Ten things from the Backstreet Boys documentary that might surprise you

So you might have heard that the Backstreet Boys documentary Show 'Em What You're Made Of released yesterday in theatres and on VOD. If you haven't? Hey that's okay too. While there was a time when they were the biggest group in the world just suddenly one day they weren't. So while many Backstreet fans are collectively on a bit of a high right now from the release of the film a good portion of the general public hasn't even bat an eye and there's a good chance that you're one of them. If you are maybe you should reconsider.



Show 'Em What You're Made Of is a surprisingly good film. Honestly. Even when you look at it objectively, silencing that hysterical shrieking and sobbing obsessively TRL voting tween/teenager it's a solid documentary. The stereotypical "You'll laugh! You'll cry!" actually rings true with this film in part because of how honest they are. It doesn't always paint them in a good light - personally one of the many things going through my mind after my initial viewing was "Fuck Nick Carter" - and it doesn't shy away from things like their manufactured start, legal issues with Lou Pearlman, internal band conflicts and how they aren't the same group they once were.



So anyway long story short I put together this list of some, but not nearly all, of the highlights from the doc. Enjoy and KTBSPA.





Howie was originally the group's lead singer
This one is a bit of a cheat because it isn't some kind of revelation or secret to a lot of people who are big fans of the group. After some discussions about vocals in the Backstreet Boys posts from yesterday I figured I would include this since I guessed that some casual fans and ONTD members in general might not know this. When the group was initially formed Howie was actually the lead vocalist. This shifted slightly when Kevin suggested that his cousin Brian join the group but Howie was still pretty much in the foreground. Check out this promo video from 1993 for a hint of BSB's original sound.

Anyway this pretty much all ended up changing when the boys were flown to Sweden to meet with producers Max Martin and the late Denniz Pop. The music that they were making didn't sound like anything that was really being played in the US at the time and while four out of the five boys loved that it was different sounding Howie was not on board knowing that his vocals didn't fit with the dissonent sounds at all. Of course they never really had any say in what they were going to sing or do back in those Lou Pearlman days so they moved forward. The decision ended up launching them into super stardorm almost overnight in Europe but Howie really resented being pushed to the side for Brian's vocals, something that he admits to in the documentary that it still bothers him a little which is why he's featured more on their most recent releases.

They used to watch porn together at Lou Pearlman's mansion

Back when the group was first starting out they spent a lot of time hanging out at Lou Pearlman's mansion, not that anyone can blame them. Lou hadn't yet revealed himself to be a completely shady and creepy person who would eventually go to jail for scamming people out of over $300 million dollars in one of the largest Ponzi's schemes in the history of the US. He hadn't yet created 'N Sync and basically threatened the boys any time that they were too exhausted to do a performance or interview, constantly telling them they were replaceable. Rich Cronin and the claims of sexual abuse wouldn't come until about a decade down the road. At the time he was a super rich guy giving them each a check for $75 a week, letting them do what they loved doing which was performing and he had a really kick ass mansion where he had an arcade, vintage Coca-Cola machine (Nick claims to this day it's the best Coca-Cola he's ever tasted in his life) and an original Darth Vader helment from Star Wars.



He also had porn. A lot of porn. Which isn't really scandalous by any means but still worth a mention.



"At the end of the night we'd put in one of Lou's porns and we'd all watch those every so often," Howie recalled. "First time I even saw two girls kissing each other was on one of Lou's video tapes and I was like, 'What is this?'"

Things get very emotional

I've said this before but it is definitely something that's worth repeating. This is not like any of the other pop documentaries as of late.



While filming took place during the recording of their 2013 album In A World Like This and their 20th anniversary as a group was the catalyst for the doc it's not a concert movie or even one about music. It's about them and not just the parts that fans haven't necessarily seen but things that they've never revealed to each other in two decades as a group.



Emotions get high more than once in the film but the first big moment that at least had me tearing up is when they go to Kevin Richardson's home from when he was growing up and he talks about his father dying of colon cancer. Kevin has spoken about his father's death in the past and even did a PSA about getting tested for colon cancer but in the film he goes more in depth and the memories and emotion hits him hard to the point where he can barely get out the words. He talks about how his family had hidden the severity of his father's illness from him not wanting to worry him. Even when things were really bad and Kevin came home to see his father, who had been in pain and bed bound for weeks, his dad got up and walked to the front door to greet him because he didn't want him to know how bad it was. It's an emotional moment all around (except from Nick who looks disinterested by the whole thing).

Kevin can ask for a blow job in German


The Backstreet Boys gained fame in Europe long before they ever had it in the US. They mention how they spent the better part of three years in Germany back in the beginning. Since the spent so much time there they figured out that they needed to learn some German pretty quickly. They mention some of the first German that they learned which for the most part was some basic "please" and "thank you" type of stuff until you get to Kevin who learned, and can still recite, "Would you give me a blow job?"





A.J. can still recite a monologue he learned as a child complete with hand motions and English accent

Throughout the doc each one of the Boys revisits some important places from their childhood. For A.J. this includes a visit back to school and meeting with some of the women who guided him along the way when he was pursuing acting. When asked if A.J. still remembers any of his monologues from nearly thirty years ago he is surprisingly able to go into it without missing a beat. The footage is intercut with an old acting reel of A.J.'s showing him doing the same monologue with the same motions and inflections. It's nothing major but it's definitely a nice moment and even becomes a bit comical when Nick realizes he's seen A.J. reanact this before to hit on girls.

Brian and Howie once avoided potential jail time by name dropping Lou Pearlman

Back before they were anybody and they were still mostly just rehearsing and hanging out at Lou Pearlman's house Brian and Howie had a bit of a run in with the police. It wasn't anything even remotely pearl clutching. Brian, Howie and their respective girlfriends were leaving from hanging out at Lou's hose and they were blasting music and speeding so fast that Howie mentions it was the "kind of fast you go to jail for". When the police approached them and asked what they were doing they started to explain that they were just coming home from Lou Pearlman's house and the cop backed off and let them go without even a warning because Lou was just that powerful in Orlando back in the day.

COME TO BRAZIL

Seriously you can't even escape this while seeing a movie these days :X

A.J. once drank a shot that his friend had puked in

Yeah... that was gross. His friend can no longer take shots because of it and I can't say that I blame him. Drugs are bad kids.

Brian yelling at Nick to shut the fuck up

So with no point of reference whatsoever this doesn't seem surprising at all. The thing you have to know is Brian really doesn't get mad very often and when he does it's really not like this. It's not like fans of the group today are still the type to throw teddy bears on stage and think nothing but the most sweet and innocent things about these guys and yet this moment is one of the ones that really has fans talking just because it's really uncharacteristic of Brian. In all fairness, Nick had it coming. What you need to know is that there was a time when Brian and Nick were absolutely inseperable. They were Frick and Frack. So during easily the most heated moment of the documentary - where they're arguing about the inclusion of / possibly revising a song on the album - it's kind of shocking to see Nick to really try to hurt Brian during the argument.



It's not really a secret that Brian's vocals are not what they used to be. Brian's struggle with it and the fact that they all know but don't really talk about it that much is a key point in the documentary. Brian was diagnosed with both vocal tension dysphonia - the tightening of muscles around the vocal chords - and dystonia - a neuroligal disconnect between his brain and his vocal cords - and has been struggling to overcome it (while the balance is ongoing Brian has recently commented that he's been showing improvement in the past few months). So Nick, pissed off that Brian isn't the biggest fan of the song in question, starts insulting Brian and his struggles and really hits below the belt. It's kind of hard to watch but I have to side with Brian on this one, shut the fuck up Nick.



Also, spoiler alert, the song did make the album unchanged

Nick Carter hasn't matured much in 20 years

I have loved and been a huge fan of the Backstreet Boys for more than half of my life. I adore these guys and yes that means that I adore Nick but it's pretty apparent through watching the old footage cut in with everything that they filmed for the documentary that Nick hasn't changed much at all during that time and while he isn't really portrayed in the best light it's still honest. This probably doesn't come as much of a shock to anyone that watched House of Carters but a lot of groups would try to gloss over anything that would paint them negatively where Nick's less than awesome attitude is all over this doc. Whether it's him mentally checking out as Kevin starts breaking down reliving the death of his father, the fight above with Brian over the chorus of a song, him equating when he was overweight to A.J.'s struggles with addiction and Brian's current medical issues with his voice, or how his homecoming seems very .... different for lack of a better term tone wise than it does for everyone else.



In all fairness Nick had a really shitty childhood and his family is a mess. His parents pretty much never saw Nick (and later Aaron) as anything more than dollar signs and he mentions how they have been estranged for years and how overall it was not a happy home to grow up in. The doc leaves you with the impression that Nick still has a lot of issues to work on and he often comes across more like an entitled teenager than he does a thirty something man.

Source: Me and my copy of Show 'Em What You're Made Of



Thanks for listening to me ramble ONTD! But seriously if you have some time and are looking for something to watch check it out. It's available pretty much everywhere on VOD in North America right now.