A Goofy Movie: A Staple of Black Culture | READUS 101 

It took 7 different render edits (8 if you include me trying to get away with playing the chorus of I2I during the Patreon scroll at the end), BUT WE MADE IT!

My favorite line in the whole movie is when Max says" I'm grown up, I have my own life now". Goofy just says "I know I just wanted to be a part of it." That line gets me in the feelings every time!🥺

This movie is so underrated. I had a troubled past with my dad. We did not have the easiest father son relationship so this movie really hit home with me both as a kid and as an adult. When I was a child I was on Max side, but as an adult I empathize and support Goofy. Cherish the time you have with your parents. You never know how much time you have left. My dad got killed when he was 47. I was 22 at the time and we never got the chance to resolve our problems. It's my biggest regret.

There was a talk at my church about the rod & they brought up the point about the shepherd. "He uses it guide his sheep not beat them". That analogy has stuck with me ever since.

I remember seeing this in theaters as a kid. I didn't understand why at the time, but I remember having really complicated, sad feelings after the scene at the Possum Park. I think it was seeing Goofy trying to share something he loved a lot with Max, and Max not being able to relate to it at all. Coupled with that was the sadness of this busted, old rodeside show that was clearly falling apart. Legitimately haunting for some weird reason lol.

Gotta add that "Stacy, talk to me, talk to me" to more black influence, that's a whole Jodeci Come & Talk to Me reference.

I remember both sympathizing with Max as a kid for feeling like he wasn’t being heard or understood by his parents and also kinda resentful of him because his dad loved him so much. Made huge meals, involved himself in his kids life, planned elaborate trips, and did everything he could to protect him. I would have killed for a dad like that.

It's funny because if Max and Goofy had talked about what happened, Goofy would LOVE what Max did at the assembly.

As a Mexican American lil child I related way too hard with pjs reaction to his dad's punishment, because that was my reality and I envied the hell out of max for not appreciating his dad. Idk how but you condensed my childhood memories in a concise and poignant manner.

I’m not sure how you managed to fit all that into 34 minutes, but you had my attention the entire time. How long have you been chewing on this essay?

Who's here after watching Atlanta?!

I think it's sweet this movie resonated with young black Americans so much. It really does capture a feeling and a mood of the era. To me, Pete and Goofy represented my divorced parents' approaches to raising children. PJ was the spitting image of one of my black friends when I was younger. I'm not from the city so I can't relate in that respect. It was during their time in the rural areas and on the road I most connected with the movie. Makes sense considering that's how I spent a lot of my younger life. Camping, fishing, floating down the river, always in the car going somewhere. Things I loved as a young child that became more quaint and distant as I grew up and developed interests outside of my dad's. Just a fantastic movie. Honorable mentions go out to An Extremely Goofy Movie and the disco scene at the club. The way the dancing is shot, the way characters are framed, the energy, Sylvia Marpole's big natural hair. To me it dripped with the feeling of older black media like Soul Train.

So it’s a literal certified hood classic

A simple answer is that Max had a fly look and vibe to him. He didn’t act like the typical white kids we had to see so it had flavor. He wore clothes that looked like a black teen and walked like a black kid too. Same for some other characters. The movie felt very urban.

Moment that earned the like: "That's why _Euphoria._ No, that's it, that's the whole sentence."

Not black, but my dad used to literally say the phrase "when I say jump, you say how high." And if I said yes or no, he'd stop us and make sure we added the word sir. He definitely conflated intimidation and fear with respect. I love my dad a lot, but it took time to get over that.

"The second hand smoke of the generation that came before you." -- That could not have been better articulated! #subscribed

I didn't know I needed this but I absolutely do!!!! A Goofy Movie was on repeat on my TV as a kid and I was obsessed with it. That scene where they are eating pizza on the water bed, absolute classic 👌🏽

The explanation of "spare the rod, spoil the child" hit me really hard. I got very teary eyed hearing that our perception of what the rod was is not the same rod I thought it was. I'm the youngest out of 4 with all my older siblings being over 10+ years on me. I was spoiled rotten and was often put down often because of it (i.e if I had problems my family said I didn't know what I was talking about, being told I didn't have a valid opinion, being told i was selfish, ect.) And because my sisters knew all about the expression of sparing the rod, I took that expression very seriously when I was a teen because I thought I wasn't "disciplined" enough so I inflicted a lot of emotional baggage on myself in order to "humble" myself and to prove to people that I had a valid enough voice to be heard and not some spoiled kid talk. I still carry with me a bunch of bad habits because of what I did when I was younger such as over worrying over miniscule/unimportant things. In the end, it really didn't matter and how I have to unlearn all that. Putting into perspective of what the rod actually is - well, it's a lot to process, I suppose.

I do appreciate that the movie is not just an OK Boomer film; this movie I think should be taught in schools about how to fix generational conflict I mean really it is it is a perfect distillation of the miscommunication the lack of agency young people have in their lives and adult's need to pass a torch or something similar based solely on their own experiences.

This is such an excellent piece of socio-historical analysis, I wasn't expecting to have feelings about redlining when I clicked on this but I should've known you'd take me to school 😭

Man, I'm a white guy, but the whole thing about discipline, "respect", and lack of proper communication just hit me so hard, it really felt like you've been talking straight to me. I mean, I have never been hit by my parents, but the psychological pressure was surely there, especially from my dad, the same way you interpreted Pete and PJ. I know I'm not the only person who went through that, but you've put into words what I've always felt but couldn't properly explain, in such a relatable way that I kinda feel better, in a sort of "you're not alone bro" manner. Thanks.

It really says something that when I heard “The rod is actually a shepherd’s crook” my mind went “Oh! That sounds way more painful! And it has a longer reach!”

You are about to get mad hits after the last episode of Atlanta!!!!

Its interesting the demos this movie hit with. Watching the trio of Disney Xmas stories with the wife & son i noted how PJ was missing and she asked "who's PJ." "You know, PJ, Peter Junior, Pete the cat's son, Max's best friend" "I dont remember him, are you sure?" "You dont remember the Goofy movie?" "I dont think I've ever seen it... I thought you didnt have disney channel growing up..." "I didnt, but its the goofy movie, the defining disney movie of our generation before toy story came out..." we then pulled it up on Disney+ and watched it and you know it hits different as a parent.... Where you saw both Pete and Goofy as the bad guys as a kid, you see 2 single dad's trying their best based on their differing philosophies of parenting. The line pointed out "You may not agree with how I raise Max, but my son loves me." with the response "My son respects me." gives you the notion that its a non-intersecting ven diagram between the 2 thoughts. But you can have both as Goofy proves in the end.

My boy did it before Donald Glover

I’m Puerto Rican and I was born in 2002, I’m a 90s kid only in soul. I still find everything you laid out here, especially a lot of the parenting stuff, extremely relateable.

Born in 1982, the time this movie came out was PERFECTION. I absolutely adore this movie, even to this day I consider it one of the best Disney movies ever made. Though it doesnt have the global love that Lion King or Frozen has.. it has a million times more heart and realism than those two movies combined. Nobody had 'superpowers' they were just regular people dealing with regular family problems. Also Goofy is just a fantastic dad, I remember being so envious of a father who cared so much for their child as I had pretty neglectful and disrespectful parents who didnt seem to care about me -at all-. Films like this are important for kids who were like me. It really taught me how to problem solve and be truthful even if it means to hurt someone elses feelings. Also the movie was just plain fun and had AMAZING songs!

"Wow this video was good. What if I...." - Donald Glover

Also, that inherent fear of telling one's parents something is present in white households, but I think it boils down to their ages. My parents were MUCH older than normal, with my father already having daughters from a prior marriage who were over a decade older than me. My mother was older, though not that old. Thus, they came with the, "You look at me funny and I'll beat the shit out of you. If someone calls CPS, I'll beat the shit out of you again when I get out of jail," mentality. I think the behaviors you've seen came from people who had younger parents. White boomers were never known to hesitate about beating the FUCK out of their kids for the slightest infractions, because the generation before them did that too, and would go so far as to throw unruly boys out of the house at 12, 13, 14 years old. Male child prostitution was off the charts in the 1970s and 1980s for this very reason, and almost all of them were white boys. I wish I could find the video discussing that with a man who dedicated years into researching it because he was already onto the sex scandals relating to kids in the 1980s. He was killed in... 1984, I think, once he started sharing those findings. He found that black families, for better or for worse depending on the parents, were far less inclined to throw trouble kids out, and would work with them instead (whether that was getting them help, or beating the fuck out of them, was variable). I don't say this to invalidate what you're saying, but more an interesting observation in the dynamics differences and similarities you mention, along with generational differences.

I found this video because Atlanta's next episode has the description "An inside look at the production of the American classic ’A Goofy Movie‘"

And then all of a sudden my youth makes sense! I once told my boyfriend that A Goofy Movie is the most underrated movie ever! And at 36 I still listen to the soundtrack almost every week!!!

This hitting my recommended after that Atlanta episode is wild

It is interesting to see this was made months before FX Atlanta’s The Goof Who Sat by the Door episode. Good work.

Yeah...I agree a lot with what you said about content creators being slightly detached from the generations they portray. As someone who is Gen Z, "Euphoria" at times can come off as a mockery of us. "A Goofy Movie" will forever be a classic in my eyes and this analysis was great. I love that us black people have claimed it.

Here after the latest Atlanta episode. Donald 100% has seen this video

Even though I'm white, I was raised in a lower middle class home with my dad being a former cop and this discussion still resonates with me.

My husband absolutely LOVES this move so I finally gave in and watched it. He was born In 89’ and I was born in 95’. We also watched this with our 5 year old son and he was dancing and laughing along with his dad. I hope I never forget that memory. 😌

Donald Glover took this video very seriously

I’m here after the new Atlanta episode

Atlanta brought me here (if you know, you know)

who here after atlanta episode?

Whos here after the Atlanta episode

You a write for Atlanta 😂 great breakdown family

Haha yeah. I was low key terrified of Pete all the way through the movie because he was such a threat in my head. PJ was the character I associated with most as a kid because by god I would get my ass handed back to me if I had tried anything like that. We were a percussive parenting household sure enough.

My dad and I didn’t get along when I was a kid. His dad was awful and he suffered from depression and anxiety; which was passed down to me. This was a movie he really enjoyed to watch with me. And I lost him last year. I love him, and am grateful we had this when I was a boy.

I hope bro got a writing credit on atl.

My sister and I watched this movie on repeat as kids! I'm glad to hear that it resonated specifically with black millenials. This movie is such gold. Love the Powerline shirt!

Dude, fucking immaculate work. The explanation of "the rod" has blown my god damn mind and just, explaining the core difference by bringing out PJ's received parenting vs that of what Goofy did/didn't do gave me child. Let's fucking go dude. Can't wait to see what's next!

I grew up in the 2000's and I think a tv show that captured that era and being a kid really well was Kids Next Door. It kinda didn't occur to me as a kid but watching it back as an adult, it seemed almost more like a giant neighborhood game within the kid's imaginations that the adults are joining in on than an actual war between adults and kids...

Coming across this video after just watching the episode of Atlanta. I can’t help but feel like the show writers also watched this lol

As a latine queer, I identified a lot with your analysis of the parental styles on goofy and pete. I was raised on beat ups and violence every time I “misbehaved”, and it was a lot being the gay kid of the family and having ahdh. I never felt like I could trust my mom with anything because she would react the way she always did, and it has messed up the way I relate to all the people I care about. I always loved this movie and the sequel, is it feels kinda like a full circle to see this kind of analysis if the film. Thank you for the video 🙌🏽

I found this after watching the Goofy Movie episode on Atlanta! 😂

The show Atlanta brought me here but this theory been floating around.This video is great

I relate the word porcelain to dolls so hearing "porcelain people" literally made my skin crawl and brought on a whole new fear 😂😂😭

Mexican millenial here. And I related a lot to your video since in Mexico this movie was huge! . What I noticed through the years is that black culture and Latino culture has a lot of things in common when it comes to their upbringing. Amazing video 👏

a goofy movie is a masterpiece that transcends all races,religions,ages and creeds. also powerline is the greatest musical artist of any generation and i will personally fight anyone that dares say otherwise.

When you talked about 80s (or late 70s in Grease's case) movies that don't really resonate with Millennials, you reminded me of how Heathers was an 80s movie which really resonated with Millennials (if in later musical form) but not so much with Gen X (as it underperformed on release), probably because of how critical it was of 80s teen movies before it

6:45 I really like that line! “The content you experience is the secondhand smoke of the generation before you”

That's funny, I was just thinking about how most "coming of age" movies I saw in my youth were incredibly alienating to me when growing up, and thus had been stewing on the tragedy that writers could only tell stories about their own upbringing by the time it was too late for the next generation to relate. A Goofy Movie, however, definitely felt the closest to my own experiences growing up, though I could tell I was just a little too young to have caught the cultural wave that Max represented. Now I am a "porcelain person" so I can't say much about the black experience, but I *was* born on that dividing line between late millenial/early zoomer and lived my whole childhood in a poor neighborhood. My dad is and always was a spot-on Goofy: he was single, but women loved him; he was an absolute dork, but owned it; he was a great dancer, but it was outdated; he loved camping, and would often force me on trips; even down to the reluctant trust in authority figures from his own generation and the communication issues with his son, it felt like they based the character on my pops. However, because I was too young to recognise in which ways Goofy was being irresponsible (and possibly because of some self-image issues I was going through at the time) I HATED Max for how he acted in the movie. I still remember my own father's look of horror when I mentioned it, likely because of how much Max reminded him of myself. My best friend was an exact PJ, too; his mom abused him (both mentally and physically) in order to "teach him respect," and she would constantly get into arguments with my dad about the proper way to raise a child. I am so sick of the phrase "spare the rod and spoil the child" that I almost instinctively rolled my eyes when you brought it up. While I recognise now that she had her own problems she was dealing with, I will never forget the emotional damage she had done to him. Still, he was a very respectful young man, and absolutely loved my dad. There was this feeling of economic envy I felt for his family which I projected onto Pete, too-- my bro was never "well off," but his grandparents were, so they could afford stuff like a camper and a home bowling alley just like Pete had. I was waiting the entire video for you to talk about Pete's class as an aspect of your analysis, and it came as a surprise to me that you hadn't. I wanna go more into aspects I related to with a scene-by-scene breakdown, but this post is long enough as it is. Anyway, cool video. I liked the perspective you offered, and it was fun to go down Memory Lane.

Finally we get to see wether or not Goofys black

I can’t be the only one thinking about that one Atlanta episode rn

"The content you experience is the second hand smoke of the generation that came before you"

My parents also used THAT ‘Spare the rod’ definition. They’ve softened up a bit over the years and have endless kindness and forgiveness for their grandchildren of course. Still, us kids (adults now) feared them and I think we all still do, at least a little. This is a fantastic movie and a great analysis! The algorithm has blessed you (and us!) I can tell you out a lot into it. I’m glad to hear that this movie spoke to young black kids. It has so much depth and emotion for a piece of media you’d expect to be silly, mindless fun. Of course, there’s some of that sprinkled in too. And the music!

Me and the homegirls grown asses just watched this last week 🤣 I absolutely love that movie.

Wow saw this video months ago and just watched the newest episode of Atlanta s4 ep 8 and had to come back and rewatch! Great video btw !

I remember watching this video way before season 4 of Atlanta. The universe works in mysterious ways. Black consciousness is always flowing…

In before Donald Glover makes an episode of Atlanta about this

Dang, that was really great. Any time I’m watching a parent child bonding movie, ‘A Goofy Movie’ is always the benchmark I compare it to. It’s so rich and full of life and I’m always really happy when I find someone else who has connected with it like I did. Thanks for the awesome video!

This gotta be where Atlanta got the idea from I didn’t even search for this it was in my recommended good vid 🔥

Why was I so excited to see this randomly show up on my homepage? I watched this movie weekly, *every* summer. Thank you! I was literally having a midlife crisis yesterday; this made me feel like a youth for 30 minutes.

“That’s why Euphoria…” 🤣

Awesome video! Have you seen the mockumentary style Atlanta season 4 episode about how this movie was made?

love that this was recommended to me after Atlanta's episode

I just came from FX’s Atlanta! Have a deeper love and appreciation for this film now!

you bout to blow up fam

See I grew up with an “Extremely Goofy Movie” on dvd and had no idea “A Goofy movie” existed until my older cousins ended up showing me one summer back when I was 12 lol

Wow, what an amazing analysis. You brought up things I never thought about or considered. I grew up in a Hispanic household, and the first years of my life were spent in a poor neighborhood in Austin TX. Now that I think about it, it was probably a redlined area. I've grown up with this movie, and after all those viewings, I never realized that I could relate to PJ. My father was definitely more of a Pete. Keeping us kids under his thumb. I grew up feeling like PJ, having more fear for my father than respect. Being terrified to step out of line, otherwise its a beatdown. Thanks for this analysis, man. I now have a new appreciation for this movie.

A Black man was the C.E.O of Disney at the time and made this movie R.i.P Thomas Washington

Your thesis/review is pretty interesting and I respect the hell of it. For me, when I was a kid, I enjoyed the movie many times, not because of the likeable and memorable characters, but also shows what I have to go through when I become a teenager.

You know it’s funny that growing up I always related to Max and Goofy on the pressure from others to be less close. I remember hearing people regardless of race make comments to my mom about how she wasn’t disciplining me enough and making her feel weak. And peers making me feel like there was inevitably something wrong or weak about me for never having been beaten. Obviously other people would relate to the opposite but I never gave it a lot of thought at the time. It’s just interesting.

The fact that this was made before the Atlanta episode is so awesome. Proves that this was a huge talking point in our community for years at this point

This movie is definitely one of the best Disney movies. Even though I'm a 90's kid, I think I didn't end up seeing this one until late high school. But when I did, it quickly became one of my favorites. Just something about it is so sincere, and I'm a sucker for good wholesome parent-child relationship stuff in movies. I'm not black, but it makes me happy to hear it resonates in a special way with black millennials.

Soulja boy voice : stole my whole flow word for word

God I want that Powerline shirt so badly

Huh, was not expecting an in depth analysis of the differences between Pete and Goofy's parenting when I clicked thise video. Very well done.

Well...I have never felt so engrossed in a commentary in a while. Thank you, I'm a baby millennial born on the cusp literally the month this movie came out lol but I watched it growing up and always felt a deep connection with the story, it makes me feel at home and heard (almost). Definitely subscribing, love it.

Loved this video. Mexican millennial here ✌🏼 out of all Disney movies from the 90s this was one that for sure resonated with me and my sisters growing up with a Mexican mom and African American father in Los Ángeles in the 90s

I liked this movie as a kid and rediscovered it as a young adult. I've thought since then that it's an underrated classic with really good writing. I never saw the animal Disney characters as any particular real-world human race, but I can see through your essay how black kids would have a whole different level of appreciation for the film than I did. Really interesting stuff. Thanks for putting together this essay.

I absolutely love A Goofy Movie! I watched it on TV all the time and I wanted to go to a Powerline concert so bad! 😂 thank you for such a deep and interesting analysis of one of the most underrated Disney films. Edit: also I relate so much to the poverty aspects. I’m white but my school district was poor and mostly black and we had NOTHING most of the time. My high school didn’t have buses and we didn’t do a school play and they used to run out of food in the cafeteria. We definitely didn’t have an AV club either!

I love this channel. I've shown this video to a few of my friends. Very curious what you think of the latest episode of "Atlanta" titled "The Goof Who Sat By The Door." 🤔

I think Donald glover should give you some credit😅😭 Atlanta season 4 episode 8

For those that are sensitive, there are some gnarly flashing lights at 14:09

Yep they saw your video.

This was always my favorite animated movie after seeing it in theaters when I was 11. I never expected to listen to such an amazing take on it. The depth that went into your essay was enlightening. Instant sub!

Saw this movie in theaters twice. And saw it recently on Disney+. Now that I’m older I find myself relating more to goofy than max...but Maybe I’m the only one.

as an adult, it makes me sad to realize so many of the choices my dad made while parenting were born from fears he never really expressed to me when I was a kid. Love any and all readings of this crazy underrated parenting movie

The thing about the 'red-lining'... in a lot of those middle class areas, the schools get defunded, telling the parents and students that they can't have new computers or books or field trips, because that money's going to underprivileged schools. So if the money isn't with the middle class, and the money isn't across the way with the underprivileged schools... hmmm...

The recent episode of Atlanta made me remember this vid existed

Atlanta about to run this up