There are movies I remember because they were good, and then there are movies that somehow became part of my life without me realizing it was happening.

Wayne’s World is one of those movies.

I was a kid when Wayne’s World came out in 1992, and I obviously wasn’t sitting there thinking about its cultural significance. I wasn’t wondering what it meant for comedy or music or whether people would still be quoting it more than thirty years later.

I just thought it was hilarious.

Wayne and Garth were these two ridiculous, metal-loving best friends broadcasting a public-access television show from a basement in Aurora, Illinois. The entire premise was absurd.

And somehow, it worked.

More than worked, actually.

Because looking back at Wayne’s World now, I realize how much of that movie escaped the movie and became part of the culture around me.

“Party on.”

“We’re not worthy!”

“Not!”

“Schwing!”

You didn’t even necessarily have to be talking about Wayne’s World. People just said these things.

And if you were around then, you knew exactly where they came from.

A Movie That Shouldn’t Have Been This Big

Wayne’s World started as a Saturday Night Live sketch and became a movie about two guys doing a television show from Wayne’s parents’ basement.

That doesn’t exactly scream cultural phenomenon.

Yet the movie became a massive hit. Released on Valentine’s Day in 1992, it earned more than $121 million domestically and finished among the biggest movies of the year. 

But honestly, the box-office numbers aren’t what make Wayne’s World special to me.

It’s how much of it stuck.

I can still picture Garth dancing to “Foxy Lady.”

I remember the ridiculously obvious product-placement scene.

I remember the multiple endings.

I remember Wayne looking directly at us and acknowledging that, yes, we’re watching a movie.

There was something wonderfully stupid about all of it.

And I mean stupid as a compliment.

The movie knew exactly what it was. It didn’t need Wayne and Garth to suddenly become sophisticated because somebody gave them a movie. They were still Wayne and Garth.

Two nerdy best friends obsessed with music, girls and their little television show.

Maybe that’s part of why I still love it.

And Then There Was Queen

This is the part I’ve been saying for years:

Wayne’s World brought Queen back to life.

Okay.

Before somebody comes for me, I know that’s not literally true.

Queen was Queen. They were already one of the greatest rock bands in history. “Bohemian Rhapsody” had been around since 1975 and had already been enormously successful.

But hear me out.

I don’t think people who weren’t around for it can fully appreciate what that scene did.

Five guys crammed into a tiny blue car.

Wayne puts a cassette into the stereo.

That piano starts.

And then everybody loses their damn minds.

That’s it.

That’s the scene.

And somehow it became one of the most recognizable marriages of music and movies I can think of.

What I didn’t understand as a kid was that I was watching an old song become new again.

After Wayne’s World, “Bohemian Rhapsody” climbed all the way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992 — seventeen years after its original release. The Wayne’s World soundtrack reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The Recording Academy has specifically credited that moment with bringing the Queen classic to a new generation of fans. 

I was part of that generation.

And that’s where this becomes more than movie nostalgia for me.

I didn’t discover Queen by digging through an old record collection and deciding I should educate myself about the great rock bands that came before me.

I was a kid watching a comedy about two idiots in a basement.

And suddenly I knew “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

It Almost Wasn’t Bohemian Rhapsody

There’s also a behind-the-scenes story that makes me appreciate that scene even more.

Mike Myers has said he fought hard to use “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Producer Lorne Michaels suggested Guns N’ Roses, who were huge at the time, but Myers believed Queen’s song was the right one and has said he was willing to walk away from the movie over it.

Director Penelope Spheeris remembers the situation a little differently and doesn’t recall quite the same giant confrontation, so I’m not going to pretend every detail of the story is settled.

But everyone agrees on the important part:

Mike Myers wanted that song.

And thank God he did.

There is another part of the story that I absolutely love.

Freddie Mercury was very sick by then. Queen guitarist Brian May has recalled that Myers gave him a tape of the scene before the movie was released. May took it to Freddie.

Freddie watched it.

And he loved it.

He laughed.

Mercury died in November 1991, less than three months before Wayne’s World reached theaters. 

Knowing that he actually got to see those idiots head-banging to his masterpiece somehow makes the whole thing even better to me.

Wayne and Garth Were Nerds Before Nerd Became Cool

I think there’s another reason Wayne’s World belongs on The Nerdy Girl Express.

Wayne and Garth were unapologetically obsessed with the things they loved.

Music wasn’t background noise to them.

They knew bands.

They knew songs.

They had opinions.

They quoted things.

They geeked out.

They weren’t trying to be cool in the polished way movies usually tell us people are supposed to be cool.

They were weird.

Garth was painfully awkward. Wayne talked directly to the camera. Their television studio was a basement. Their friends piled into a tiny car and screamed Queen lyrics together.

And somehow they were the cool ones.

There’s something incredibly NGE about that.

Love what you love.

Know way too much about it.

Talk about it endlessly.

Find other people who love it too.

Party on.

It Is Also Such a Perfect Little Piece of the Early ’90s

Watching Wayne’s World now is almost like opening a time capsule.

The clothes.

The hair.

The music.

Cassette tapes.

Public-access television.

The idea that two guys could create their own weird little show in a basement and build a following without having a network, a giant company or millions of dollars behind them.

Actually…

Now that I think about it, Wayne and Garth were basically content creators before any of us were calling people content creators.

They had a show.

They had fans.

They had catchphrases.

They had absolutely no idea what they were doing.

Then somebody came along and tried to monetize them.

Okay, maybe Wayne’s World was even more ahead of its time than I thought.

More Than Thirty Years Later

This is why I don’t really care whether someone considers Wayne’s World a cinematic masterpiece.

That’s not the point.

Some movies matter because they’re beautifully made.

Some matter because they change filmmaking.

And some matter because they show up at exactly the right moment, become part of a generation’s language and refuse to leave.

Wayne’s World did that.

More than thirty years later, we still know the car scene.

We still know Wayne and Garth.

We still recognize the jokes.

And “Bohemian Rhapsody” certainly doesn’t need Wayne’s World anymore.

Queen’s music has long since cemented its place in popular culture.

But for people my age, I think there will always be a little piece of that song that belongs in a tiny blue car.

Maybe Wayne’s World didn’t bring Queen back to life.

But it brought Queen to me.

And millions of other kids were sitting in theaters and living rooms doing the exact same thing.

More than thirty years later, put on the opening of “Bohemian Rhapsody” in a car full of people and just watch what happens.

Eventually, somebody is going to start head-banging.

And somewhere, Wayne and Garth are still in that little blue car.

Party on.