I Finally Watched: 'Airheads'
The movie this week is one I recorded, watched, and deleted: Airheads. I recorded it again recently and watched it Monday night (I’ve been too busy to watch anything the last couple Sundays).
A trio of aspiring rockers break into a radio station to play their demo on air. However, their mission goes sideways and turns into a hostage situation broadcast live. That’s when the party starts.
I remember Airheads playing on HBO a lot when we subscribed in 1994 or 1995, but I never saw the whole thing. It’s a fun, funny flick with loveable characters played by soon-to-be household names and features a ton of cameos. It’s an enjoyable trip down musical memory lane to what became a very poignant era and year in music, at least for Gen Xers and us older millennials.
First of all, the cast is awesome. It may not have been as star-studded at the time, but it’s become that way. Brendan Fraser (Chazz), Steve Buschemi (Rex), and Adam Sandler (Pip) are The Lone Rangers. (“You can’t pluralize the Lone Ranger!”) Joe Mantegna (Ian), Michael McKean (Milo), Michael Richards (Doug), and David Arquette (Carter) are among those working at the radio station. Judd Nelson of The Breakfast Club fame plays a record company exec, and Ernie Hudson, Chris Farley, and Harold Ramis are police officers. The cameos are off the hook as well: White Zombie, Lemmy, Kurt Loder, Beavis and Butt-head (that’s right: cartoon characters make a cameo in a live-action movie), and Sandler-movie staple Allen Covert (Grandma’s Boy is among the movies on my DVR). The Lone Rangers are convincing rockers, and Sandler is the loveable but crazy and loud doofus America fell in love with in the nineties.
Airheads takes place during a momentous and interesting time in music—at least for me. The type of metal Chazz and Rex seem to embody (leather jacket and long hair type metal à la Guns N’ Roses) is on the wane while the rap and alt metal (think Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Rage Against the Machine) that Pip seems to represent is on the rise. Oddly absent is the sound that became symbolic of the early and mid-nineties: grunge. Chazz references it when speaking to a caller—“You actually listen to that Seattle bullshit?”—but that’s about it. It’s a big omission, especially since it was a major force by 1994. It may have even died in ’94 with Kurt Cobain, but that’s a discussion for a different post.
On that note, I feel Airheads is outdated in that way. The Lone Rangers’s style and sound seem too much of a good fit for Headbangers Ball by 1994. Maybe I don’t remember that era or genre as well as I think I do, but I think eighties-style headbanging metal was way past its prime when Airheads was released. Checking Wikipedia, I see that Headbangers Ball was canceled in 1995.
An interesting dynamic emerges between The Lone Rangers and Ian, the DJ. Ian is portrayed as being disillusioned by the bands he’s playing and tells Chazz at one point, “No offense, but today’s music doesn’t have a whole lot to say.” Chazz is tired of people like Ian jamming classic rock down his throat. It’s indicative of a cycle of intergenerational conflict I’ve become aware of, one that smacks of ageism. I’ve heard baby boomers disparage “today’s music” all my life, bash and dismiss the music and style preferences of Gen Xers and millennials, and now I’m starting to hear people my age do that same regarding the generation younger than ours. I don’t want any part of that, mostly because I think it’s a sign of becoming an old curmudgeon. As Ian says to Milo, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old!” I find it distasteful to disparage the preferences of others because they happened to grow up during a different era.
Besides The Lone Rangers, not much is known about the other characters, especially those at the station. Little is revealed about Suzzi, Marcus, Carter (whose role is very vague), Yvonne, or Doug. Thinking about it now, some scenes establish duties at the station and others reveal personalities, but I couldn’t help feeling those characters are underdeveloped. Do they need more development? Maybe not, but I wanted more.
The Lone Rangers are not the best or brightest hostage takers. They don’t mean to be, of course, but they’re careless and lax, though Rex takes it very seriously for a time. There are a number of scenes where they could easily be overpowered by the hostages or police. Though menacing at first, they warm to the hostages and vice versa. It is definitely an example of the Stockholm syndrome mentioned in a movie that took place in the building next door: Die Hard. In contrast to Die Hard, the police response is quite muted. There are friendly exchanges between The Lone Rangers and police—so friendly, I’m sure the police could have used the opportunity to capture the three musicians. This is a comedy, of course, so it’s not the most realistic movie on purpose.
How realistic is the movie’s portrayal of the radio business? I have some radio experience, and aspects of the movie match it. I think Airheads provides a convincing behind-the-scenes peek at radio. That’s one reason why I was drawn to the movie back in the day, when I was an aspiring DJ. It’s one of the reasons why I like the movie after finally watching it.
