History YMMV / NationalLampoonsVacation

* DesignatedHero: Clark commits theft, threatens a man with a gun, comes close to cheating on his wife and yet his antics are supposed to be hilarious. They are.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Clark Griswold bullies and cajoles his family and others around him (he held a theme park guard at gunpoint and had his boss held hostage) to get the holiday vacations of his dreams - ''his'' ideals, which are based on nostalgia and are not necessarily what everyone else believes or wants/needs. With that said, he is apologetic enough for his outbursts, and he goes through enough crap over the films that his breakdowns are forgiven.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: This is a classic family comedy that features nudity, death, animal cruelty and neglect, an old woman dying and the hero waving a gun around.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The film has the feel of the 1980s.

* DesignatedHero: Clark commits theft, threatens a man with a gun, comes close to cheating on his wife, and causes damage to his vehicle. And yet his antics are supposed to be hilarious.

** Some of the Griswolds' misadventures can be prevented by having a [=GPS=] or a cellphone, which were in their infancy in the early 80s.

** Clark holding the security guard at gunpoint with a [=BB=] gun isn't so funny with the rise in mass shootings in the 21st century. Nor would Helen joking about him going on a killing spree be taken so lightly, as discussed above. While it is played for comedy, the park owner forgiving Clark so quickly comes across as unbelievable.
** Clark commits a severe violation of marital trust by checking out and skinny dipping with a random woman, yet Helen is quick to forgive this and move on. What's even worse is his lying about his martial status just so he can hang out with the woman. With the objectification of women and adultery under greater scrutiny, Clark comes across as a pathetic creep, and Helen would be more likely to file for divorce.

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack: Clark not only goes skinny dipping with a random woman but lies to that woman about having a family and takes someone hostage so he can go to an amusement park. And yet, Helen is highly tolerant of these shenanigans and never even considers a threat of divorce.

* HollywoodHomely: The pointless subplot about Clark, played by Creator/ChevyChase, lusting after Christie Brinkley's character seems even more puerile given that Ellen is played by the stunning Beverly D'Angelo.

* NauseaFuel: The family at one point stop off at a picnic area to have some lunch. As they're eating the sandwiches, they notice they're soggy. And then it hit them that Aunt Edna's dog urinated on the food. The family is understandably disgusted but Edna just shrugs and continues eating. Ugh.

** Clark holding the security guard at gunpoint with a [=BB=] gun isn't so funny with the rise in mass shootings in the 21st century. Nor would Helen joking about him going on a killing spree be taken so lightly, as discussed above. While it is played for comedy, the owner of the park forgiving Clark so easily comes across as unbelievable.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: The movie features animal death, car crashes, a corrupt auto repair man, borderline adultery, theft, an old woman dying, and her body being left on a doorstep. But the sheer scale of these things happening in the same movie produces memorable comedy.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: The movie features animal death, car crashes, a corrupt auto repair man, borderline adultery, theft, an old woman dying, and her body being left on a doorstep. But the sheer scale of these things produces memorable comedy.

** Clark holding the security guard at gunpoint with a [=BB=] gun isn't so funny with the rise in mass shootings in the 21st century. Nor would Helen joking about him going on a killing spree be taken so lightly as discussed above.
** Clark commits a severe violation of marital trust by skinny dipping with a random woman, and yet Helen is quick to forgive this and move on. With the objectification of women and adultery under greater scrutiny, Clark comes across as a creep, and Helen would be more than justified in leaving him.

* SignatureScene: Clark getting distracted by the girl in the red Ferrari.

** Clark holding the security guard at gunpoint with a [=BB=] gun isn't so funny with the rise in mass shootings in the 21st century.

* ValuesDissonance: The whole sequence in the black neighborhood was pushing things even at the time, and comes off as horrendously racist now (though it's actually ''toned down'' from the equivalent scene in the original short story). Even Creator/HaroldRamis [[OldShame regretted the scene]].