The Best Comedies of the ’80s Are Built on the Most Comforting Lies Ever
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Like many adults, I always revisit my favorite children’s movies. This is mostly driven by nostalgia, but I also enjoy watching old movies with new eyes. Most of the time, I discover a few things about these popular movies that I never noticed before. On a really good day, reading these movies helps me learn a thing or two about how they helped shape my childhood. That detail can be more than a little sobering at times, which is what happened when I recently revisited 1989’s. A Very Good Trip with Tedconsidered by many to be the best (or, at least, the you are so stupid) ’80s comedy of all things.
The film is about the titular duo traveling back and forth through time, gathering famous people to achieve their stage of history. If they fail, the future will fall apart because these two would-be rockers are mysteriously the key to turning our dystopian world into a Star Trek-like utopia. The film doesn’t really explain how this is supposed to happen, which is part of the weird charm I enjoyed as a kid. As an adult, I realized that everything A Very Good Trip with TedHappiness is based on a comforting lie that parents have spent decades telling children: you can be anything you want when you grow up.
In case you haven’t seen it (fake!), A Very Good Trip with Ted centers on two high school seniors who are in danger of failing a history class. The consequences of this (as Ted’s father sends him to military school) will completely destroy their dreams of becoming a famous rock’n’roll star. Fortunately, they are given a time machine by a mentor from the future, which allows them to collect historical statistics and deliver a historical presentation good enough to save their grade. As for the time traveling guest, he is invested in Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) because their music has somehow turned the future into a utopia where everyone is so down on each other.
As a young music-loving child, I loved the simplicity of this principle: that the world is just one melody away from achieving universal unity. War, famine, disease. What if it could all be topped off with some good music and a few good vibes? As I got older, I realized the rigor of the premise, but I still enjoyed it as part of the comedy of the tongue-in-cheek film. However, when I became a parent, I realized that the film’s narrative is firmly based on lies told to children by generations of parents. That is, that children can be whatever they want to be when they grow up.
The party’s over, folks
Parents who tell children “you can be anything you want to be” Yes, they are doing everything they can to avoid limiting their children’s experiences. Adolescence is a time of curiosity and hope, and this encouragement for parents is an easy way to show both. Unfortunately, after watching similar movies A Very Good Trip with Tedmany of these children end up crashing because of failure. This is because their parents and their favorite movies preach that their greatness is guaranteed. Like Bill and Ted, these kids should have a happy ending that is not predetermined. And like Bill and Ted, they don’t have to worry about how to make their happy future happen.
In case you think I’m just an old fart, research backs me up on this. For example, a 2017 study from Digital Third Coast and C+R Research found that while most people end up in some form of administrative or office work, 0 percent of the young people who were interviewed said that this is the type of work they want to do. The sad difference here is obvious: if no one wants to do the most common work when they grow up, we can say that many (if not most) young people will be disappointed about their future work, and will probably criticize themselves.
As psychologist Juli Fraga wrote in 2025, we tell children that they can achieve anything they put their minds to. First, they may begin to blame themselves when things don’t go their way, internalizing that they are somehow at fault (obviously, they should have wanted it more and didn’t use it enough!). Second, they may grow skeptical over time when they realize that hard work does not always bring success or happiness. Fraga concluded that children would be much better off if their parents were just honest and faced the facts about children’s goals, how they are achievable, and how to prepare themselves today for a successful future.
You’ll Never Go Home Again
That’s not exactly what happened in between A Very Good Trip with Ted. Although the biological parents are the worst in the film, Rufus (George Carlin) acts as a stepfather to the boys, and is the one who assures them that they are destined for greatness. In a practical way, these guys should save the world with their amazing music! But the film ends by showing us that Bill and Ted are still playing rough, even though Rufus humorously assures the audience that do get better.”
We don’t see that, of course. In fact, one after the other, the two got better off-screen, using time travel to eventually master their craft before returning to the big concert. Even the last film in the trilogy doesn’t explain, automatically, how playing a song (even a really big one) will make the world a better place. This is because it was never the point of the franchise. The point is that these two can easily reach greatness what he wants bad enough, that will never really work. But hey, it sends a comforting message to those of us who secretly stream the first movie from our office!
Whether you’re at work, at home, or maybe getting ready to play with your band, now you can stream A Very Good Trip with Ted free on Tubi. It may be powered by the biggest lie of your childhood, but the movie is still full of great performances, funny jokes, and silly ’80s vibes. Know that it was the first role of John Wick star Keanu Reeves, and you have a movie that may (may) fill the void left by your unfulfilled childhood dreams.
