Our first crushes are always kind of cringeworthy when we look back on them years later. “How?”, we ask ourselves once we have gotten older and (potentially) wiser. “How did I manage to spend so long obsessing over these embarrassing ’90s crushes? Did I not know any better?” Well… no, actually. We didn’t know any better. But that’s what first crushes are for: Dipping your toe in the water and learning what does or doesn’t do it for you — and giving yourself the freedom to evolve if, somewhere down the line, you look back at your former flames with a horrified “What was I thinking?!”
Which brings me to today’s throwback topic: Every embarrassing crush you had in the ’90s. Because you knew it would all come back to haunt you one day.
Somewhat hilariously, I came to the conclusion over the course of putting this post together that a lot of our ’90s crushes aren’t actually that embarrassing, largely because many of them now have far surpassed their ’90s fame. Will Smith left Fresh Prince behind for superstardom; Christina Applegate proved that Married With Children was just the beginning; Justin Timberlake ditched his Ramen hair and took on the entire entertainment world as a solo act; and Beyonce? Well, we all know how that turned out (that is, very well, indeed).
That said, though, I know I certainly still inwardly groan a little when I look back to the people I idolized during my youth — and I’m willing to bet that most of you do, too (even though I also think that we can and should own our crushes, no matter how objectively “embarrassing” they might be). Some of them are people; some of them are fictional characters; but in any event, come — let us cringe together. At least we’re all in the same metaphorical boat, right?
5. Your Boy Band of Choice
The way most of us feel about the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, New Kids on the Block, and Hanson is probably the way today’s Directioners will feel in about 10 years: Nostalgic, but also a tiny bit embarrassed over how into a group of people you will likely never meet you were.