“Troop Beverly Hills”: A Movie with a Moral Compass

“We’re the girls from Beverly Hills 1234; shopping is our greatest skill!!” Those were the lyrics sung in a film that sometimes gets overlooked.

“Troop Beverly Hills,” a film directed by Jeff Kanew, was released in theaters on March 24, 1989. Unfortunately, it did not do well at the box office. In addition, it was received poorly by the critics. However, after being shown on TV in the 1990s, the film began to gain a cult following.

Nowadays, many podcasters and social media pages have discussed the charm of “Troop Beverly Hills” that moviegoers in 1989 missed. The critics, for that matter, also missed it. Although some people may assume that this movie is childish, they will find that many life lessons can be learned from watching it.

Plot

“Troop Beverly Hills” takes place in ritzy Beverly Hills, California. Phyllis Nefler, played by Shelley Long, is a wealthy woman with an undeniable passion for shopping and spending money extravagantly. Phyllis and Freddy Nefler (Craig T. Nelson) are going through a messy divorce. In the middle of all of it is Hannah (Jenny Lewis), their 12-year-old daughter.

Phyllis decides to become the leader of Hannah’s Wilderness Girls troop in Beverly Hills. However, she does not like the outdoors and seems to be very unstructured. Adding to the problems is the fact that her daughter’s troop, Troop Beverly Hills, doesn’t have the best reputation with the Wilderness Girls of America. They have not been productive at selling cookies or earning patches.

Phyllis

As you can imagine, the group of girls who join Hannah in her troop are stereotypical Beverly Hills children. They are rich, spoiled, and feel entitled. However, there was one more aspect of them that made it harder for Phyllis to mentor them: they were unmotivated.

Phyllis approaches her role as a troop leader in an untraditional manner. However, although her ways have nothing to do with nature, she slowly motivates the girls.

Velda (Betty Thomas), the leader of another Wilderness Girls troop, the Red Feathers, has a huge disdain for both Phyllis and Troop Beverly Hills. Velda even gets her assistant, Annie (Mary Gross), to spy on Phyllis and the girls to ensure that they don’t succeed. Meanwhile, it doesn’t seem like Phyllis and Freddy are going to reconcile for Hannah’s sake.

Eventually, Annie finds that Phyllis and the Beverly Hills troop are not so bad after all, and they’re merely trying to find their place among Wilderness Girls. Also, she realizes that Velda is not a courageous leader but rather a ruthless dictator.

After initially doubting their capabilities, the Troop Beverly Hills girls begin to believe in themselves. Although Phyllis is hesitant at first, she and the troop enter a Jamboree. It’s quite a challenge, as both Phyllis and the girls must venture through the woods. With teamwork and perseverance, though, the girls stick together and become the winners. To add to a perfect happy ending, Phyllis and Freddy reunite.

Life Lessons Learned from “Troop Beverly Hills”

Never Doubt Someone’s Capabilities

When Troop Beverly Hills is put together at the start of the film, there’s the assumption from the audience that neither they nor Phyllis will be able to succeed. However, although they take an unconventional approach to earning patches and selling cookies, they are proving that they can all work together for the greater good. At the conclusion of the film, although they are not ‘robust mountain women,’ as they say, the teamwork of Troop Beverly Hills indicates that they can overcome challenges. Therefore, the viewing audience is proven wrong about their abilities.

Never Judge a Book by Its Cover

Wealthy movie characters, especially during the 1980s, were often portrayed as villains. In the case of this film, it’s the reverse. Upon the introduction of some of the girls’ characters, it’s arguably hard to like some of them. However, as their characters get more developed, the audience realizes they have problems just like everybody else. In fact, one of their biggest problems is that they feel stigmatized about their wealth and social status. They assume that people think that they’re incapable of performing extracurricular activities due to their rich, sheltered lifestyle. However, they prove them wrong in the end.

In addition, the Troop Beverly Hills girls turn out to have more of a moral compass than their Wilderness Girl rivals. During the Jamboree, Velda, who is leading the Red Feathers, breaks her ankle. This causes her troop to abandon her in hopes of reaching the end of the finish line first. Troop Beverly Hills finds her. Although hesitant at first to help her because of the way she had treated them, Troop Beverly Hills carries Velda with them to the finish line.

Love Conquers All

At the beginning of “Troop Beverly Hills,” we are introduced to the fact that Hannah is loved by both of her parents, Phyllis and Freddy. However, the love between Phyllis and Freddy is in question. It’s unclear if they are going to follow through with a divorce. One could make the case that Phyllis not only took over the role as troop leader to prove she could go the distance, but she also did it out of love for her daughter. Once Freddy realizes that Phyllis is winning the girls’ trust and making them believe in themselves, he slowly comes around.

Even when Phyllis is considering quitting out of fear of leading the girls into danger during the Jamboree, Freddy, with Hannah by his side, says, “You’ve come too far to quit now.” After Troop Beverly Hills won the Jamboree, Phyllis and Freddy reunited and rekindled their relationship. This all came about because of the power of love. Hannah loved her parents, and they loved her. Phyllis pursued mentoring the Wilderness Girls mostly because of the care she had for her daughter. Once Freddy realized that Phyllis wasn’t quitting this venture, he realized she truly loved Hannah. The renewed bond between mother and daughter helped thaw the frostiness between Phyllis and Freddy. Troop Beverly Hills won the Jamboree, and Freddy and Phyllis came together as one. Love conquered what seemed impossible in both cases.

Messages That Endure

Although some of the fashions that are presented in “Troop Beverly Hills” obviously haven’t aged well, the inspiring messages have. The idea that there is more to someone than what is perceived is timeless. The willingness of a group to stick together and believe in themselves is a theme that will never go out of style. When you get a chance, check out “Troop Beverly Hills.” You’ll feel like you’ve earned yourself a patch and a box of cookies at the end!