"I'm the SMART Clark Griswold"

So, I have a friend who tells the following story:

One night, he was home with his wife watching 'National Lampoon's Vacation' for probably the umpteenth zillionth time.  He says he doesn't believe his wife really enjoys watching the movie, but he thinks it's more of a "pity viewing" than anything else.  

But at any rate, he claims that as the movie progressed and the antics of the lead character (a man named Clark Griswold who is wonderfully played by Chevy Chase, or so I hear) continued to spiral more and more out of control, that his wife kept looking back at him with a smirk on her face; one he characterized as being half-sympathy, half-revulsion, and only a quarter-loving.  Of course, my friend immediately got defensive and shot back at her, "What are you grinning at?  I'm nothing like him!  I'm the smart Clark Griswold."  

He tells me his wife then proceeded to laugh uncontrollably for the next fifteen minutes or so while he sat in stunned silence.

Now, never having seen the movie myself, I can't really say one way or the other whether her feelings about the matter are justified or not.  My friend is a great guy!  Loves his family!  Would do darn near anything he could to please them.  Does it make him seem crazed and lose his temper every so often?  Sure!  But it's only because he loves them.  But at any rate, he wanted me to pass on the following questions in the hopes that someone could clarify for him, once and for all, whether Clark is really as stupid and buffoonish as his wife has always said he was.  So here you go:

1. Who would not want to be seen in this beauty?  
2. Is driving across the country rather than flying really the preferred method of travel?  As Clark himself would say, "Getting there is half the fun.  You know that!"
3. Don't all children all over the world love a rousing rendition of 'Jimmy Crack Corn' with mom and dad?
4. "Kids, are you noticing all this plight?"  Isn't a trip into East St. Louis, in fact, worth it for the children's education and well-rounded being?
5. Is it really considered animal cruelty if the dog refuses to get into the car by himself?  Is Clark, in fact, a "dog-killer"?
6. This is not so much a question as a statement.  Anyone, and I mean anyone could have missed that "Road Closed" sign.  And jumping the Truckster 50 yards is indeed something to be proud of.
7. Does Clark in fact have, as stated to him, "manure for your brains"?
8. Wouldn't any other man, in his position, have offered to place Aunt Edna (who didn't even have the decency to die at home, but instead chose to on a vacation she imposed upon) in a night-deposit box like Clark did?  Which leads to #9...
9. When the wife gets pissed that Clark offered to put Aunt Edna in the night-deposit box (or ship her home via Federal Express), and basically insults and belittles him in front of the children, wouldn't any other man in Clark's position also jump naked into a pool with Christie Brinkley?
10. This really has nothing to do with Clark, but I've always wondered, can BBs in fact get lodged under the skin and lead to a very bad infection?

So there you have it.  My friend submits that Clark is in fact a loving, caring and nurturing father surrounded by a shrewish wife, imbecilic cousins and bratty kids who wouldn't know a good time if it jumped it and bit them.

What say you?