The 80's

When it came down to time to think about having kids, it was an exciting time. A new adventure in our lives. Giving names to your children is a daunting task. The pressure is intense. This is the name that they will have for the rest of their lives. You really don’t want to screw that up.

My wife was considering a more traditional route. For a girl, Catherine, and for a boy, Matthew. These are fine names. I had a little something different in mind. Something I had put a lot of thought into and had been dreaming for 20+ years.

I wanted to name our first child Breakin’. That’s right. And the second child…Breakin’ Two: Electric Boogaloo. How frickin’ awesome is that. They would be the coolest kids in school, no doubt.

Man, I loved that movie, Breakin’ Two: Electric Boogaloo. It was an endearing classic in my mind. Think about it…it was West Side Story set in 1984. Instead of fist fights between rival gangs, they had dance-offs.

It was all like, “Oh, you think you gonna shut down our rec center? Well, let me show you what I think about that,” prompting our star to bust in to a very sick break dance involving, but not limited to, the worm, a funky leg kick thing that eventually evolved into a extra-long head spin finalized by a dramatic, but defiant, back spin. “Nice one Turbo,” “Thanks Ozone.”

It was a message of powerful independence to the money grubbing corporate fat cats that were constantly trying to repress the kindred spirits of the day’s youth. A group desperately searching for an identity after a harmful disco era.

Man, the 80’s was where it was at. I argue that not since this decade has Hollywood produced such quality cinema. There is one movie in particular that really helped define a generation. And it’s star…a brilliant actor that has been callously blocked from a well deserved Oscar. I am, of course, talking about Sylvester Stallone in the epic film “Over The Top,” portraying the time-honored battle of good versus evil.

The basic premise of the movie was arm wrestling. A daring, but brilliant choice. Sure, there was an underlying theme of an estranged father trying to reconnect with his son, but constantly being interfered with by an angry grandfather, but the main thing was the arm wrestling.

There was one particular scene that explains the whole movie, if not the entire decade. The scene is set at the national arm wrestling championships in Las Vegas. They were interviewing the ahletes…excuse me, arm wrestling contestants in between their matches. Right before his next big match, Stallone’s character sits in his wife beater, his muscles bulging and sweaty, perched in front of the grand prize, which just happens to be an 18-wheeler, the chosen profession of our hero. Again, brilliant. The reporter asks him how he gets motivated for a match. He calmly, but confidently looks into the camera and says, (please imagine Mr. Stallone’s voice here) “What I do is take my hat and kind of turn it around and it’s like a switch that turns me on. It makes me feel strong…kind of like this truck.”

Simply brilliant. No other words can describe this. I get emotional just thinking about it. The 80’s is where it was at!