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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Why THE KARATE KID is The Most Gen X Movie Ever Made: ’80s MOVIES Podcast

Riley Roberts The Karate Kid Crane Kick podcast 80s Movies

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Today is the 34th Anniversary of The Karate Kid, a movie that continues to resonate with the kids of the ’80s…and Millennials and Generation Z. The film about a bullied teen (Ralph Macchio) who is trained in self-defense by a wise, elderly karate master (Pat Morita) spawned sequels, a spinoff, an animated series, and currently, the fantastic YouTube series “Cobra Kai.” Why does it work?

  1. It’s the ultimate fantasy: taking on and conquering a bully.
  2. The magical mentorship/friendship/surrogate parent-child relationship between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.
  3. The Crane Kick finale

Another reason The Karate Kid resonated with ’80s teens was that it represents how Generation X sees itself: an underdog, a latch-key kid who had to deal with life’s obstacles without a parent around, and who succeeded through hard work. ’80s MOVIES: A GUIDE TO WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOUR PARENTS podcast explores this and how today’s teens view this movie today. Listen to the end: Gen Z co-host Riley Roberts (pictured above) gives substantial and shocking insight of what it’s like to be a teen in today’s drug-filled high schools. Click HERE to check out our comprehensive guide to The Karate Kid. 

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How BULL DURHAM Messed with the Minds of Men and Women – ’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents Podcast

Bull Durham Riley Roberts Susan Sarandon batting cage
Podcaster Riley Roberts gives the Gen Z take on BULL DURHAM. (photo by Victoria Igloi)

Bull Durham is the ultimate rom-com for men. The tagline says it all: “It’s about sex and sport. What else is there?” But the film provides plenty of fantasy for women (and not just Kevin Costner, who was at max dreaminess in 1988). Additionally, as much as it’s sexually progressive, it’s also detrimental.

On the ’80s MOVIES: A GUIDE TO WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOUR PARENTS podcast, ’80s Movie Guide co-founders Tara McNamara (’80s kid) and Riley Roberts (pictured right…age 17, so, still a kid) explore how Bull Durham is to men like Disney Princess movies are to women, creating an unattainable idea of the perfect woman. At the same time, for two hours women could live in an idyllic world where slut-shaming isn’t a thing. However, there’s a tragedy in Annie and Millie: they found a way to be an accepted part of the ballclub, but only by opening their legs.

Listen to the podcast to get historical perspective and to rethink Bull Durham in a whole different way:

Find out why Bull Durham was rad, behind the scenes info, and fun trivia on our Bull Durham page!

 

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FOOTLOOSE Explains Everything Going on in America Right Now: ’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents Podcast

Footloose Dance Your Ass Off Podcast Riley Roberts

Footloose isn’t just a story about a group of kids fighting to have a prom. It’s about:

  • a suicidal girl suffering from depression and no one is noticing all the red flags she’s waving,
  • a community grieving over the loss of their loved ones and grappling to prevent another tragedy,
  • youth fighting “The Man,”
  • religious intrusion: how much we should trust our pastor’s interpretation of scripture versus our own,
  • how in 1980s small-town America, older white men held all the power.

In our “’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents” podcast, mother-daughter movie critics Tara McNamara and 17-year-old Riley Roberts look back at Footloose for why it’s fantastic, how it revolutionized movie marketing, how it took teen movies a different direction, and ultimately, how it’s the hallmark to understand exactly why the United States has become so polarized into “conservative” and “liberal” factions. (really!). Give it a listen and always, always…dance your a** off:

Check out the Footloose page for all the behind-the-scenes info…like who really couldn’t dance, what happened when Kevin Bacon tried to get into character at the local high school, and how the film got the green light and how it almost lost it! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Do Two OVERBOARD Make a Right? ’80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents podcast

riley overboardWith the reboot of Overboard, mother-daughter movie critics Tara McNamara and 17-year-old Riley Roberts explore the original 1987 Goldie Hawn-Kurt Russell rom-com treasure, evaluate if it holds up today, and wonder why no one called out all the white slavery and stuff. The duo also review the new Anna Faris-Eugenio Derbez gender reversal remake and evaluate if the 2018 tweaks work and if it’s worth watching.

The duo have been reviewing and covering films for more than a decade on national TV programs like TODAY, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, INSIDE EDITION. They analyze what’s great about ’80s movies ..and what’s super. duper. messed. up.

Read all about made Overboard a classic, all the behind the scenes info, why it’s so ’80s, and all the headslap moments: https://80smovieguide.com/overboard/