon Trail and needs to build a fire to
warm himself. In the film, we meet our five international sensations and their
perfectly gelled-manes as they decide to rough it in some backyard. In the story, we see “the
man" build a fire, only to have it extinguished by the melting snow falling
from the branches above. In the film, we see the British gents lean some logs
together and assume they will stay up on their own, but alas no. So much
mirroring! Until, of course, we get to the part in London’s story when the
protagonist dies of hypothermia. Spoiler alert, 1D fans, Liam, Louis, Harry,
Niall, and Zayn live through the film.
So, the parallel ends
there. But it was fun while it lasted.
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