I’m going to get something out in the open before delving into this sad and frustrating story. I loved Goonies as a kid but it’s a classic case of a film that didn’t age along with me. Star Wars saga, yes. The Princess Bride, yes. Goonies, no. I have a kid of my own now and am looking forward to showing it to her someday but I also fully expect she will not get it. The reason is: it’s not a very good film but many adults have latched onto it in a death-grip of nostalgia. That being said, I know there are a ton of adult fans of the movie and as such, they frequently visit rural Astoria, Oregon to visit set locations. Well, due to rude asshole fans, one major tourist spot from the film has been shuttered.
Every year thousands of Goonies fans would appear at the house that appeared in the film during the classic scene where forerunner to America’s childhood obesity problem Chunk (Jeff Cohen) did his classic “Truffle Shuffle” dance. In order to help round out these fans’ inability to grow up and move on, they left cigarette butts and beer bottles on the property all the time. This is just crappy behavior no matter what but what made it worse is that the house is privately owned by a woman who, while at first was as accommodating as possible, eventually got fed up and now has huge blue tarps covering her home.
It’s unclear what will happen next but if I were that owner, I might consider selling the house. If the city of Astoria had their act together, they would buy it and make it a Goonies museum and maybe allow people to sleep there as well. If you can’t beat e’m, join ‘em. (p.s. I also think Monster Squad is awful now.)
Read the full story at The Independent online…
