By Joan Anderman Globe Staff
07/13/2001
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
As distraught as young fans were at the news that a
month of Backstreet Boys concerts were
postponed while member A.J. McLean entered rehab,
parents had worries of their own.
For moms and dads who've thrilled to (or at least sighed
with relief at) the wholesome strains of ''As Long As
You Love Me'' and ''The Shape of My Heart,'' the
bubble has burst. How exactly does one explain to a
preteen that her beloved musical icons won't be
performing next week because A.J.'s been hitting the
bottle? How do you justify a role model's
self-destructive excesses to a generation of kids weaned
on D.A.R.E. and, well, the Backstreet Boys?
The answer is you don't, because the kids get it. They've
never held their pop idols to the same standard of
wholesomeness that their parents do - and goodness
knows they don't aspire to it themselves. Despite the
fact that they're happy to be spoon-fed
corporate-conceived and factory-assembled songs,
today's millennial tweens are a savvy, sophisticated
bunch. They're intimately familiar with the turmoil of
modern life and well-versed in the language of recovery.
Internet chat rooms and message boards are
overflowing with declarations of support for McLean,
who is undergoing a 30-day treatment for clinical
depression and alcohol abuse. As of Wednesday, the
Official A.J. Support Group Web site was up and
running. Many young people are sharing their own
experiences with depression; others are talking about
living through a parent's struggles with alcoholism and
helping friends who have been through rehab.
''As a 14-year-old, I've seen many cases of depression and alcoholism because
both diseases run in my family,'' wrote Erika Travers on a www.b ackstreetboys
.com message board this week. ''My dad's father was an alcoholic ... and on my
mother's side her father, too, was alcoholic. If he had gotten help he probably
wouldn't have killed himself. My sister Jennine, 16, also fell into a deep depression
just this past year. It was hard to understand what happened to Jennine and to
cope with the pain she was feeling. But after getting help she recovered, and so will
you. Thank you so much for your music, your inspiration, and just being you.''
McLean's recent troubles can hardly be viewed as a loss of innocence because
there wasn't any to lose. In fact, there's precious little to be lost on either side of the
velvet rope. That's not to suggest that this is a generation of sexually-promiscuous,
drug-addled kids. They are, rather, the children and grandchildren of such a
generation. Raised in a culture of angst and exposed to a mind-boggling array of
information and images via the Internet, the media, and entertainment outlets, the
Backstreet Boys' fans are - ironically - as worldly as the music is naive.
If anything, it would seem that McLean's troubles have humanized him. He was the
most ''human'' of the group's members to begin with, never pretending to embody
the squeaky-clean image they and their ilk cultivate. McLean's dark glasses and
tattooed biceps, his sexual boasts, and his candor about his quick temper and
violent impulses were in plain view for anyone inclined to look past the shiny
surface of the songs - and that would be the fans, not the chaperones.
''I know how you feel. I also got sad stories,'' began one message posted on
www.backstreetboys .com by DJ Kryptonite. ''I was dating a guy, 13, and he got
killed by a gang member for wearing blue. I went through hell. I lost a lot of myself.
But I had to come to realize I had a problem ... I'm doing much better now. You're
going to be fine. Everything takes time.''
McLean's problems may not jibe with the popular image of the Backstreet Boys or
their sunny music. Neither does the bumpy road many of the group's fans walk
match our vision of childhood. Young fans haven't lost a role model. On the
contrary, they're forging a deeper bond with a star whose troubles bring him that
much closer by mirroring their own.
Will McLean's revelations inspire fans to start drinking heavily to cope with their
problems? It's doubtful. More likely his revelation will give troubled kids permission
to seek help.