History YMMV / RevengeOfTheNerds

** Our nerd protagonists [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero don't exactly hold women in high regard]]: they plant video cameras in their dorm rooms to spy on them naked, sell photos of one woman's breasts at a carnival, and one girl is even [[BlackComedyRape tricked into sleeping with one of them]] as revenge for being snotty, all of which are considered heroic accomplishments. Not to mention that this whole time, the underage Harold is in tow. [[Series/RealTimeWithBillMaher Bill Maher]] even devoted part of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nuyMaUkrRQ one of his "new rules" editorials]] to shutting down this kind of macho college culture. Some now regard the Tri-Lambs as {{Villain Protagonist}}s outright, though typically EvilVersusEvil at worst, or BlackAndGrayMorality context with the Tri-Lambs as the gray (because while the antics of the Tri-Lambs may not have aged well, it does not vindicate the Alpha Betas in any way).

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Again, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mRG2oAQhso the Tri-Lambda/Omega-Mus' musical number]] at the Talent Show.

** The "No on 15" song in the second movie.
*** As well as 38 Special's "Back to Paradise".

* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: When the film released, the titular nerds were highly praised as atypical heroes who inverted the traditional SlobsVersusSnobs dynamic, fighting back against and defeating the jocks and cliques that bullied them. However, as the decades went by, not only did their "nerd" elements look increasingly antiquated in the wake of other geek-centric works that helped normalize nerdiness in the public consciousness, but the film's portrayal of their revenge also aged horrendously, consisting of repeated instances of sexual misconduct, up to and including a BedTrick (which is legally considered rape by deception). As the film became CondemnedByHistory as a result of its severe ValuesDissonance, so too did the nerds' reputations decline, with them coming off to modern audiences as uncomfortably creepy relics of how sex and sexuality were depicted in the '80s.

** Invoked with Lewis in the third film. He's become successful and has ditched his nerd persona, only to take it up again towards the end of the movie.
* CondemnedByHistory: Upon its release, the film was a huge hit, and for years it was fondly remembered as not only one of the greatest {{sex comed|y}}ies of TheEighties but also one of the canonical depictions of nerds as heroes in Hollywood movies. However, due to changing societal attitudes (particularly beginning around the mid-2000s), the film aged horribly. Not only does its definition of a "nerd" look incredibly silly and antiquated, but more importantly, the nerds' [[WackyFratboyHijinx antics]], which range from revenge porn to a BedTrick and are presented as heroic, went from funny to outright horrifying. [[note]] It also doesn't help that the clearly-underage Harold was exposed to these various adult situations, which would also be child endangerment today.[[/note]] Today, now that nerds are better respected and more clearly defined in most works (e.g. ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''), and that colleges will crack down on ''anything'' involving sexual harassment and assault (especially in the wake of the [=#MeToo=] movement), the film feels like everything wrong with '80s college sex comedies.[[note]]For example, Website/CollegeHumor made fun of this film and other '80s comedies in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ7mJFNkLAU a sketch]] where three guys tried to emulate the pranks from those movies on their co-workers, before discovering most of them are actually cases of sexual assault.[[/note]] It didn't help that an attempted reboot in 2007 (when raunchy comedies were making a comeback) was cancelled after the school where filming was meant to happen saw the script, realized what it was, and promptly backed out, with no other school/college willing to allow filming to occur on their premises. The film even got an [[TakeThat unflattering]] ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' parody where the nerds are sent to prison for their actions and get murdered in a prison riot.
* DesignatedHero: The Tri-Lambs' revenge on Betty Childs is hardly the action one would expect of the heroic characters they are supposed to be. Granted, she was a Grade-A bitch, but putting secret cameras in her bedroom, selling naked photos of her taken without her knowledge or permission to the ENTIRE SCHOOL and tricking her into having sex by making her think she's having sex with her boyfriend -- which actually fits the legal definition of rape by deception -- is, to say the least, grossly KarmicOverkill and would easily get someone registered as a serious sex offender in real life.

* KarmicOverkill: Was Betty Childs a rude snob who needed an attitude adjustment? Yes. Did she deserve a BedTrick and to be objectified for that? No!

** Our nerd protagonists [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero don't exactly hold women in high regard]]: they plant video cameras in their dorm rooms to spy on them naked, sell photos of one woman's breasts at a carnival; one girl is even [[BlackComedyRape tricked into sleeping with one of them]] as revenge for being snotty, all of which are considered heroic accomplishments. Not to mention that this whole time, the underage Harold is in tow. [[Series/RealTimeWithBillMaher Bill Maher]] even devoted part of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nuyMaUkrRQ one of his "new rules" editorials]] to shutting down this kind of macho college culture. Some now regard the Tri-Lambs as {{Villain Protagonist}}s outright, though typically EvilVersusEvil at worst, or BlackAndGrayMorality context with the Tri-Lambs as the gray (because while the antics of the Tri-Lambs may not have aged well, it does not vindicate the Alpha Betas in any way).
** Lewis' BedTrick on Betty is literally rape. Today, most jurisdictions would call it "rape by deception", and in the modern environment he'd never get away with it on any college campus regardless of what local law says. In the movie, [[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization it is played off as a cute surprise]].

*** Which makes sense, given that in the first movie, he's the guy Betty is cheating on Stan with. Again, it's all played off as wacky college hijinks and just desserts for the JerkJock, though viewers today would be more critical of Lewis' antics.
** The Alpha Betas in the second movie dress up as Seminole Native Americans, egregious {{brownface}} and all.[[note]]While this is a softer level of YMMV given the Seminole tribe's more-lenient views on cultural appropriation even to this day, the brownface would likely be a bridge too far even for them.[[/note]]
** The nerds showing Harold, who is clearly underage, anything even resembling nudity, let alone full frontal nudity is treated as relatively harmless and even for comedy. In the modern era, thanks to the widespread knowledge of what kids witnessing something unhealthy can do to them and the long-lasting impacts it can have, deliberately, or even negligently exposing Harold to this type of content would have guaranteed child endangerment charges.
** The way nerds are treated as a discriminated class already rings weird now that nerds are no longer considered outcasts, but even considering that it was made in a time where nerds were considered uncool, the way the film goes to the extent of treating them akin to a racial minority, comparing them to the all-black fraternity for their minority status, can feel pretty weird to some viewers.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: This movie was a huge hit back when it was released and basically kickstarted the teen sex comedy genre, but it has aged ''very'' horribly. Changing social attitudes and general FridgeLogic have transformed the plucky, heroic protagonists into [[EvilNerd sociopathic rapists]] in the eyes of viewers. And that's not getting into all the stuff that [[FollowTheLeader other movies stole from this one]], making ''Revenge Of The Nerds'' come off as both stale and derivative.