Category: ’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents podcast

Mother-teen daughter movie critics examine what’s great and what’s not so great about movies of the 1980s.

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Podcast: THE TERMINATOR teaches that Masculinity is Guns and Muscles

Terminator Riley Roberts Linda Hamilton

The Terminator reinvigorated the action genre and gave audiences a fresh story that addressed (and destroyed) the worries of the day. However, the T-800 truly did deliver a message from the future for the boys of the ’80s: real men are powerful weapons with guns both mechanical and muscular. In their podcast “’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents,” Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, look back at the James Cameron-Arnold Schwarzenegger classic at how the film influenced ’80s kids and the ways it is, in itself, a time capsule of 1984.

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Podcast: THE LOST BOYS – So Much Subtext in the Shadows

THE LOST BOYS Riley Roberts

When Joel Schumacher took over The Lost Boys (1987) from Richard Donner, he changed nearly everything in the script, creating a metaphorical fairy tale encapsulating several issues facing teens and families in the mid-80s. Can you name them all and do you agree that’s what Schumacher was trying to say? Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Y,  apply a modern lens to the horror comedy that gave us the Two Coreys and reveal insights you never saw coming. 

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Podcast: GHOSTBUSTERS – Con Your Way to Success!

Riley Roberts ghostbusters podcast

Ghostbusters is one of the most beloved films of the ’80s. It’s a horror-comedy classic that had all audiences running to see it in theaters — especially kids. In fact, the film helped create the model for how to make and capitalize on a blockbuster, fueling bigger merchandising profits with a toy line. The film gave children cute quotable lines, such as “We came, we saw, we kicked it’s ass!” What else were kids picking up from this beloved, adored film about paranormal exterminators? In this episode of the ’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents podcast, ’80s Movie Guide founders Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, identify and discuss the surprising, unintentional messages being delivered to ’80s youth. Also on iTunes and Stitcher.

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THE SHINING Shined a Light on the Horrors of Domestic Abuse; Here’s How Life for Teens is More Chilling Today

podcast abuse the shining

What is The Shining about? Is it about a clairvoyant child? A haunted hotel? Cabin Fever? Reincarnation? Mental illness? Or, the evil that lies within us, that can be coaxed out if we’re not vigilant? Of course, all of the above. But, as is appropriate for this film, the devil is in the details. Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is about domestic abuse. Before the ’80s, a husband could beat his wife regularly and would not be arrested. In this episode of ’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents, Gen Z host Tara McNamara explains how The Shining is a shining example of the horrors going on in households in 1980 and Gen Z host Riley Roberts shares a warning to every parent should hear about the chilling reality and darkness being experienced by teens today.

Listen to the podcast on this page, iTunes or Stitcher.

Note: In the podcast, we refer to a theory that didn’t come from us but we couldn’t remember the website. Rob Ager did thorough research and you can find his video here: http://bit.ly/30KCbj7

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Podcast: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET Innovated Horror, But Sluts Still Get Cuts

Freddy Krueger Riley Roberts Nightmare on Elm Street
’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents podcast looks how ’80s films affected a generation.

It’s the 35th Anniversary of A Nightmare Before Elm Street, a movie that terrified teens in 1984 but … now? In our latest episode of the “’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents” podcast, co-hosts Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Y, examine the film through today’s lens. They examine how the Wes Craven original created something new to be afraid of while holding on to some of the tropes that would mess with the minds of Gen X’ers for years to come. Give it a listen here or iTunes or Stitcher and add your own original thoughts in the comments below or on social media @80sMovieGuide.

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Podcast: BEETLEJUICE – Suicide is Funny?

Beetlejuice Riley Roberts podcast

Color us black and white – it’s almost Halloween! It’s this time of year when parents think of sharing with their kids the one ’80s horror comedy that seems appropriate – Beetlejuice! And, in the ’80s, the Tim Burton classic was considered a children’s film with special effects makeup and monster creations all wrapped up in a wacky comedy. (Doubt it was considered a kids film? There was an cartoon series spinoff featuring our lovable demon and young teen Lydia adventuring around the Netherworld.)

The film is a bit problematic in regard to kids and teens. On this episode of our podcast ’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents (listen here or on Stitcher, iTunes, and BlogTalkRadio), movie critics Tara McNamara (Gen X) and Riley Roberts (Gen Z) explore how this beloved Michael Keaton film poked fun at suicide at a time when it was at an all-time high for teens. The two also examine how it holds up in today’s environment.

Showtime!

As always, we’re eager to hear your analysis and opinions. Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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Podcast: Did HEATHERS Lead to a Darker High School Experience Today?

Heathers 1989 Riley Roberts

Thirty years ago, Daniel Waters wrote Heathers as a response to the John Hughes perspective of teen life, reflecting that getting through high school wasn’t just a struggle, it was survival. Hosts Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, discuss how the Winona Ryder-Christian Slater classic delivers substantial insight into what it was like to be a teen in the late ’80s and compare it to what high school life is like now – and the impact of Heathers on today’s high school situation.

Tell us your thoughts and theories below after you give it a listen (also available on iTunes, Stitcher, and BlogTalk Radio)!

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Podcast: What SAY ANYTHING says about ’80s teens

Riley Roberts Say Anything boombox
https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.163/401.a35.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Say-Anything-Podcast.mp3?time=1574254072

It's the 30th Anniversary of Say Anything, the film that truly launched Cameron Crowe as a filmmaker (yes, he'd written Fast Times at Ridgemont High and made The Wild Life, but was nowhere near the household name he'd become). Crowe proved himself to be the only true rival to John Hughes when creating teen films drenched in authenticity. The one element of the film that steps outside of that is the one the script mandate coming from the higher ups - an issue that reflected the times but sent '80s kids a message that hammered in what they were already being taught: Don't. Trust. Parents.

In this episode of '80s Movies: A Guide to What's Wrong with Your Parents, co-hosts Tara McNamara (Gen X) and Riley Roberts (Gen Z) discuss how the John Cusack classic holds up today, how it reflects the teen experience then and now, and that one sticky issue. Listen above or listen/subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and BlogTalk Radio.

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PODCAST: How Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was Most Triumphant (and One Heinous Inclusion)

Riley Roberts Tara McNamara Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure

We share a mission with Ted Logan and Bill Preston, Esq. Cinema’s favorite air-guitaring airheads know that to move forward most righteously, you’ve got to travel back in time to understand history. And, that’s exactly what we do in the ’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Our Parents podcast. In this episode, we look back at why Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, a “dumb” comedy about two guys who appear to be stoners, turned out to be most triumphant and how it does and doesn’t hold up today.

Take a listen (also available on iTunes and Stitcher) and share your thoughts on this 30-year old Keanu Reeves-Alex Winter classic. Also, get ready to Face the Music with the third film by checking out the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure guide page.

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PODCAST: JUST ONE OF THE GUYS is a Dude’s Story Disguised as a Chick Flick

Riley Roberts Just One of the Guys podcast

Just One of the Guys has aspiring journalist Terry Griffith going undercover as a guy to fight the sexism she perceives is keeping her from landing a coveted internship at her city newspaper. However, the film puts its hand up at the idea that a girl gets sexist treatment or even get her own story told. Instead, Terry builds empathy for the challenges of the put upon male. In the process, she throws her own gender under the bus.

’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents podcast hosts Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts (pictured above in what we admit is some terrible Photoshop, but fun nonetheless), Gen Z, look at this and other examples of how Just One of the Guys affected a generation, for good and bad. Along the way, they discuss what’s outrageous about high school life today.