KARI MEDLER
I went home last Saturday to spend Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend.

To avoid the crowd at the movie theater, we decided to rent a movie and order a pizza.

Since it was both Valentine’s Day and Saturday night, the new release section at the movie store was really bare. Left with limited choices we decided to rent one of our favorite old movies, "The Goonies."

The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, is about a group of friends, the Goonies, who are trying to save their homes. They are faced with losing their beloved neighborhood and moving away from their friends because of a rich man who wants to turn their homes into a golf course.

Their parents are unable to pay the money needed to save their homes and are about to sign foreclosure papers.

Looking at their last weekend together, the Goonies find a map that leads to a pirate’s treasure. The Goonies go on a dangerous adventure filled with fugitives and booby traps to find the treasure and save the day.

Watching "The Goonies" brought back fun childhood memories and made me realize that the Goonies are a lot like you and me.

The original Goonies:

Mikey--the dreamer of the group, who is positive that the tale of One-Eyed Willie is true

Brandon--Mikey’s older brother, who thinks Mikey is just chasing after a myth

Mouth--the sarcastic joker in the group

Chunk--the exaggerator, who has a weakness for food

Data--a true inventor at heart

Andy--Brandon’s crush; she is afraid of the challenge, but learns to overcome her fears

Steph--Andy’s best friend

One-Eyed Willie--The pirate from the old legend

The Fratellis--Fugitives wanted for counterfeit and other crimes

Sloth--The Fratellis' hidden son, who is disfigured and abnormal

"The Goonies" is more than just a funny kids movie from 1985, it is a movie that has lessons for all ages.

So I give you life lessons from "The Goonies."

  • Always believe in yourself even when others doubt you. Data’s friends laughed at his inventions. He never gave up on them even though they were a little rusty at first and in the end one of his crazy inventions saved him from a booby trap.

  • Don’t judge someone by the way they look. The Goonies were terrified by Sloth when they first saw him. His deformed and abnormal looks made them perceive him as a monster. They learned that Sloth was really a sweet and lovable person who would sacrifice himself to save his new friends.

  • Sometimes the good guy actually gets the girl. Andy choose Brandon over Troy Perkins, a snobby rich boy with a new Mustang. She liked Brandon for who he was and looked past the fact that he failed his driving exam and still had to ride his bike.

  • Learning a second language can really pay off. If Mouth did not know Spanish the Goonies would not have been able to read the treasure map or any of the warnings along the way.

  • If you tell too many lies, eventually even when you tell the truth no one will believe you. Chunk was always exaggerating, like his story of Michael Jackson eating dinner with his family. When he called the police to help his friends escape from the Fratellis, the officer did not believe him, thinking it was just another one of Chunk’s tall tales.

  • Don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of your dream. Mikey was sure that the story of One-Eyed Willie was true. He was determined to find Willie’s treasure and save the town, even when his friends thought his idea was crazy.

  • Don’t be greedy. When the Goonies found the treasure they left One-eyed Willie his personal treasure. Taking it would have set off another one of Willie’s booby traps.

  • Sometimes you should pass up dessert. Chunk could not resist stealing ice cream from the old restaurant. What he found in the freezer was not the rocky road he expected but a dead body.

    We are all faced with problems in life. There are many booby traps along the way that make it harder to reach our goals.

    Sometimes we give up on our dreams. Sometimes we fight for them.

    The Goonies did what they thought was impossible. They saved their homes and found a pirate’s treasure.

    While most of us are not searching for treasures or running from fugitives, it would not hurt us to have the same kind of spirit as the Goonies.

    There is a Goonie inside of all of us, now we just have to find him.