How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Goonies.
Quote #1
CHUNK: Everything. Okay, I'll talk. In third grade I cheated on my history exam. In fourth grade I stole my Uncle Max's toupee and I glued it on my face when I played Moses in my Hebrew school play. In fifth grade I knocked my sister Edie down the stairs and I blamed it on the dog...
Adults often have to watch how they phrase things, because sometimes the most innocent turn of phrase can confuse a younger audience. Such is the case here, when the Fratellis demand that Chunk tell them "everything." To them, that means "everything related to the map and the treasure." But to Chunk, it literally means ev.ery.thing.
Well, everything he's ashamed of anyway. Which seems to be quite a lot. Kid's been busy.
Quote #2
MIKEY: I forgot. But still...don't you realize? The next time we see sky it'll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it'll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the bestest 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."
Here's that youthful optimism on display. Mikey, without a ton of experience out there in the real world, refuses to accept that things are the way that they are. In this case, that ends up being a good thing, since it spurs him on to discover Willy's treasure and save the Goonies' homes.
But what about in all of the instances where there's nothing a kid can do? It could be that, when someone is overly optimistic about how they're going to swoop in and save the day, and then that swooping never happens…well, it can turn an optimist into a pessimist pretty quick.
Quote #3
MIKEY: Where are you guys going?
DATA: Men's room, Mikey.
MOUTH: Yeah, we're going to the men's room.
A kid reaches a certain age where…they don't want to be a kid anymore. Even if they resent adults for setting strict rules, or not being able to have fun, or just being generally old and crotchety, there can still be a part of them that can't wait to grow up and take on all the privileges of adulthood.
The only problem is that they don't often stop to think that the trade-off includes taking on all the responsibilities of adulthood as well. Just ask a ten-year-old how badly they want to file taxes and start shopping around for life insurance.
Quote #4
MIKEY: I saw this on the Hardy Boys once. We lead a trail of jewels into one cave, and then hide out in another, and when the Fratellis go into that cave, then we can make a run for it.
If you ever hear anyone referencing The Hardy Boys, it's a safe bet that their voice hasn't stopped cracking yet.
This line not only points out the youth of the speaker because of the reading material he mentions, but also because of his plan to fool the Fratellis. It's juvenile—the sort of thing you'd never hear an older person proposing. But maybe it's just that sort of youthful, out-of-the-box thinking that got them that far in the first place…so who are we to judge?
Quote #5
ANDY: Hey, Mikey. Hey, you know, you're a great little kid, uh…person. And you know, you keep kissing girls the way you do, and the parts of you that don't work so good…they're gonna catch up to the ones that do.
The Goonies doesn't spend all that much time focusing on the puberty aspect of childhood, but there is one storyline that reminds most of us why we never want to go back to thirteen again.
We're not sure if Mikey has feelings for his big brother's girl, or whether he's just excited about the whole unexpected kissing episode, but this conversation had to be awkward for him. No young boy wants to hear an attractive older girl talking about his "parts" catching up. At least he'll have something to talk about in counseling.