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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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* [[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 [[The Brainless Beauty|Brainless Beauty]]). To a lesser extent Luke Ward, though he was a bit deeper than the usual [[Jerk Jock]]. Summer Roberts very much fitted this trope at the start of the series, but evolved into more of a [[Genius Ditz]] as the show progressed.
* 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]]''--the normal kids keep several metres away from the gifted kids at all times, and the most popular kids aren't all that bright. A later episode [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] this when Malcolm met a another gifted boy who was the most popular person in his school and was invited to several parties a week. Also, as time went on, Reese, the stupidest boy in the school, ended up even less popular than Malcolm.
** 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.
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* 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|'''Jeff:''' "I want you to clear your mind."
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* Accidentally implied in ''[[Death of a Salesman]]''--past popularity is inversely correlated with present success, particularly for Biff, Willy, and Bernard.
** 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 [[The Brainless Beauty|Kendra]] in [[
== Web Comics ==
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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 Odd Parents]]''.
** Butch Hartman likes this idea, doesn't he?
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* ''[[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.
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