Better Off Dead: Teens Are Absurd

This movie was selected by our Patreon Supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard! 

Shirleon & Kathryn join Melvin to talk about a much-loved 80’s cult-classic comedy; Better Off Dead! Are teen years really like that? Can we enjoy the comedic work of someone controversial? Did everything work? Tune in and find out!

Topics:

• Editor’s Note: No Patreon Exclusive discussion! But, I do intend to trim this episode down from its original 1:21:19 length, so if you want to hear the UNCUT version, tune in on Patreon here!
• Kathryn feels Better Off Dead is a movie that people will hate if they despise being uncomfortable.
• For Shirleon, the film was too “kitchen sink”: fully of ideas but nothing to do with them.
• The comedy progressively becomes more absurd with each passing scene.
• If the comedy doesn’t work for someone, there isn’t much in terms of narrative to hold on to.
• Talking the Dan Schneider problem.
• Being a teenager is hard, even if teens are irresponsible.
• As always: the ending.

Recommendations:

• A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your Home by Jason Arnopp (2015) (Short Story)
• The Brainrot Apocalypse (a DIY survival guide) (2025) (YouTube)
• Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2025) (Movie)

Better Off Dead is Rated PG. It features John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Kim Darby, Damian Slade, Scooter Stevens, Diane Franklin, Laura Waterbury, Dan Schneider, Yuji Okumoto, and Brian Imada. Directed by Savage Steve Holland. Better Off Dead is available here.

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Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

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