Review of Revenge of the Nerds (1984) by Jiana W — 07 Oct 2012

I think it's weird the dynamics of high school are still in so much play here when this takes place in a college. The frat boys also play football and their beautiful sorority girlfriends are their cheerleaders. The big issue that I took up with this is the way the nerds treat the cheerleaders when they are exacting their revenge. The cameras in the girls' dormitories doesn't make the nerds anymore sympathetic or better than their jerk jock counterparts who treat the women similarly. We later find out the nerds have taken stills from the videos and put them at the bottom of a pie, where guys are enthusiastically purchasing these pies just to get to the bottom to see a girls' breasts. At the same time, one nerd pulls the old "switcheroo" at a funhouse and, instead of being pissed off and freaked out, the girl instantly falls in love with him, even though this stunt, when you think about it, is extraordinarily disgusting and kind of mean-spirited.

That aside, I do think that it's got some heart still. It's an anthem for anybody who has felt like an outcast for what they like, or how they look, dress, or whatever. But the nerds don't make themselves very sympathetic at times. In fact, when it comes to the ladies, they are no better than their popular, jerkish opponents.