The Goonies is the one ‘80s classic I never managed to see as a kid. By the time I watched it in college, it was too late: It’s ugly, shrill, and, especially these days, deeply problematic. No need to try to instill a love of it in your own kids, let the past die, etc.
“I was [in my 20s] the first time I saw The Goonies, and I did not enjoy it. I’m pretty sure you need to have seen it as a kid in order to appreciate it.” —Duke of Kent
“Everyone I know who grew up on Goonies thinks of it as an amazing fixture of 80s film. Everyone I know who first saw it as an adult thinks it is a schmaltzy, obvious, nonsensical, racist hot mess.” —Jhamin
This one is long, but I’m just including the whole thing, because ouch:
“How about we stop arguing over whether movies are “good” or “bad”, which are entirely subjective and personal even in the presence of a common set of criteria which are rarely established, and instead talk about why we like or dislike a film? For example, instead of saying, ‘Despite being a cult classic, The Goonies is fucking terrible,’ I can say, ‘Due to nostalgia, most people give The Goonies a pass on its racism, sexism, misogyny, ableism, and homophobia that it really doesn’t earn, and even by the standards of the ‘80s, it’s horrifyingly insulting to Italian-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinx individuals, people with different body types, women, people with physical and mental disabilities, and it’s a rare movie where I’m actually grateful that there isn’t a single Black person because if they treated Latina women as superstitious maids, god alone knows what they would have done to a Black kid.” —johnseavey
Where to stream: HBO Max