Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Our parents, they want the best of stuff for us. But right now they gotta do what’s right for them, ’cause it’s their time… their time—up there. Down here it’s our time. It’s our time down here. That’s all over the second we ride up Troy’s bucket.
(Photo via Bo Nash)
Interviewer: “What kind of actor do you really want to be?”
Jeff Cohen: “A rich one.”
These are giveaways from Pizza Hut, I believe. I watched a bootleg copy of The Goonies every night during the summer of 1985.
(Images via eBay)
These are from the 1980 Libertyville (a northern suburb of Chicago) High School Yearbook, courtesy of edenpictures/Flickr. John Olson’s explanation of the game on the first page may be the best one I’ve ever heard.
Interesting how they’re referred to as the Dungeons and Dragons people. Why not players? Or fans? Maybe because no one really understood them. They were those people. They were Goonies.
And what about the crux of the blurb: “The game provides its participants with the action, battle, and adventure they may never find in real life”? Isn’t the act of pretending a real life event? If I imagine that I’m swinging a sword at a red dragon while rolling a d20, am I not finding adventure in real life? It’s a less physical experience than running between the tackles on a football field, but it’s no less real.
Look closely at these kids. They were themselves, and they probably took a lot of shit for it. They were geeks before geeks were cool.
I don’t want to hear it. If a Goonie wants to wear head to toe denim, then by One-Eyed Willie’s rich stuff that Goonie shall wear head to toe denim. Mock him for it at your peril.
God save the Goonies!
2 Warps to Neptune 