Creative Goonies Title

            The Goonies tells the story of a group of neighborhood friends on a quest to find One-Eyed Willie’s secret treasure. Mikey and Brand desperately need the treasure in order to pay off their house so that they may continue living in their home. If the brothers (Mikey and Brand) fail to collect enough money, they will have to move away and leave the Goonies behind forever.

            The teenage group of friends stumble upon a map while walking around Mikey’s attic one last time. Upon finding the map, the Goonies immediately set out on bicycles on their way down the map’s path. The posse ends up in a restaurant owned by the evil Fratellis. Each kid must use their unique abilities in attempts to thwart the Fratellis and get to the treasure.

Throughout the adventure, the Goonies prove that friends must stick together. There are several times in which various characters try to give up and head home, but each time, it ends up only making matters worse. The group thrives when the members work as a team. The Goonies escape the Fratellis’ grasp when they work together and trust each other.

One stereotype portrayed is Chunk’s pathological lying. Chunk deeply desires to be loved and accepted by people, so he attempts to seek that out by telling fake stories. This truth is pretty evident among most middle school kids. Many people around this age seek acceptance by being the center of attention. Who is at the center of attention but the kid with the wildest story? The lying nature of Chunk is exaggerated heavily compared to real children. I do not know anyone who has ever legitimately lied to police officers (certainly not for attention). I think this stereotype is more frequently seen in small exaggerations that spice up stories.

A second stereotype in The Goonies is the clumsiness of middle school kids. Data flies through a screen door, Chunk knocks over a statue, etc. I do not think every single kid is clumsy in middle school, but many go through an awkward period of issues with motor skills. Bodies go through rapid changes during these years, so it’s expected that people will not always be sure how to coordinate themselves perfectly. So yes, I think this stereotype is accurate, but I think it’s a lot less glamorous and funny in reality.

A third stereotype that I noticed throughout the film is the use of inappropriate language from the teenage characters. I am not sure why, but people begin experimenting with much more harsh language once they enter middle school; it may be due to the change in moral development in brains at this age. Now, kids aren’t yelling obscenities left and right like some of the characters in this film, but they certainly use worse language than elementary school students.

I think that Mouth most resembles me as a middle school student. Like Mouth, I always worried about how my hair looked, getting the last word in, and getting attention from girls. Chunk sought out attention from the guys, but I wanted more acceptance from romantic interests. Another way that I related to Mouth is that we both acted like angels in front of our friends’ parents. It’s not like I was a bad kid or anything, but I always tried to make a good impression on older people. On the other hand, I didn’t abuse it and terrorize and maids as Mouth did.