Revenge of the Nerds 4th Anniversary Panel

[Henadic Theologian]

Some cool tidbits of info in this.

 

[Clint_L]

This is a movie that has aged very, very poorly.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

This is a movie that has aged very, very poorly.

It's as funny as it ever was, still has a huge fan base. To each their own.

 

[Clint_L]

I'm not talking about the amount of laughs, I'm talking about a plot that, to a significant degree, gets those laughs by objectifying women and celebrating sexually assaulting them. By the protagonists.

But I guess it's all right because they're sorority girls, or something.

 

[aco175]

I saw the title listed it as the 4th anniversary and was intrigued until I saw the pictures of the cast.

I did see a Goonies 2 and Happy Gilmore 2 coming soon to a theatre near you.

 

[Ryujin]

I'm not talking about the amount of laughs, I'm talking about a plot that, to a significant degree, gets those laughs by objectifying women and celebrating sexually assaulting them. By the protagonists.

But I guess it's all right because they're sorority girls, or something.

I would go as far as to say that the majority of comedy movies from that time have aged rather badly.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I would go as far as to say that the majority of comedy movies from that time have aged rather badly.

I think this is an excuse that gets trotted out a lot but isn't always true. I think the majority of movies made any year are "products of their time," but 1984 in particular has a number of comedies that are still beloved and don't involve the protagonist winning the girl by pretending to be her boyfriend and having sex with her.

Ghostbusters
This Is Spinal Tap
Top Secret!
Muppets Take Manhattan
Beverly Hills Cop

And sure, they all have jokes that border on distasteful or edgy, but in my opinion Revenge of the Nerds really crosses the line.

Even the director and writer agree:

In an interview with GQ in 2019, director Jeff Kanew and writer Steve Zacharias expressed their regret regarding the rape by deception scene, with Kanew saying, "In a way, it's not excusable. If it were my daughter, I probably wouldn't like it".

1984 also brought us Gremlins, the Karate Kid, Footloose, El Norte, Repo Man, Romancing the Stone, the Natural, the Neverending Story, Purple Rain, Amadeus, Stop Making Sense, Paris, Texas, the Terminator...

To say Revenge of the Nerds is okay because other 1984 films don't age well is to ignore all the incredible films that came out in 1984.

 

[Ryujin]

I think this is an excuse that gets trotted out a lot but isn't always true. I think the majority of movies made any year are "products of their time," but 1984 in particular has a number of comedies that are still beloved and don't involve the protagonist winning the girl by pretending to be her boyfriend and having sex with her.

Ghostbusters
This Is Spinal Tap
Top Secret!
Muppets Take Manhattan
Beverly Hills Cop

And sure, they all have jokes that border on distasteful or edgy, but in my opinion Revenge of the Nerds really crosses the line.

Even the director and writer agree:



1984 also brought us Gremlins, the Karate Kid, Footloose, El Norte, Repo Man, Romancing the Stone, the Natural, the Neverending Story, Purple Rain, Amadeus, Stop Making Sense, Paris, Texas, the Terminator...

To say Revenge of the Nerds is okay because other 1984 films don't age well is to ignore all the incredible films that came out in 1984.

Please note that I didn't, in any way, imply that it makes the acts in "Revenge of the Nerds" OK

 

[BookTenTiger]

Please note that I didn't, in any way, imply that it makes the acts in "Revenge of the Nerds" OK

Got it, thanks for clarifying!

I have to say, it was very rewarding going down the rabbit hole of 1994 film releases. What a year!

 

[Clint_L]

I would go as far as to say that the majority of comedy movies from that time have aged rather badly.

Agreed, but even by those standards, Revenge of the Nerds is pretty appalling. For one of the main protagonists, his triumphant moment is the (forbidden word) of a female student.