Goodbye, teenage dream: The last Backstreet Boy bites the dust

Before it becomes completely irrelevant (if it hasn’t already) … Nick Carter got engaged about a month ago, and he announced it via Twitter/People magazine and maybe a couple of other outlets a couple days after that, on a Friday evening. (Which, having worked in news, I find to be odd timing. You typically release a story on a Friday if you want it to land as softly and under the radar as possible.)

Nick Carter (the youngest member of the Backstreet Boys, if you didn’t know) was my ultimate celebrity crush. It’s been at least a handful of years since I have actually been attracted to him, but like many other girls, it’s just hard to let go of such a major celebrity crush. He wasn’t my first and he definitely won’t be the last, but … let’s just say he has the best of my teenage years and there will only ever be one celebrity crush like him in my life.

I started obsessing over him on the cusp of thirteen, a good 15 years ago, but I would say I hit the Backstreet Boys stride at about age 15. The notion of Nick Carter getting married was a devastating one — so devastating that I don’t think I ever really let the thought slip into my head. I didn’t even dare to imagine myself marrying the guy. I spent my entire adolescence as a big fan of the Backstreet Boys, and my early twenties. Essentially, I grew up with them, and in a way, I felt that Nick — being the youngest member of the group — grew up with us, too. In college, I watched somewhat disinterestedly as Nick went through a deck of blondes, then the trainwreck I saw coming — Paris Hilton (who I was not so disinterested about … oh Nick, you should’ve known better, PR stunt or not). And then he vowed never to get married. Check, tick, done. I didn’t have to give it another thought.

Now, if you’d asked me at age 15 where I thought the Backstreet Boys would be when I was 25, I’d probably have said “Boy Band Heaven.” At 13, I might’ve been under some grand illusion that the Backstreet Boys would still be together in 10 years and making new music, but by 15, I knew better.

Well, the Boys have certainly surprised me! And in more ways than one. Not only have they continued to make music, almost without pause, but each Backstreet Boy has gone on to get married and have children (Howie’s not gay, y’all!) … except Nick. I honestly thought he was never going to get married. I feel stupid saying it now, but I really did.

And how did I feel when I found out that fateful Friday night? Odd. As with everything these days, it was a mixed bag of emotions. (If only emotions could be as simple as they were at 15!) I felt a little sad, sure. I felt disappointed that I’d “counted” on him not ever getting married. I felt pressure to get married (silly, I know, but this societal pressure comes in all shapes and sizes). And then I felt something else, this enduring sense that I should feel more … maybe sadder that it was essentially a nail in the coffin of my adolescence.

Because, in a way, it’s THE day I’ve consciously and unconsciously dreaded since age 13. The death of my teenage dream. I mean, I’ve feared plane crashes and car accidents, but — knock on wood — they haven’t happened. And Nick Carter was The Big Kahuna for me, and The Big Kahuna is only going to get engaged for the first time once. I even have a feeling this marriage will last.

I’m not sure how I thought I would feel about this news, because I’d never thought about it. In retrospect, a sinking feeling might’ve been an appropriate response. Or maybe wistfulness. Maybe anger, bitterness and jealousy, if I’d known any more about Lauren Kitt than I’d cared to find out over the years (she’s a body builder or somesuch and she’d maybe been in a committed relationship until shortly before she got together with Nick?). I don’t know. How ARE you supposed to respond to these things? And why isn’t there an eHow article on it? I mean, there’s an entire sect of Psychology/Sociology devoted to celebrity “relationships,” and I wrote several papers on it in college. … or am I overthinking this (as I do)?

Interesting, too, is how a boy band survives with zero single members. Isn’t pop music and teen idolatry all about the unattainable? And didn’t Lou Pearlman force the guys for a while to remain tattoo-less and lie about their relationship statuses? Are we fans now just in it for the pure sake of nostalgia?

What are your thoughts? And what girlfriend/boyfriend/marriage “trauma” have you had to go through with your celebrity crushes? How did you deal?