Keanu Reeves Wants To Be Clear: Bill & Ted Are Not 'Stoners'
Stephen Herek's 1989 time travel comedy "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" was one of the stranger hits of its decade. The film followed two affable but none-too-bright teenager layabouts from San Dimas, California (site of the water park Raging Waters). Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are flunking out of school, having spent most of their free time focusing on their rock band Wyld Stallyns. If they cannot pass an upcoming history exam, they will be split up and their band will be abandoned. This, it turns out, would be disastrous for the entire planet, as Bill and Ted's music is destined, in the distant future, to usher in a Roddenberian sci-fi utopia.
A time traveler from the 27th century name Rufus (George Carlin) appears to them, explains their role in history, and bequeaths to them his time machine, a device that looks like an ordinary phone booth. Bill and Ted spend the film scouring history for famous figures to speak at their history exam. They will pick up Genghis Khan, Socrates, Joan of Arc, and others, as one does with a time-traveling phone booth.
The film was a respectable hit, earning over $40 million, and introducing a pair of lovable boobs into the pop lexicon. The film has since had two sequels in 1991 and in 2020. The film is cartoonish and genial and enjoyable and silly, although one's mileage may vary, depending on how charming one finds Bill and Ted themselves. And while they're not necessarily too smart, the two are always upbeat and full of energy.
These are not qualities, Reeves would like to point out, of teenaged potheads. In a 2020 interview with the Associated Press, transcribed and printed in Australian Rolling Stone, Reeves was quite explicit on that.
I never touch the stuff
It might be tempting, because of their laidback demeanor, to compare Bill and Ted to the previous decade's comedy duo, Cheech and Chong. It's worth noting, though, that Cheech and Chong, due to their ample drug consumption, tended to drift aimlessly through their days, casually destroying things around them and only dimly perceiving other people. Bill and Ted may not have been the most focused kids, but they were passionate and ambitious nonetheless. They are told they are slackers, but only because their values don't align with the strictures of Ted's military-minded father, or with their stern high school principal's.
Slackers, perhaps. Stoners? Heck, no. As Reeves said:
"I'd like to get one thing straight, Bill and Ted are not stoners, let's get that clear. They have a nice outlook on life, they like people [and] their friendship."
It's nice to have that cleared up, but it's a wonder why the perception of the characters as marijuana enthusiasts got started. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" is strange, but it lacks the loosey-goosey lack of cohesion that marks the bulk of so-called stoner comedies. Indeed, the story is quite focused, and the characters are always driven. Just because Bill and Ted can quote the lyrics to Kansas' hit song "Dust in the Wind" doesn't mean they needed weed to listen to it in the first place.
Additionally, the pair have no drug paraphernalia around their garage. No bongs, no roach clips, not even a Bob Marley poster. Bill and Ted have deep knowledge of rock music, love heavy metal, and learn history. They're relaxed and open-minded. It's possible for people to be that way without a hit of kush. To this author, that makes them more appealing, and even aspirational.