80s Movies: A Guide to What's Wrong with Your Parents

Humorously showing the emotional pain of teenagers aching for true love amid the social expectations of high school, Sixteen Candles turned a teen sex comedy into an pop cultural phenomenon that was watched by every '80s kid. Mentored by National Lampoon, known for its intentionally offensive humor, John Hughes imbued relatable and aspirational three-dimensional characters with racist and misogynistic attitudes. The depiction of a Chinese foreign exchange student nodded to audiences' prejudices that Eastern cultures were a joke, worthy of our disrespect. And, Sixteen Candles bolstered rape culture by depicting an aspirational man who demonstrated that even longtime girlfriends were disposable sex objects. Further, it taught teen girls that their value was in a "hot bod," and that if someone had sex with them when they were passed out, it wasn't rape. Teen film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, look back at how Hughes' l teen film greatly impacted a generation in ways we are still trying to correct.

St. Elmo's Fire was a response to the teen films of the 1980s, examining what happens after college.  Joel Schumacher crafted an authentic and progressive story about the emotional lives and professional challenges of seven recent Georgetown grads, reflecting young women focused on career rather than marriage and introducing the idea of a gay lead character (a baby step, but a step). However, as film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, discuss, the dramedy also promoted shocking values, including beautiful and fun characters Jules and Billy coking it up and an adorable portrayal of Kirby stalking the object of his obsession. 

Before John Hughes, a movie couldn't be made that was just about who was going to take a girl to prom. But with a high school divided into the haves and the have nots, Hughes was able to make a love story of Romeo and Juliet proportions. The relationshp was bigger than working-class Andie and Yuppie son Blane: there was Duckie, the OG simp. Pretty in Pink (1986) was ahead of its time in celebrating emotional males with feminine energy and highlighting a parentified child dealing with a deeply depressed dad. However, it doesn't go far enough. Film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, look back at the teen classic with a modern lens and call out the impact it had on a generation.

Wolverines! Red Dawn is one of the few teen action films of the '80s -- and definitely the most influential. It showed that teens were responsible, skilled, and capable enough to save their town and, possibly, the United States. It's a blow 'em up, shoot 'em up, and set them on fire pic. But the intended message never reached its young audience and the result, as hosts Tara McNamara (Gen X) and Riley Roberts (Gen Z) identify, is that the film has continued to inspire in all the wrong ways. 

When you're looking to explain the 1980s, look to Risky Business. Teens were attracted to the Paul Brickman comedy by the music video featuring Tom Cruise dancing in his underpants. Running constantly on MTV, teens watched and rewatched the "Old Time Rock n' Roll" music video and its resonant clips of a line of beautiful prostitutes walking into Joel's house, a Porsche screeching at top speed to outrace Guido the Killer Pimp, and Cruise sporting Ray-Bans. It was all so, so cool. The video had a purpose: it got kids and teens to watch the R film in the theater or on HBO. It was satire, a warning, but that's not what teens took away. Joel's mother's fragile egg was a precious item, but it wasn't meaningless: it represented the kids of the '80s. And, as film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, explain, '80s teens -- like the egg -- came out of the experience slightly cracked.  The duo look at how a teen sex movie in the Reagan era impacted a generation.

MODERN PROBLEMS is the weirdest, off the rails, PG-rated Christmas hit. Families flocked to to the theater to see scenes involving a male ballet dancer's testicles exploding and Chevy Chase snorting "demon powder." While it used to run on HBO all the time in the '80s, it's a little hard to find now. Find it. Watch it. And then decompress by listening to film authorities Tara McNamara (Gen X) and Riley Roberts (Gen Z) explain how it's indicative of many hot topics of the early '80s and how it explains what's wrong with your parents. 

Pour yourself a cup of ambition, this episode covers what's considered the most successful political movie of all time -- wonderfully executed as a broad comedy. Film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, look back at the 1980 Jane Fonda-Lily Tomlin-Dolly Parton revenge fantasy with a modern lens and evaluate how it reflects the attitudes of the day that affected a generation. 

In 1980, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor's follow-up to their 1976 hit Silver Streak was highly anticipated. Despite critic's panning the film, Stir Crazy did double the business, was the 3rd highest grossing film of the year, and broke box office records. The prison buddy comedy holds up 40 years later, largely because two of Hollywood's most powerful black figures (Pryor and director Sidney Poitier) made it. Film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, examine Stir Crazy with a modern lens and discuss how it influenced a generation. 

The Outsiders (1983) is one of the most popular teen books in the 1980s, and teens couldn't wait to see the movie directed by one of the biggest names in cinema. Featuring a Who's Who of Who Was and Who Would Become Famous -- including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Diane Lane, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Leif Garrett, and Tom Waits -- it was a film both genders lined up to see in 1983. Not only was this a period piece, written by a then teenage S.E. Hinton in the mid-60s, it also depicts a band of brothers born on the "wrong side of the tracks" -- and Hinton was female. The screenwriter who adapted the book was also a woman, Kathleen Rowell, who went under cover at a high school to be sure the film addressed how teens interacted in the early 1980s. Using a modern lens, film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, examine this Francis Ford Coppola classic with an eye to how a teen girl may have influenced a generation of teen boys on this episode of "'80s Movies: A Guide to What's Wrong with Your Parents." After listening, let us know your opinion on how you believe the film impacted a generation in the comments below or on social media (@80sMovieGuide).

Beverly Hills Cop was the No. 1 movie in 1984, a year that many consider one of cinema's best. As Detroit police detective Axel Foley (a role originally written for white actors Mickey Rouke and then Sylvester Stallone), Eddie Murphy made headway for black authority figures as lead characters -- a huge step toward positive representation for the black community. Film authorities Tara McNamara (Gen X) and Riley Roberts (Gen Z) look back through a modern lens to evaluate how the comedy classic holds up and how it doesn't.

Top Gun (1986) is an '80s blockbuster, an action classic, and a beloved film. More relevant, it was aspirational to '80s boys who took away that being "dangerous" and "aggressive" was the path to being No. 1 in their careers and with the women. Cohosts Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, look back with a modern lens at why the Tom Cruise favorite is terrific and why it's troublesome. 

Airplane! (1980) created the modern day parody film, inspired several future franchises, and is one of AFI's Top 10 Funniest Movies. In this episode, 19-year-old Riley Roberts explains why Gen Z isn't on board with the Zucker/Abrahams classic and the truth behind "cancel culture."  For more: https://80smovieguide.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/80sMovieGuide Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/80smovieguide/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/80sMovieGuide      

Police Academy (1984) was both a product and ahead of its time. Film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, examine the ensemble comedy through the modern lens to identify how it unexpectedly defies stereotypes while still falling into the same old '80s traps when it comes to objectifying women. 

Based on the popular Parker Brothers game for kid 8 and up, Clue (1985) is a shocker of a family film: nearly all of its characters are defined by their sexual transgressions. In this episode, film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, examine how the homophobic and sex-shaming jokes perpetuated unhelpful stereotypes and how the oppressive mindset affected a generation. Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/80sMovieGuide Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/80smovieguide/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/80sMovieGuide For complete information on Clue and other '80s movies, go to our website, https://80smovieguide.com

Weird Science (1985) marks the halfway point in John Hughes’ domination of the teen film in the ’80s. The film seems to be trying to put a stop to films where women were only seen as sex objects, but he misses the mark. In this teen sex comedy, two horny high schoolers Frankenbuild the “perfect woman” ... to have sex with. In this episode of '80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents podcast, movie authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, look at what the comedy classic tries to achieve in versus the actual takeaway.