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"Revenge of the Nerds" and Sun Tzu's The Art of War

In the 1984 classic "Revenge of the Nerds," super smart but socially inept pals Louis Skolnick and Gilbert Lowell manage to triumph over the forces of cruelty and conformity.

The boys come to Adams College seeking knowledge and poontang. Instead, they are greeted with humiliation and rejection. They are taunted by the jocks of the Alpha Beta fraternity, shunned by the foxy girls of the Pi-Delta-Pi sorority and relegated to dehumanizing living quarters-a cot in the school gym, where they must room with the geekiest freshmen. But somehow, by the time the credits roll, Louis and Gilbert and their cohorts have managed to defeat the Alpha Betas, gain control of the Greek Council and even-as is demanded by every '80s underdog comedy-manage to "get some." How do they do it?

Though the combined IQs of Tri-Lams like Booger, Wormser, Lamar, Poindexter and Takashi are formidable, I don't believe they pull off the switcheroo of the century alone. These are nerds, remember, and nerds do their homework. As these fellows go from geek to Greek, they are standing on the shoulders of giants. Most particularly, Louis and his army of geniuses borrow copiously from the wisdom of Sun Tzu, arguably history's greatest war tactician.

One of Sun Tzu's central precepts is this: A person or organization desirous of succeeding in battle must be flexible, like a reed. Well, our protagonists in "Revenge of the Nerds" are nothing if they are not flexible. When Louis (the Tri-Lam's de facto general) and Gilbert (the diplomat/president) are eschewed by the college's fraternities, they decide to form their own. Yes, rather than giving up, this dynamic duo thinks "outside the box", using persistence and innovation to charm a group of intimidating but big-hearted soul brother alumni into granting them a Lamda Lamda Lamda charter.

In another example of Tri-Lam ingenuity, the nerds refuse to accept their banishment to the gym (remember that the Alpha Betas have commandeered the freshman dorm after burning down their frat house in a Bacchanalian back-to-school party). Undaunted, the endlessly enterprising young men of Lamda Lamda Lamda acquire a cheap fixer-upper and turn it into the nicest digs on campus. Thusly, the tuck-and-roll, flexible attitude of Louis and friends helps show Alpha Beta/Greek Council prez Stan Gable and his henchman that it's hip to be square.

Sun Tzu also helps the Tri-Lams pick a constructive goal. After suffering indignities

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