Every man of my age knows who the Backstreet Boys are, and loathed them for a significant part of their formative years. Some made peace with distantly enjoying their corny and predictable brand of pop music and other still fucking loathe them today. A couple hours ago, I didn't know where I stood on the issue, so I hoped to gain some perspective from BACKSTREET BOYS: SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF, a documentary celebrating the band's 20th anniversary. What is it like to be a grownup in a boys band, right? There must be a couple fucked up stories to tell. Turned out I've learned very little about the Backstreet Boys' career and a lot about how awesome and culturally important these middle aged has-beens think they are.
I want my six dollars back.
Did you know that the Backstreet Boys don't like to be referred to as a "boys band". They prefer being called a vocal harmony group, like Boyz II Men. Because the members of the best selling boys band in history don't seem to understand that much about themselves. They've sang and danced in robot suits, Halloween costumes, bare chested under the rain and it hasn't occurred to them that their legacy is a little bit silly. No. Kevin, Nick, A.J, Brian and Howie are still full of shit. They still take themselves too seriously and they're still trying to sell a narrative to their grown-up audience. I did not believe one bit in the "we've matured and we're ready to make meaningful music" act BACKSTREET BOYS: SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF tried to sell me.
None of the guys actually discuss the music and what it means to them. The closes the documentary gets to that is Kevin Richardson arguing for the inclusion of a song on the new album (which you never hear) because the lyrics ''mean something to him". That's it. It's as close as you'll get to the Backstreet Boys' relationship to their own music. Otherwise, BACKSTREET BOYS: SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF is just a vanity piece of promotion where the members revisit their childhood (like in...every...fucking...music documentary....ever?), tell the detailed story of their rise to stardom and, of course, have their own manufactured crying scene.
It's really funny to see Nick Carter break down in front of the camera because he was once bullied, like it wasn't a scripted scene or anything. I could almost hear the other million of bullied kids in America being like: "Take a number, bro". Perhaps the most infuriatingly fake scene was the argument scene at the end, where guys insult each other, call each other name and are brought back to reason by big brother Kevin. Nick Carter then throws this immortal line to Brian Littrell: "I'm not afraid of you anymore." Where the fuck did that come from? I do not know if the Backstreet Boys have really gained creative control over their career, but their documentary isn't offering any unfiltered insight on anything. It's 100% controlled information, just like in the good ol' days. BACKSTREET BOYS: SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF had me feeling like I was thirteen years old again.
It's really funny to see Nick Carter break down in front of the camera because he was once bullied, like it wasn't a scripted scene or anything. I could almost hear the other million of bullied kids in America being like: "Take a number, bro". Perhaps the most infuriatingly fake scene was the argument scene at the end, where guys insult each other, call each other name and are brought back to reason by big brother Kevin. Nick Carter then throws this immortal line to Brian Littrell: "I'm not afraid of you anymore." Where the fuck did that come from? I do not know if the Backstreet Boys have really gained creative control over their career, but their documentary isn't offering any unfiltered insight on anything. It's 100% controlled information, just like in the good ol' days. BACKSTREET BOYS: SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF had me feeling like I was thirteen years old again.
Booh hooh.
The only parts of the documentary I liked were the bits about the Backstreet Boys' manager Lou Pearlman who's currently serving 25 years in prison for fraud. You have to be a pretty fucking spectacular thief in order to serve so much time for stealing money. My favourite part was Howie Dorough unwittingly letting out that they were watching porn with Pearlman when they were underage. The numbers are, of course, not let out in the documentary, but apparently that under Pearlman, the Backstreet Boys only had been paid a total of $300,000 for all of their efforts. I thought it gave interesting perspective on how a piece of crap promo documentary like BACKSTREET BOYS: SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF was made. These guys sold 130 million records during their career. They lived the life, and now they want their share of the money that go with it.
I would've loved to write a more interesting review, really. I thought that revisiting the Backstreet Boys after 20 years would provide some perspective what it is to live the boys band phenomenon, but turned out that these guys are still in the game, and they are playing it like old school producers because it's how they've learned it. The Backstreet Boys don't any stories to tell, but they still have one to sell you. I know it's tempting to watch a documentary about a band that was so divisive in your high school, but don't bite. BACKSTREET BOYS: SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF that's meant to sell you that the guys have matured and have earned the right to take themselves seriously.
The Backstreet Boys weren't unwitting artists victims of circumstances and a predatory manager. They've always been hollow.
The Backstreet Boys weren't unwitting artists victims of circumstances and a predatory manager. They've always been hollow.