Some bad ideas age poorly. Others arrive dead on arrival. Can’t Stop the Music somehow managed both.
For those unfamiliar with this cinematic fever dream, this was the 1980 movie designed to capitalize on the popularity of the Village People at precisely the moment disco was gasping for air. Timing, as they say, is everything. Releasing a disco musical when America had already started treating disco like yesterday’s fondue set was not exactly strategic genius.
But the timing was only the beginning.
Let’s start with the director choice. Nancy Walker. Yes, that Nancy Walker. Rosie the waitress from the Bounty paper towel commercials, forever known to a generation as the pick-up lady cleaning kitchen messes. A talented comedic actress? Absolutely. The obvious person to direct a flashy disco musical intended to launch or extend a pop culture phenomenon? That’s a stretch worthy of Olympic judging.
Speaking of Olympics, Bruce Jenner was cast as the romantic heartthrob. Before reality television, before Kardashians, before all the later chapters, there was this baffling decision to make America’s Olympic decathlon champion a leading man. Athletic? Certainly. Charismatic screen idol? Let’s just say the evidence was mixed.
Then there’s the Village People themselves, whose entire brand relied on outrageous camp, winking personas, and not exactly subtle theatricality. Yet somehow the film tries to play much of this oddly straight, as if audiences were supposed to accept this as a conventional feel-good musical rather than the cultural spectacle it actually was.
This is what makes What Were They Thinking? such a wonderful category. Sometimes smart people become prisoners of the moment, convinced a trend will last forever.
Retirement plan lesson? Chasing yesterday’s hot idea after the market has moved on rarely ends well.
Whether it’s disco movies, trendy investment products, or overhyped plan features, timing matters.
And sometimes the answer really is: they weren’t thinking.
