History YMMV / TheBirds

* PoorMansSubstitute: Try as they may, Creator/RodTaylor and Creator/TippiHedren weren't Creator/CaryGrant and Creator/GraceKelly.[[note]]Somewhat ironically in Taylor's case, as Grant himself at the time was facing accusations of being a poor replacement for Creator/RockHudson after making ''Film/ThatTouchOfMink'' with Creator/DorisDay, with whom Hudson had made a string of popular romantic comedies.[[/note]]

* ValuesDissonance: Earlier in the film, Melanie is searching for Mitch's family home and the local townspeople give her directions to not only his home but also to the local school teacher's home; before that, an apartment resident tells her how long Mitch will be in Bodega Bay. This is jarring from a modern perspective worried about serial killers and stalkers. Then again, because of [[BeautyEqualsGoodness Melanie's beauty]] and the fact that [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent she's a woman]], she might not have too much trouble.

* CanonFodder: Just what ''did'' cause the birds to attack? It's never specified either way, but that hasn't stopped people from guessing. Explanations range from a sudden heatwave angering them, to the lovebirds somehow causing it. The trailer implies that birds have just decided to declare war on mankind.

* SlowPacedBeginning: It takes ''45 minutes'' for first bird attack to happen.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: It's a landmark {{Horror}} movie, but a lot of it comes across as {{Narm}} today. Tiny birds aren't exactly the most intimidating antagonists, the special effects are dated, and the acting can seem overbaked (the result of having a [[Creator/RodTaylor man who typically played debonair roles]] and a [[Creator/TippiHedren model without much acting experience]] as {{Horror}} leads). Its reputation is more from successfully creating an atmosphere of dread and doom rather than scares.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Crossed with SeinfeldIsUnfunny; the bird effects were extremely technically innovative when the film first released, but look rather ropey nowadays.

* SignatureScene: Melanie sitting on a bench while waiting for the kids to leave school as the birds gradually build up behind her and lie in wait is generally the most famous scene of the film due to how it expertly builds tension.

* CanonFodder: Just what ''did' cause the birds to attack? It's never specified either way, but that hasn't stopped people from guessing. Explanations range from a sudden heatwave angering them, to the lovebirds somehow causing it. The trailer implies that birds have just decided to declare war on mankind.

** In more of an example of a {{CrackPairing}}, the chemistry between Lydia and Melanie as the latter comforts the former after she finds Dan’s body can be interpreted this way. The puppy-dog eyes Melanie makes up at Lydia in the last scene do help.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Melanie's tracking down of Mitch is PlayedForLaughs and it's just a part of the playful banter between the two. When you learn about how Tippi Hedren was essentially stalked and harassed by Alfred Hitchcock, it becomes uncomfortable.

* HarsherInHindsight: Melanie being attacked by the birds is this if you discover that the crew lied to Tippi Hedren that they would use mechanical birds in the scene - and she didn't know she'd have live birds thrown at her until the day of filming. She would have to be given a week's bed rest due to the stress of shooting that scene.

* FanficFuel: The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War Emu War]] of AD 1932. What would it be from Peisthetaerus' perspective?

** When the camera keeps cutting between a trail of fire approaching the gas station, and Melanie making scared faces.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: In regards to being a horror film. No one is going to balk at the cinematography and music, but tiny birds really do not make the most intimidating antagonists as hard the movie tries to make them. Combined with the poorly aged special effects and hammy acting, the movie can easily be made into a comedy if you remove the intense music.

** The [[TheCaligula tyrannical ruler]] of Cloudcuckooland lives in a [[IRejectYourReality fantasy world]] where his kingdom is a paradise and he's a genius who is right about everything and one of his unworkable ideas for keeping people out of his kingdom is to build a huge wall around it. Whether you like Donald Trump or not, you do have to wonder why no satirists have cottoned on to this.
* ValuesDissonance: What does Peisthetaerus dream of? A world where parents of attractive children ''want'' them taken advantage of sexually.