If you ever have any questions about my sense of humor, look no further than Shelley Long in the 1989 masterpiece Troop Beverly Hills for answers. Many know Shelley Long from Cheers, but I will always know her as Phyllis Nefler, the wealthy Beverly Hills housewife who is in the process of separating from her husband and trying to connect with her young daughter, played by baby Jenny Lewis. This film about a group of affluent outcasts trying to sell cookies to their Beverly Hills neighborhood is not only fabulously camp, but it is the age old tale of underdogs winning in the end due to the power of integral friendship. This film also shows that no matter how wealthy you are, you still must face the dawn of adversity while breaking up and growing up. Don’t let the 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes fool you. With a witty script and a mid act musical number about cookie time, this movie is one you shouldn’t skip.
First, we need to talk about the outfits. A moment of appreciation for the looks:
Watching this as a child, I was made to believe that Phyllis Nefler made her Troop Outfit (or Troop Cape?) on her own, along with a bunch of other stylish getups. Phyllis becomes her daughter’s Troop Leader to prove to her ex husband that she can start and finish something on her own other than a shopping spree on Rodeo Drive. Her daughter, who has her own gymnastics balance beam in one of the numerous rooms of the house, loves her mom and roots for her no matter what. The girls in the troop come from families of plastic surgeons, therapists, Hollywood movie directors, and investors. There is an amazing sequence of the girls getting dropped off at the first troop meeting that introduces them as individual young women who have more depth and personality than just girls coming from wealth, and I love that. Phyllis’s nemesis becomes a woman named Velda Plendor, a presumed middle class woman who is the troop leader of the Culver City Red Feathers. Yes, Velda’s troop wears red feathers in their braided hair, and no, not one indigenous person is a part of their troop. Yikes? A young Tori Spelling plays Velda’s cold-hearted daughter and we see her in all of her pre-90210 glory. Velda is not commercially beautiful nor does she try to be. She is tough as nails and is the quintessential opposite of what Phyllis Neffler is, and this is by design. Velda must beg borrow and steal in order to out smart Phyllis and her troop because nothing insults her more than a beautiful woman from Beverly Hills getting her way. This is the opposite of what we usually see in films, it is usually the ugly social outcast we are made to root for, the class underdog we are told deserves to win the most. But this is flipped on its head in this film when the rich beautiful woman is the outcast and must use her shopping smarts in order to prevail. Perhaps Velda has historically been made to feel less than by women like Phyllis and that’s why she despises her so. Fun fact, the actress who plays Velda is a woman named Betty Thomas who went on to direct films like Can't Hardly Wait, Doctor Dolittle, and John Tucker Must Die.
While this movie promotes the theme of feminism, it often haggles Phyllis as the punchline. Phyllis is still locked into a world ruled by men and we see that proven when she succumbs to having her ex husband (who lives in the massive pool house next door) open a jar of tomato sauce for her because she just isn’t strong enough to open it on her own. Phyllis is a women who married into wealth, and by her actions, tone of voice, and manicured nailbeds, she is perhaps born from wealth herself. But she is open minded to learning new things and becoming a better and more rounded person and strives to understand those who are different from her, and that’s what I’ve always loved about this movie. When she is ostracized for being “different” from the regular moms and cast deep into the woods with no clue how to survive in the wilderness, she still has an optimistic view of the world. Also, it is important to know that much of this movie is a satire of rich wealthy white mothers of the 80s and, even though they may be clueless most of the time, they are trying their best to be good mothers, even when they screw up.
The commentary of out of touch parents has perhaps always been with us since the dawn of time, but it is more prevalent when wealth comes into play. In 2022, the average cost of a home in Beverly Hills is 15 Million dollars, and Southern California neighborhoods like Beverly Hills and Huntington Beach historically swing right when it comes to politics. With her frivolous attitude and her extreme positivity about her future opportunities while going through a divorce in the 1980s, it could be argued that Phyllis Neffler is a person who votes in favor of her taxes if she votes at all. This movie takes place in the present day of filming, 1989 (or 1988 depending on post production?) and the girls in the group are about 13-15 years old in age, meaning they would’ve all been born in the 70s, making them part of Gen X. Raised by the Baby Boomers, Gen X used to be called the “middle child generation” as they were usually overlooked in their formative years when it came to including them in the national discussion of politics, socioeconomic issues, and social commentary. Surprisingly enough, Gen X is the most conservative generation as of the writing of this article, surpassing the Boomers ahead of them in their stance to the right. (This article talks all about it, it is a really interesting read!) Gen X would go on to raise Millennial children, and these children would live through recessions, the birth of the internet, and a reality TV star president. It is also worth noting that Gen X was coming of age during a time when rent was around $300 flat, and gas prices were a manageable $0.73 cents a gallon. Gen X would not be able to relate to their children’s coming of age because their experiences had been so starkly different in comparison. As of the writing of this blog post, gas is around 6 dollars a gallon, and the average price for a one bedroom apartment in any major city in America is $2100 a month.
Although the majority of us cannot relate to being staggeringly wealthy and living in lavish mansions in Beverly Hills, this film makes a point to make us laugh when it shows that rich people can indeed be relatable, even when their plight is seemingly silly. One of the most dramatic parts of the film is when Phyllis is at her all time low, her dark night of the soul. She has locked herself in her massive master bedroom because she feels like a total failure in every aspect of her life. What does she do? She drinks countless bottles of expensive Evian water to drown her sorrows. Another point of comedic tragedy in the movie is when one of the girls in the troop is devastated that her parents, who overlook and ignore her, forget her birthday. She exclaims, “They’re in Monte Carlo!” and all the girls and adults in the room have nothing but sympathy for her because in their bubble, this is a common problem to have and Monte Carlo is a common place for parents to be. The troop gets together and bakes her a cake with birthday candles, and make her birthday worth while; it is all very heartwarming.
The film's third act sequence of the Wilderness Jamboree felt so scary and important and dangerous to me when I watched this film as a kid, and I am happy to report that the tension still holds up. I won't spoil the ending, but this film concludes with Troop Beverly Hills celebrating their participation in the Jamboree and the growth they have made since the start of the film. Isn't it always fun when it's the friends we make along the way that counts the most?
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