There was a brief period in the 1980s – riding high off the success of 1982’s smash hit ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ – that kids became heroes. Not sophisticated, annoyingly precocious moppets, but kids. A generation of children had grown up facing a waning economy and spike in divorce rates, and those children – with names like Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, and Joe Dante – were now shepherding their tales of isolation, alienation, and adventure to the big screen.

There’s probably no better example of this wave – other than ‘E.T.’, maybe – than 1985’s ‘The Goonies’, written by Chris Columbus, directed by Richard Donner, and produced by Steven Spielberg. In ‘The Goonies’, kids are awkward and authentic; they curse, scream, flirt, and cry in a way that you don’t see too often anymore. Was it because the audience grew out of it, so studios lost interest? Or were audiences too frightened by what they saw out of an exaggerated sense of “protecting the childrenâ€?

To help discuss these weighty matters, we welcome our very good friend Antonio Jones, who’s working on the ‘Film Fodder’ podcast, his upcoming ‘Behind the Desk’, and wants you to visit ‘Josh vs. the World’! In The Goonies and Child Endangerment, we talk about the “everybody gets a trophy†culture, how effected we should be by ‘The Hunger Games’, and just how many dangers were lurking in the shadows throughout the 1980s…

Captain America: The Winter Soldier drops on Blu-ray Sept. 9. We will be giving away a free copy to our growing number of Blockheads, but only if you come out and support us by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter. We have to reach 300 likes – because we’re needy – and 200 followers on Twitter and, as the Blockhead Army grows, we’ll have more great giveaways and events!