What Does The Goonies Title Actually Mean

What Does The Goonies Title Actually Mean?

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1985’s The Goonies is a classic, but not many realize that the name of the titular group has two interesting meanings.

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What Does The Goonies Title Actually Mean

Richard Donner’s The Goonies is a classic adventure comedy from 1985 that follows a group of kids, who call themselves “The Goonies,” as they go on an adventure in search of the missing treasure of a pirate known as One-Eyed Willy. While the story is simple enough, the film has had a big influence on modern media, especially those that are deeply rooted in ’80s nostalgia. Yet, despite its influence on an entire generation, there are a lot of people who are not familiar with the reason behind its name because the film doesn’t really explore its origins. As such, figuring out what “the Goonies” means requires a bit of sleuthing.

The Meaning of the Word “Goonie”

What Does The Goonies Title Actually Mean

While The Goonies never goes into detail about the group’s name, there are plenty of sources that can give a clue of its origins. For instance, one source for the word “goonie” can be found on Wiktionary. While there are three entrees for its meaning, there is one that truly sticks out. One slang definition for the term is “a foolish, silly, or awkward person or thing.” This certainly matches with the personalities of the film’s leads.

From Chunk’s (Jeff Cohen) strange story about pretending to get sick at a movie theatre to Mouth’s (Corey Feldman) inability to not spout cheeky insults at anyone who will listen, The Goonies is full of characters that fall under the category of foolish, silly or awkward. One of the most noticeable examples, however, is the motive that drives the story forward in the first place. Mikey’s (Sean Astin) insistence on searching for the lost treasure of One-Eyed Willy, while working in his favor by the end, was considered a fool’s errand by most of the group, which is understandable. His persistent desire to put himself in danger just to save his neighborhood from being bulldozed, as noble as it may be, is kind of a foolish move on his part.

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The In-Universe Explanation for The Goonies’ Name

In addition to this, though, there is another in-universe meaning behind the “Goonies” name. It comes from a scene that was ultimately deleted from the film. The “Goonies Oath,” which was a piece of dialogue that was meant to serve as a symbolic way of initiating a new member into the group, had included a hint at the name’s true origin. In the first line of the oath, the inductee must promise to “never betray [their] Goon Dock friends.” In The Goonies, Mikey and his friends live in the boondocks of Astoria, so this oath implies that their group’s name derives from their own neighborhood’s nickname.

This adds an interesting layer of world-building to the story that traditional filmgoers didn’t get to see, as the suggestion of the neighborhood having a nickname, especially one such as “Goon Docks,” adds a cultural layer to the film’s fictionalized version of Astoria. The idea that the Goonies’ neighborhood is given a name often associated with thugs and henchmen shows how upper-class residents, such as Mr. Perkins and his son, Troy, view that part of town and its inhabitants.

It puts into perspective just how ill-treated the people living in the boondocks are and why the Goonies’ search for One-Eyed Willy’s treasure mattered. While it may seem trivial on the surface, the Goonies’ setting is so ingrained in their backstory that they were willing to risk their lives just to save it.

Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/goonies-title-meaning-explained/

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