MovieChat Forums > Revenge of the Nerds (1984) Discussion > Was anyone else corrupted by this film a...

Was anyone else corrupted by this film as a child?

posted 11 years ago by truekiwijoker
11 replies | jump to latest

Me and a few friends discussed this film the other day and we all agreed that it corrupted our thinking during the 1980's.

I was 7 or 8 when I saw this (and it was already a year or two old by then). Almost all of the other kids I knew about my age watched it about that time too. We really weren't old enough to understand it and sort of got a bad message from it. We all started thinking that conforming to the stereotype of the Alpha-Beta's in the film was right and really started out-casting, picking-on and bullying the kids who seemed to be like the nerds in the film. That was any kid wearing glasses, a bit different, effeminate, and kids who got good grades. And it discouraged us from taking anything academic or cultural seriously. This must've lasted for at least 4 years amongst us.

I remember laughing over it again with some friends when I was 14 or 15 and we were old enough to understand it better and realise it was just a bit of stupid satire and that for all of the jokes at their expense; the nerds were still the heroes of the film. And that Stan and the Alpha-Betas and the Pi-Delta-Pi's were also the subject of ridicule. It was maybe about then that we also saw Animal house and started to get our values right.

Despite the immature humour in the film; I really think it shouldn't have been viewed by anyone under 16 years of age.
And I think we (and the kids we bullied) would've been much better off if we never saw it. It really ruined our attitudes and gave us bad ideas.

Did anyone have the same experience?

P.S. I don't blame the filmmakers for this, they were just making a stupid light-hearted teen/young adult comedy. It's probably more the fault of our parents and the video store for letting us watch it.

[–] tyrexden 11 years ago

No... i was on the side of the nerds the whole time.

I didn't want to be like them, but i liked them as people more than i liked the jocks.

[–] truekiwijoker 11 years ago

That's awesome!
Maybe you were a bit older than me when you saw it?

Or mabe from a better background ...

[–] Duragizer 11 years ago

I was corrupted long before I ever saw this film.

Life is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for.

[–] oprlvr33 9 years ago

Um...... NO.
I saw this during its theatrical release, and we whooped and cheered for the Nerds even then. I couldn't wait to start college, wondering if 'panty raids' would be there also :)
The only "corrupt" was the bullish coach (Goodman's most brilliant ***stard role yet)
Every thing else was prime...time. Especially the Homecoming Carnival.

Peanutlee33

I'm a nerd...
Welcome to the real world...
I never actually wanted to believe that

[–] AriaOfTelengard 9 years ago

I was about 7 when I first saw this movie on VHS. I felt soooo dirty for seeing boobs on the TV for the first time in my life. Somehow I lived a super sheltered anti-boob house and it really kinda freaked me out seeing a bare-breasted woman.

But I guess that's impossible now-a-days with the internet and powerful computers. Even if I did manage to get porn on my computer, it would be very difficult to make out the body parts (I had a Vic-20/Commodore 64). Boobs on a Vic-20 would look like big, solid blocks.

[–] thecalhouns 9 years ago

I was about 11 or 12 when I first saw this, I had seen boobs in movies a few times before so that wasn't too shocking, but what was a jaw dropper was when the Pi girl takes off her panties in the infamous "we have bush" scene.

Hilariously I remember thinking it had to have been some sort of special effect, I didn't think a non porn movie could get away with showing that, it was a "did I just see what I thought I saw?" moment.

[–] MrsMonroe74 9 years ago

I was 12 or so when I 1st saw this. I didn't realize for a long time whet Lois did was wrong & he could get in legal trouble for deceiving Betty when he takes her in that tent.
the movie actually makes ppl that don't know any better think it's nothing wrong with that.

___________________
he left u NAKED in a DITCH!

[–] Citation_Needed 8 years ago

Teasing? Is that all?

I thought you were going to say something like trespassing for panty raids, voyeurism, and costumed rape.

[–] insomniacmovie 8 years ago

I have made several posts reflecting on the general rape-i-ness of this film, and have often mentioned that Betty is a fickle sociopath with Stockholm syndrome, and hardly a catch. The general message of the film is positive in the pre-PC days. But my issues with this film are a bit more personal.

I'm 42, and have a sister who is 5 years younger. Not as big of a deal present day, but about 25 years ago, we butted heads over a VHS tape that featured the first two ROTN films and Harry and the Hendersons. Speaking as someone who has serial watched a ton of films, my sister's repeated play of that tape made me realize that I was in the presence of a true master.

I try not to hold this against the films, but old habits die hard.

[–] TheLordofTheHarvest 8 years ago

I disagree competly on the age limit.

I first seen this when I was 8 or so in 2002 on AMC around Labor Day that year (when AMC was old school AMC,) and I loved it. Luckily it censored the boob scenes out so I didn't catch it too early but I loved it. I rooted for the nerds the entire time because of how mean the jocks were. It was never the opposite for me.

In fact the movie made me prouder to be a nerd so there you go.

[–] stevenackerman69 8 years ago

No, since I wasn't a jock at the time it came out. I was starting high school and I wasn't athletic. I was more a brain, although I didn't wear glasses nor have a pen protector. What the film showed was that it was wrong to pick on people just because they don't look like they were cloned from a GQ cover.