Revenge of the Nerds was a popular movie quadrilogy of the 1980s, and one of the immediate choices considered when people list their favorite movies from the college fraternity comedy genre alongside such classics as Animal House and Porky’s.
The Revenge of the Nerds franchise is nearly 4 decades old; four movies and a profound, indelible mark on fraternity culture later, it is time to revisit what had made the original movie such a successful blockbuster at the peak of its popularity, and why it may not have necessarily aged as well as some other title in the college movie genre.
The Vilification of Nerds
At the time of the movie’s release, being labeled a nerd was considered a bad thing; it was akin to being a social pariah, an outcast, and a little less than a freak. That train of thought was challenged and eventually flipped on its head in the 21st century with great minds such as Elon Musk and the late Steve Jobs being lauded as respected figures in mainstream society.
This change in culture also coincided with the rise in popularity of such sitcoms as The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, as well as with the 2012 reboot film 21 Jump Street.
The Pie Scene
The nerds set up a popular pie stand for patrons in the third act of Revenge of the Nerds. It is eventually discovered by Stan, the lead jock from Alpha Beta, that the “pies” are nothing more than whipped cream in a pie tin…and a nude photo of his girlfriend taken without her consent from an earlier scene where cameras are installed in the sorority.
This offensive scene endorses the practice of revenge porn (it was an act of retaliation against the local sorority Pi Delta Pi for teaming up with the jock’s fraternity) and would have no place in today’s films.
Poor LGBTQ Representation
Lamar Latrell is the only gay member of the geek’s fraternity, Lambda Lambda Lambda; possibly due to the outdated social structure of the film, this meant he was automatically classified as a nerd for being homosexual. Unlike the more tasteful depiction of LGBTQ representation in recent years, Revenge the Nerds plays into the stereotype that all gay people are effeminate, flamboyant, foppish outcasts.
This perception was used in many comedy skits of the time (“Men on Film” from In Living Color and Eddie Murphy’s depiction of gay people in his stand-up comedy filmDelirious are two such egregious examples), but today they are viewed as narrow-minded and lazy jokes that harm more than humor.
Nonconsensual Sex Used as a Humor Beat
Staying faithful to the revenge aspect of Revenge of the Nerds, one of the main nerds, Lewis, confronts the head sorority girl of Pi Delta Pi in a dark room and has sex with her, even when he knows she is actually mistaking him for her boyfriend.
What makes this scene particularly vile is that after the act, the victimized Pi is actually enamored by Lewis’ sexual prowess and ends up dumping her jock boyfriend to be with the nerd that essentially took advantage of her. Obviously, a scene like this would no longer fly in today’s #MeToo culture.
The Franchise
There were actually four Revenge of the Nerds movies made. While the first one is considered a classic, the other three aren’t as critically well-received, with the final two being made for television. There was actually an attempt in 2006 to revive the series outright, and even cast the actor who played Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite.
However, a weak script and rescinded participation from the campus that was to be used led to the downfall of the project after only two weeks of filming, effectively putting an end to any new Revenge of the Nerds movies.
The Dead Ant Song
There’s a brief scene which takes place in the third act of Revenge of the Nerds, during the talent show competition at Homecoming. Two subpar comedians take the stage and tell two equally awful jokes, one a riff on the theme song from The Pink Panther, the other an off-color joke regarding Leave it to Beaver.
While the jokes may have elicited a few pity chuckles in the 80s, they would likely only conjure up blank stares today, as the two references are a bit dated for today’s movie-going audiences.
The Nerds’ Talent Show Act
Later on, in the same talent show scene, it’s the nerds’ turn to impress the judges. Perhaps it was a trope at the time for characters to break out into random song and dance (Back to the Future, anyone?), but the talent show scene in Revenge of the Nerds is particularly cringe-worthy for how absolutely outdated it feels today.
Between the Devo-inspired, techno- and keytar-infused melody, the robot dance, and one of the nerds busting out a rap, the whole endeavor comes off as cheesier than intended, despite winning the nerds the Homecoming games and the opportunity to save their fraternity.
The Depiction of Women
The fairer sex is given a bad rap in Revenge of the Nerds. The Pi Delta Pis are portrayed as vapid, wicked blonde antagonists hell-bent on seeing the nerds fail. The Omega Mus are a little better but are coded as girl nerds by merit of the group being more diverse, both in physicality and background (the only sorority girls of color are part of the Omega Mus).
There is also an unhealthy perception that all the women, particularly the Pis, are prizes to be won and conquered by the Alpha Betas and the Lambda Lambda Lambdas. Thankfully modern-day movies paint a less damning picture of college and sorority life with such films as Legally Blonde, Neighbors 2, and Pitch Perfect.
Depiction of People of Color
While Revenge of the Nerds’ handling of its black characters leaves a lot to be desired, it’s nothing compared to the stereotypical, cringe-worthy portrayal of Lambda Lambda Lambda’s sole Asian member, Takashi. Takashi is depicted as a lusty, sex-crazed Japanese caricature with a poor grasp of the English language.
At one point, Booger mocks his pronunciation of the word “flush”; Takashi’s catchphrase “Hair Pie? Sank you” is also considerably regrettable. Hollywood still has a long way to go when it comes to representation of minorities, but at least it has progressed beyond its more offensive one-note characters of the 80s.
College Movie Genre
This was a genre that slowly died out around the time of Old School and Van Wilder. College fraternity movies overall perpetuate the toxic stereotype that revenge is an appropriate retaliation tactic, that women are young, buxom prizes to be conquered and won by the protagonists, and that the boys will be boys mentality of youth is permitted to carry over into adulthood with cruel pranks, hazing, and the objectification of women.
In today’s #Metoo climate, the college fraternity movie genre is not very PC at all; as a result, it has gone through massive changes to reflect that the attitudes and behaviors portrayed in films of the past era are not to be lauded at all.
