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Popular Is Dumb: Difference between revisions
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* Seen as too important to the school's sports team of choice (usually [[American Football]]) so teachers let them slide or assign them "tutors" who are in fact there to do their homework for them.
* Because Daddy is on the board of governors of the school, that or he [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|pulls out his credit card]] and gives the school a new swimming pool if they promise to let his little angel get A's.
Unlike [[Dumb Is Good]], this is an example of the dim bulbs on a show being the mean ones. The exception to this is when the cool kids are seen as nice, where if this trope is in play they'll become [[The Ditz]], or [[The Brainless Beauty]] (though a mean popular kid could be a [[Brainless Beauty]] too). This is a trope that rarely shows up in anime, because in anime the popular kids tend to be intelligent, unrealistically beautiful, aloof and [[Loners Are Freaks|wouldn't be popular in the real life Western World.]]
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== Literature ==
* Most of [[Meg Cabot]]'s series has one of
* Bertie Wooster from ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Jeeves and Wooster]]'' instantly makes squads of friends everywhere he goes. Of course, he's [[
== Live Action TV ==
* [[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina's]] college roommate Morgan is a good example, being both tremendously dim and very popular.
* From what I have seen, pretty much every Disney Channel show ''ever'' has a popular villain girl, who is seen as dumb.
* Subverted in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', where Cordelia proves to actually be intelligent (at least she tests well) and has a rather acute detective sense. All this is covered up by her "no reason for secrets" mentality and her self-centered priorities (with a hint of outright [[The Ditz|ditziness]] for flavor). In the original movie, Buffy herself was a subversion.
** Cordelia's follower Harmony on the other hand is genuinely dumb.
** Another funny aversion of the trope is the episode Doppelgangland, where Willow is asked to "tutor" one of the jocks. After running across Vampire Willow, he decides to do his homework himself.
* Holly Fischer from ''[[The OC]]'' (especially in her later appearances when she is leader of a pack of young brides and very much the stereotypical [[
* Subverted in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. Claire is very popular at school, but she's also quiet, thoughtful and complex, and smarter than she pretends to be.
* Initially played straight on ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]''
** Got subverted in another episode, when Malcolm started dating a popular girl whose biggest secret was that she was quite smart and actually enjoyed studying. However played straight as the main reason she acts like an Air Head is to stay with the popular crowd.
* In series 3 of ''[[The Mighty Boosh]]'' Vince Noir, the "Prince of Camden", arguably falls into this category at times.
* Romeo on ''[[The Steve Harvey Show]]''.
* ''[[Glee]]'' has Finn, Puck, Brittany and the former [[Alpha Bitch]] Terri.
* On [[Friends]], Ross asked Joey, "Didn't you read [[The Lord of the Rings]] in high school?" Joey responds, "No, I had ''sex'' in high school."
* Troy on ''[[Community]]'' when he is playing up [[The Jock]] part of his character is a classic example. God bless him, he is not the brightest bulb in the box.
{{quote|
'''Troy:''' ''(immediately)'' "Done." }}
* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' gives us STEVE HOLT!!! who has had to retake his final year of school twice.
== Theatre ==
* Accidentally implied in ''[[Death of a Salesman]]''
** Biff and Willy are not dumb but have really skewed priorities and value perception over substance. It takes Biff years after his [[Heroic BSOD]] to realize where they went wrong.
* [[Jerk Jock|Brett]] and [[
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' both used and averted it, with the [[Jerk Jock]] fitting it (although not necessarily shown to be [[Book Dumb]] it takes a special kind of idiot to keep on bullying someone with a stronger, ki-using martial artist friend who has beaten him up several times in the past) while the [[Alpha Bitch]] of the other school has proved herself intelligent and observant.
* Subverted in ''[[Penny and Aggie]]''. Turns out Penny is just as smart as
* ''Weregeek'' has Jess, the main character's non-geeky girlfriend. Jess herself is an aversion, but all of her other friends come across as vapid and clueless.
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== Western Animation ==
* Dash, Kwan, and Paulina from ''[[Danny Phantom]]''; Valerie, who was kicked out of the "popular" gang when her family lost all their money, has since shown herself be of more-or-less average intellect wise for the ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' universe.
* Tad, Chad, Trixie and Veronica from ''[[The Fairly
** Butch Hartman likes this idea, doesn't he?
** Hartman seems to be a walking version of Snacky's Law, huh.
** Uh, sorry if I missed something, but when have Trixie, Tad, or Chad ever been portrayed as being dumb? Self centered, yes, but I don't think anything's happened to show they're dumb.
*** Well, not dumber than most other characters save A.J. (Timmy and his friends aren't exactly
* Mandy in ''[[Totally Spies!]]''
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' is a subversion, as she is both the smartest ''and'' most popular girl in school. Her rival Bonnie seems to be a close second in popularity, but although she is clearly not as intelligent as Kim, neither is she particularly dumb.
* In ''[[As Told by Ginger]]'' Courtney Gripling plays the trope straight as [[The Brainless Beauty]] head of the [[Girl Posse]]. Miranda Killgallan, on the other hand, is of average-to-smart intellect as to fulfill her [[Manipulative Bastard]] role and The [[Alpha Bitch]] (Courtney is mostly harmless).
* The Fashion Club along with Kevin and Brittney from ''[[Daria]]'' are perfect examples.
** This becomes a plot point in the movies and in later seasons for Quinn and Stacy (to a lesser extent), as it is established that they are much smarter than they behave normally and [[Obfuscating Stupidity|dumb themselves down]] in order to fit in better.
** This is also subverted by Jodie Landon and Mack Mackenzie; the former is most likely the most popular girl in Lawndale High and the latter is the captain of the football team, and they're two of the smartest and most well-adjusted characters in the series. Played much straighter with Brittany and Kevin, though. Though even Brittany shows alarming tactical knowledge and scheming ability when the situation calls for it or she's sufficiantly provoked.
* [[Sym-Bionic Titan]] reconstructs this trope with Kimmy.
* Most who are popular in ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]''. Played for laughs when Peter is forced to tutor [[Defrosting Ice Queen|Liz Allen]] in order to raise her grade.
{{quote|
'''Biology teacher''': I'm not sure you understand. We want your grade to go ''up'', not down. }}
* An episode of ''[[The Replacements]]'' had Riley and Tasumi realize that guys fall head over heels for utterly stupid girls. They spend the episode trying to out-dumb one another, competing for the boys' attention.
* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "Bart of Darkness", the family gets a pool and Lisa instantly becomes popular; when her brain points out that they're just using her, she delivers the page quote. At the end of the episode, the kids abandon Lisa because Martin built an even larger pool, leaving her stranded at the bottom of a now-empty pool.
{{quote|
'''Lisa's Brain:''' Well, well, well; look who's come crawling back. }}
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[[Category:School Tropes]]
[[Category:Sour Grapes Tropes]]
[[Category:
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