You kids don’t know how good you have it.
Dear Directioners,
Let me tell you something about your generation: You never would have survived the boy band boom of the '90s.
Oh, sure, you shriek and pull your hair out for One Direction, and I respect that dedication. But you have no idea what we went through as fans of the Backstreet Boys at the end of the last millennium. You don't know the struggle. And until you're schooled on the reality of our lives as BSB fans, you'll never know how good you have it now. We were lost. We were scared. We were tweens before anyone used that word.
This isn't about telling you that the Backstreet Boys are better than One Direction. This is about explaining why you can't even compare the two. We come from different times, you and I. And while One Direction makes your body quiver in ways I can only imagine, the Backstreet Boys continue to have a hold on me that harkens back to a pubescent discovery that I was into guys — specifically guys who were Nick Carter. We can agree on the absurd appeal of boy bands, but our experiences are worlds apart.
Let's start with dancing, or the lack thereof. Over the past month, I have had the pleasure of seeing both One Direction and the Backstreet Boys in concert, and while both groups are talented in their own ways, there is a sharp distinction in stage presence. The Backstreet Boys dance. One Direction shuffle around on stage, passing the mic to one another along the way. That's not a criticism: It's a fact.
When you see One Direction, you can relate to them, because they seem like normal teenage boys. They're just hanging out on stage. The Backstreet Boys, on the other hand, represent a well-oiled machine. No human should be able to move like that, at least not with such perfect synchronization. You are lucky to be able to feel close to your idols in a way that we never could: BSB were always too far removed from reality. They were a single flowing organism, or very realistic dancing robots, and we responded accordingly.
