(I was inspired to write this article after reading a few others aritcles about the same subject. I don't mean to affend anyone out there under 13! Don't send me any hate mail.)
When watching a Backstreet Boys concert on television or while attending a live event, has anyone ever noticed how young some of the screaming fans are? I think it's great that the guys can cover such a large age group from teenagers, to young adults, and even the older adult populations. But what is it that seven and eight year olds see in the Backstreet Boys? I mean they certainly make great music that appeals to all ages, but why are the little girls screaming?
I've been a music lover since I was a baby. I remember being three years old and running around the house singing "Material Girl" by Madonna and songs by Micheal Jackson. When I was in the first and second grade I enjoyed the music of The New Kids On The Block. I had the shirt, the pajamas, and all that stuff, but I didn't have a crush on the guys. I just enjoyed their music, and all my friends said Jordan was cute, so I agreed. Now we have all the first and seconds graders screaming because A.J. is doing his pelvic pumps or because Howie just took his shirt off, or because Nick just sang the words, "Am I sexual?". I personally didn't care about seeing a guy with his shirt off until I was around twelve or thirteen. And I didn't have a crush on any guys that were ten years older than me, or in some fans cases (if they like Kev), maybe even twenty years older.
I'm not criticizing the younger kids for being Backstreet fans, but when I was eight years old I was watching the Care Bears and The Sunshine Factory. I just wonder how society could change this much in less than ten years. Are these younger fans screaming because that's what everyone else is doing? Do they even know why all the older fans are screaming? Or has society really changed so much that a seven or eight year old kid now the horomones of a teenager?
The audiences are just getting younger and younger. We have the twelve year olds who think they are so cool and are actually making fun of the "immature nine year olds", and then we have the five and six year olds screaming because they think Nick is simply adorable. It just makes me wonder if today's younger kids are trying to grow up a little too quickly. I honestly think that society is changing. Children are being subjected to certain aspects in life like sex at earlier ages. Some movies that come out now that are rated PG-13 would have been rated R in the 70's and 80's, and should probably be rated R now. Music is also a lot more mature, and there isn't much music out there that is appropriate for young kids, which leads me to my next point.
I don't think that the Backstreet Boys music is at all vulgar are really inappropriate, but for younger kids, I think a few of their songs are questionable. There's the song, "If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy)." I personally love this song. (I think Nick sounds very sexy in it.) But when I first heard it, the first thing that popped into my mind was that the guys were trying to get some girl to go to bed with them, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that. And then there's the song, "Boys Will Be Boys". I love this song, but should younger girls be hearing these guys singing, "My body's calling for you, so please don't hesitate." Then two songs later on their first c.d. we hear Brian singing, "When the light is fading, you know what I wanna do." I also do not think we should be asking little kids the question, "Am I sexual?" Like I said, I love all these songs. I listen to them all the time, and their really fun to dance to, but I just don't think that they're suitable for the younger kids. And their concerts are not for little kids either. I don't think the choreographer sits and ponders, "Hmm...what kind of dance would eight year olds enjoy watching?" Months ago while babysitting my four-year-old niece, I was watching the BSB's Pay-Per-View special. She's been a music lover since she was born, and she loves listening to the Backstreet Boys, so I knew she'd enjoy the video like she enjoys my other videos, and then I found myself actually distracting her from the television whenever songs like "Lay Down Beside Me" and "Get Down" came on, because I thought it was a bit too sexual for her. This doesn't mean that I think the Backstreet Boys should stop singing the songs either. They aren't on Sesame Street or Fred Penner's Place. They are a band. They are going to sing about mature subjects.
And a lot of fans talk of how they just want the guys to tell us the truth. They want to know if someone in the group smokes. They are curious to know if the guys are virgins, but one reason they keep secrets is because it'll give them a bad wrap with some of the fans. I mean when they first came out they wouldn't even say if they girl friends or not, because the record company said, "The fans won't like it!". I was kind of distrurbed by the fact that there was actually a petition going around about A.J. The goal was to get people to sign it, stating how smoking will affect his health, and he should quit. I personally think that smoking is an absolutely terrible habbit, but sending him a petition is pointless. He's a grown up, and he's going to do what he wants to do, whether the fans like it or not. Maybe the guys would be more honest about certain things if the fans were reacting more maturely. Maybe the BSB are even trying to change their image to attract an older group of fans that doesn't care what they do and that loves them just for their great singing and performing abilities. They want an audience that understands that they are real people and doesn't get bent out of shape because they have a girl friend.
In conclusion to what I've already said I just think that the Backstreet Boys have grown up, and they are right in persuing an older audience, and I don't think that the younger fans should fight to catch up. Instead I think that the tykes should wait a couple years and find their own band, or put their focus on little Aaron.