User blog:Gumball2/Is Leni Really Stupid?

I’m gonna be striking the grain and running against it. I am perfectly aware that people will shake their heads when they hear what I have to say. But my hope is that I can outline a person’s view of mine that is rarely shared in Loud House discussion. Even if you don’t agree with me, think I’m sucking up to a character I like, or think I’m taking the show too seriously (a charge I am fully prepared to accept), I want this to at least get you thinking about this matter.

Here it goes.

In my view, Leni is not “stupid” at all.

What do I mean by stupid? In this context, stupid is defined as a significant (or absolute) inability to translate external information into coherent thought by means of a consistent set of logic. The key word is consistent. It’s very easy to call someone mindless just because we don’t agree with their conclusion or don’t understand how they arrived at it (leading us to believe that no thought was put into it). However, the presence of a consistent set of logic can help us understand why someone acts a certain way. It may not be common sense or helpful for other people, but I personally don’t view it as stupid or something that should be entirely dismissed.

And this brings me back to Leni. Ever since I got into the show, I have heard people refer to her as “stupid” (or if they wanna be polite “dumb”). And in Season 2, I have heard some arguments that she has gotten worse by citing specific examples of her usual behavior.

Firstly, I wanna address the Season 2 issue. The fact is that she has not gotten “dumber” in Season 2. Much of her actions follow the same line of logic as they did in the first season and (unfortunately) Season 2 hasn’t given her as much spotlight to really highlight other aspects of her character. It’s easy to conclude from this skewed perspective that the writers have gotten lazy with her and resorted to “dumb” her down. But all one needs to do is look at “Change of Heart” to show that this is not the case. This was the first episode of Season 2 to really highlight Leni and it shows. Indeed, that episode presented her as someone capable of teaching/encouraging Clyde, displaying interpersonal and introspective skills, and overall being her lovable self. Because of this, I am not convinced that Leni has gotten worse in Season 2.

But the bigger fish to fry is how intelligent she is to begin with. It should be noted that she is not unable to learn. She clearly possesses knowledge on fashion and sewing as displayed in numerous episodes (mostly in Season 1 but I don’t think Season 2 has forgotten that). “Driving Miss Hazy” shows she can be taught a more complicated topic when presented with a specific (yet consistent) set of terminology. The aforementioned “Change of Heart” shows that she has her own tricks and methods for teaching Clyde about talking to Lori. And “It’s a 4xLoud House” has that oft-cited quote I need not repeat here. So it’s not like her head is full of rocks.

So why then is she seen doing “dumb” stuff. For that, one needs to slow down and think about each of them. Rather than just take them at face value, one must consider what about the external information she’s receiving and how it translates into action.

Let’s take “No Laughing Matter” with the soda thing. The plan she heard was to make Luan feel better about herself by laughing at everything she said. Obviously that doesn’t work. But Leni is convinced that if she does what she’s told (to laugh at everything), then regardless of what anyone else does, it will work. And making Luan feel good is a noble objective since she knows she loves her sister and wants her to be happy. Does it take her a little time for her actions to realize that it’s not working? Yes, but that’s not to discard the intention. Leni did not do this mindlessly. She had a clear motivation that made sense to her and she carried through with it.

Another example is in “A Faire to Remember”. When Lori is lamenting how Bobby sees Lincoln as the brother he never had, Leni responds by saying that she should connect with Ronnie Anne so that she will be like the sister Lori never had. This is dismissed as just another “Leni-ism”, But is it really mindless? If she reversed the names, then the plan actually makes sense (Ronnie Anne doesn’t have a sister and Lori could fill that role for Ronnie Anne). Some may disagree, but I argue that Leni was thinking of this second plan (the one that makes sense). It’s been established that Leni doesn’t have a great grasp of the English language and what she said was purely a verbal slipup. Some may contend that Leni should have corrected herself, but the episode simply marched on to the next line of dialogue before she could have done this. But nonetheless, I feel like Leni did recall her mistake ex post facto.

I won’t go through every case of Leni being “dumb”, but I think the point is clear. I believe that underneath the words and what we see, Leni does have a functional mindset that allows her to translate what she observes into thoughts that make sense to her. These thoughts can even be consistent with your own logic, but her own clumsiness keeps her from conveying that in a way that’s intelligible to us. That’s what I think it boils down to. Leni’s not stupid; she’s clumsy at execution. In my eyes, that’s a stark contrast from her being dumb (or mindless).

Why does this matter? Because I think understanding who Leni is and recognizing that her actions aren’t just the whims of the writer smashing letters on a keyboard can lead us to take her more seriously as a character. Leni, like Lincoln and the other sisters, is a person with thoughts and feelings. To dismiss anything she says or does as hopelessly stupid is something I don’t agree with nor is it something the writers are achieving.

But enough about how I feel. What do you think? Is this overanalyzing or do you find something meaningful in here? Feel free to discuss