Backstreet fans are not that innocent

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.

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