“You screamed, they answered!”

We’ve all heard of the ‘Beatlemania’; of fangirls and fanboys gushing over NSYNC and Backstreet Boys choreographies; of the One Direction Tumblr era; and the chokehold that K-pop boy bands, like BTS and SEVENTEEN, had on teenagers and adults alike.

The psychology behind the intricacies of boy bands and the relationship they have with their fandoms has always been an interesting subject for discussion. Various studies and commentaries have been released in the past years on the topic of fandom and the “fangirl.”

However, the recent trailer release of the Paramount+ documentary, Larger Than Life: Reign of the Boy Bands, offers a new perspective on the rise, fall, and the elements that make up boy bands. No deep dives online had ever swum this deep, as the perspectives offered in the upcoming documentary will be coming straight from the members themselves.

Going from incognito to high profile in a span of a few months or years, the boys recall their experiences with fame, fans, and the difficulties they faced as a collective and as individuals. However, the piercing screams of fans and the challenges they faced aren’t the only things mentioned in the trailer.

AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys said that they wouldn’t be who they are today without the fans—a collective sentiment that still echoes in today’s groups.

"I think somebody's hurt, and then I realize, they're screaming for us," Donny Osmond from the Osmonds said, recalling first fan encounters.

From the director of Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, Tamra Davis catalogs these groups, both from the past and present, and provides its audience with a straightforward account on the global phenomenon.

Larger Than Life is a documentary about boy bands, as much as it is about paying tribute to the fans who fueled their success.