Is The Idea Of You About Harry Styles? The Story Behind The Popular Comparison
Anne Hathaway is in a romantic comedy again for the first time in over a decade with Amazon Prime’s The Idea Of You. While I didn’t read the 2017 novel the movie is based on, ever since I heard of it, the internet told me it was another instance of “Harry Styles fanfiction” – which is apparently a genre now? But upon further research and revelations, including pressing play on the new release, I’ve learned that The Idea Of You is much more than fangirl fuel for the former One Direction singer, and I need to talk about it!
Now, it’s not like the Harry Styles comparison for The Idea Of You is coming out of left field. An entire franchise of romance films called the After movies are actually inspired by the “Watermelon Sugar” singer, and there’s of course a whole segment of the internet who writes their own narratives about the pop star. Upon watching The Idea Of You trailer, it’s easy to spot some similarities between Nicholas Galitzine’s Hayes Campbell and Harry Styles. They are both brunette British men with artsy tattoos and boy bands. But there’s more to the movie than fantasy fuel for Directioners!
Is The Idea Of You Inspired By Harry Styles Fanfiction?
The short answer is no. While it’s become a popular belief that The Idea Of You is based on Harry Styles fanfiction like After is, its author, Robinne Lee, has actually shared disappointment over the popular comparison. That said, he is an influence. Lee has shared prior that she was up late one night, watched Styles music videos online and was inspired to write the novel. However, he’s not the only man she thought of. She also injected the likes of Prince Harry, Eddie Redmayne and even her own past lovers to create the male lead in The Idea Of You.
What Has The Idea Of You Author Said About The Comparison?
When speaking to Entertainment Weekly upon the release of The Idea Of You movie, Robinne Lee clarified her influences. Here’s what she said:
I don't consider it fan fiction at all. Harry was one of multiple people who went into creating Hayes Campbell — he was the only one in a British boy band that was current at the time, I guess, and so that's what people have latched onto. It's unfortunate because it's being used as clickbait, and when I'm writing for Hayes, I'm not picturing Harry Styles.
As Lee also explained, she grew up as the daughter of two Jamaican parents before its independence from the British, and she admits to being “a bit of an Anglophile” who has found herself particularly attracted to posh British boys. She continued:
He's very much like JFK Jr. when he was dating Daryl Hannah, and they were hanging out in the Hamptons — that was definitely the Hamptons Hayes And then there's some Michael Hutchence sexiness when he was dating Helena Christensen. And I was obsessed with Duran Duran when I was young, so there's a lot of Simon, and there's a lot of John, and there's a lot of actual Duran Duran Easter eggs throughout the entire book.
Nowadays, Lee says she actually regrets citing Harry Styles as an inspiration due to the way the novel has been compared to the singer so widely. She chalks it up to Styles being “just what people gravitated to,” perhaps because he’s one of the most popular pop stars out there right now!
Did Nicholas Galitzine Base Hayes Campbell On Harry Styles?
When it comes to the making of The Idea Of You movie, the actor behind the male lead of Hayes Campbell, played by Nicholas Galitzine, has sung a similar tune when it comes to Harry Styles comparisons. Here’s how he responded to his character being compared to Styles:
It’s funny because it’s not a comparison that I’ve ever made. But people really like to make it. Hayes Campbell, the man I’m playing, is a very different character and we want him to exist in his own world.
Be that as it may, of course the internet noticed the similarities between Hayes Campbell’s boy band to One Direction in the movie as soon as the trailer dropped. As I watched the movie itself, I would agree that while Galitzine could pass off as a Harry Styles lookalike, he really doesn’t give the impression of someone who is doing an impression of the singer. Additionally, from the outside, one could make the comparison between Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde’s whirlwind romance since they hold a quite similar age gap. However, the novel was written years before the couple formed, so that’s purely coincidental.
And unlike Styles, the trajectory of Hayes is someone who has been in a boy band for many years and has not branched out into the solo world of pop stardom like Harry. He’s clearly a celebrity who has amassed a lot of attention and love, but he’s wrestling with wanting to find something real in a world that is always watching and perhaps, objectifying him.
Why I Think You Should Watch The Idea Of You Regardless Of Your Thoughts On Harry Styles
While I thought The Idea Of You was going to be specifically made for the Harry Styles stans, after watching it I can confirm that it’s truly an enjoyable romantic comedy regardless of your thoughts on the One Direction singer. It’s totally its own thing, in my opinion, even though of course August Moon feels inspired by the popular British boy band. Since the movie came out, a lot of viewers have been comparing it to romantic comedy classic Notting Hill, and it's getting rave first reactions. I would agree with this hype.
I was particularly attracted to the grounded love story at the center of The Idea Of You. While I thought it would be a kind of Fifty Shades Of Grey-esque romance with bad dialogue, I found myself really buying the romance between Hathaway and Galitzine. This is especially in terms of Hathaway’s character, who kind of lost her sexuality in 20s because she fell in love and had her daughter at a very young age. As the movie progresses, her character gets to confront healing her own wounds while Hayes heals his own regarding the loneliness her’s acquired with his fame.
All and all, The Idea Of You is simply a great and rather unique entry into the romantic comedy genre that you’ll enjoy whether you’re into One Direction and Harry Styles or not! You can enjoy it now with an Amazon Prime subscription!
