History YMMV / NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation

** The cringe-worthy "Mall lingere counter" scene.
*** When the film was made in 1989, Clark's suggestive dialogue and actions toward the attractive woman behind the lingere counter were seen as somewhat immature and juvenile, but humerous. Since the "Me Too" movement, they're seen as borderline harassment, and the employee would likely exercize her rights to either walk away, or call for a manager to tell Clark to leave.

* FridgeLogic: Everyone getting that excited about a pool to begin with, especially in a climate where you'd only be able to reliably use it about 3 months out of the year. Now, it makes sense for Clark to obsess about it due to his obsession with being the ultimate family man, but why would any of the in-laws give more than a polite applause towards Clark putting one in, much less being excited about the idea of taking a ''plane flight'' to come swim in Clark's pool?

* EvenBetterSequel: Many see it as an improvement over even the original ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation''. This is helped along massively by the film keeping with the basic premise of "family man's vacation goes hilariously awry" while avoiding the usual comedy-sequel pitfall of simply recycling the original movie's plot and most memorable gags. Sadly, the direct to TV sequel to this film [[{{Sequelitis}} is a far cry from the original]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While Clark is otherwise a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, he still lies about being single to an attractive female clerk so as not to feel guilty while flirting with her, only quitting when Russ catches him and continuing to fantasize about her long after the fact. Considering that the first movie has him almost going through with an affair, then deciding against it when he sees how clearly hurt his family is, one could argue that [[AesopAmnesia old habits simply die hard]].

** For that matter, getting that excited about a pool to begin with, especially in a climate where you'd only be able to reliably use it about 3 months out of the year. Now, it makes sense for Clark to obsess about it due to his obsession with being the ultimate family man, but why would any of the in-laws give more than a polite applause towards Clark putting one in, much less being excited about the idea of taking a ''plane flight'' to come swim in Clark's pool?

** The line "Hallelujah! Holy shit!" became this to WebVideo/JonTron fans after he said it in his ''Conan the Barbarian'' video.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: While not to the point of them being {{designated villain}}s, Todd and Margo Chester do end up being this. While they're vain, stuck-up, condescending yuppies, the worst they do to Clark is (possibly jokingly) expressing hope that Clark breaks his neck while decorating. [[KarmicOverkill Yet they're constantly victims to Clark's destructive festivities]], with frequent collateral damage causing them much physical and emotional distress. One could even assume that dealing with this kind of all year is the exact reason they hate Clark.

* JerkassHasAPoint: From the minute Clark's family show up, at their best moments they are merely a burden and at their worst moments they actively treat Clark poorly and crap on every one of his attempts to provide them with a happy holiday. After putting him through hell all week, completely trashing his house and ruining his Christmas, they then attempt to just walk away from all of it on Christmas Eve night without anything as much as a goodbye. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Even if you're the kind of viewer who doesn't have a particularly sympathetic view of Clark]], in this moment you can't blame him for blocking the door, screaming them out and angrily letting them know they're not going anywhere.

* MoralEventHorizon: Clark's family crosses this when they try to walk out on Christmas Eve night without as much of a goodbye after trashing his house. It justifies Clark's response of blocking the door and angrily telling them they are not going anywhere.

* UnintentionallySympathetic:
** While not to the point of them being {{designated villain}}s, Todd and Margo Chester do end up being this. While they're vain, stuck-up, condescending yuppies, but they don't do much to Clark beyond insulting him as he tries to decorate his house. Yet they're constantly victims to Clark's destructive festivities, with frequent collateral damage to their house and occasional physical abuse. Granted, they're also no kinder to one another than they are to Clark, coldly sneering and snarking at each other while only keeping up appearances until, by the end, they're outright hostile to one another.
** Ellen's parents, Art and Frances. While they appear to be the typical Hollywood in-laws who never like the man their daughter chose to marry, their sarcastic sour attitude towards Clark can be considered justifiable since Clark put his family vacation far ahead of properly dealing with Edna's dead body in the first movie to the point of just leaving her dead body on a lawn chair out in the rain for her own son to just stumble upon when he returns home. It's never brought up but the resentment is still there.

** Doris Roberts as [[Series/EveryBodyLovesRaymond the mother of one spouse who never misses the opportunity]] to be the personal DeadpanSnarker of the other would be an outright ActorIllusion if this had not been released first.

* HilariousInHindsight: Doris Roberts as the mother of one spouse who never misses the opportunity to be the personal Deadpan Snarker of the other! Would be an outright Actor Illusion if this had not been released first!