User blog:Weavillain/My Nitpick w/ Leni Loud

A while ago, I posted a little [blog](https://www.reddit.com/r/theloudhouse/comments/85g7o1/lets_hear_your_thoughts_my_nitpick_w_driving_miss/) about a problem I had with "Driving Miss Hazy". Well, this time around, I'm going to bringing that episode back to light, but from a different perspective. We'll get into that in a little bit, though. For now, I'm here to preface what I believe is going to be a blog about sentiments that I really don't see too often about Leni Loud. So yeah, you're probably not going to like what I have to say if you're a very passionate Leni fan.

Anyway, let me first start off by saying that despite how I feel about her nowadays, I still enjoy Leni quite a lot. What can I say about her that hasn't already been said about her? She's fun to watch, whether she's cute and funny or caring and likable. There's really not a lot that you could say that's wrong with Leni, except maybe you might find her dumb blonde moments annoying every now and then.

But when it comes right down to it, that's...kinda the problem. Leni Loud, in my opinion, has been catered to way too much by the show.

Now, what exactly do I mean by that? Well, what I mean is, she's a character that really doesn't have any flaws. Anyone who has seen or watched any sort of critical analysis video/blog/seminar/etc. about character development knows that flaws are super important to a well-developed character. They can provide opportunities for arcs (in which characters learn to either cope or overcome them) and they make characters more human. So, in a somewhat grounded show like The Loud House, where making personal connections to the characters is one of the most satisfying experiences that viewers constantly create, then it should really go without saying that making the characters more flawed (not to the point of making them unlikable) is an easy way for those characters to become more endearing.

In that department, however, Leni kinda fails to reach that mark; she's a little too perfect. It wouldn't irk me as much as it does if it weren't for the fact that she has so many upsides to her. She's pretty, a great fashion designer, expert lock picker, good at carpentry, has a great social life, and she's the sweetest and most empathetic main character in the entire show. There's really nothing that offsets all that, nothing that brings her more down to Earth. And the result of that is a lot of fans fawning over less as a character and more like a really cute plush doll.

"But wait!" you might say. "Leni's not flawless! She's really dim! That's a flaw, right?!"

Well...no. No, it's really not. At least, it's not a flaw that the showrunners seem intent on actually treating like a flaw. See, a while ago, I made a blog on TLH Wikia about why I felt that Leni's dimness was vital to her character. I argued that without it, she'd be too perfect. But nowadays, I'm beginning to come to terms with the idea that just because being dim is a legitimate character flaw doesn't mean that I can ignore execution. By that, I mean that if Leni's dimness is truly something that's intended to take the sheen off of her, then I'm of the opinion that the showrunners haven't done a good enough job doing that.

Ask yourself this: how many instances has the show actually treated Leni's dimness like a flaw and not as a way to make her more funny, charming, or adorable to the viewer?

I believe they've done the latter more than the former, and that creates the effect of turning a flaw into a quirk that's designed to make the character more awesome. To tie my grievances into the world of fanfiction, when amateur writers want to create original characters (OCs) that aren't perfect in every way, they'll give them flaws that could work, but wind up falling short because of the way they're written. Say that their character is really clumsy and trips on her feet every time she's around her crush. If the clumsiness doesn't affect her negatively (say that the crush finds it weird or the OC keeps annoying the crush), then how can it truly be a flaw, especially when it benefits them?

Take the recent Season 3 episode "Selfie Improvement". Thanks to a series of flashbacks, we see that Leni trying to encourage Lori every time she winds up coming short of beating Carol. The thing is, although Leni's intentions are all well and good, they can easily been seen as insensitive since all she's doing is unknowingly rubbing in the fact that Lori is only second best to Carol. See, this is where Leni's dimness can be seen as a flaw; her good intentions accidentally make the person she's trying to encourage feel worse. It even carries into the present, where she praises Lori for coming up short to Carol in the "likes" department. So, what does the episode do with that idea? They treat it like a joke. Leni's never confronted about being more tactful with her words because the episode is too busy using her lines as a means to make funny jokes that only serve to make her character look great. Now, of course, they have their narrative merits (seeing as how they're the driving point to Lori's actions), but my point about her insensitivity being glossed over still stands.

And that's a theme that I've noticed continually being carried out in most of Leni's appearances. Anything harmful that her dim actions can inspire are turned into making her even more endearing with each passing episode. On the surface, that's not exactly a problem. Heck, in the past, I've said that the way they write Leni's dimness is awesome because her dimness doesn't constantly hurt others. And I also agree with the notion that trying to make her more flawed by always being a pain in the neck to others would only serve to make her more unlikable, especially if she never seems to learn from it. "Stupid" characters can easily turn into a nuisance if they're not written carefully, and part of that is ensuring that they're not continually causing pain and suffering everywhere they go.

But even still, I don't think it's too much to ask to not make Leni's dimness a means to make her come out smelling like a rose practically every time she's onscreen, especially if trying to have her somewhat flawed is what the showrunners are going for. When you take into account how her low intelligence is pretty much the only real defense against her plethora of positive traits, then I don't think I'm asking for much when I say that a lot Leni-centric episodes/appearances should try and focus on giving her a challenge to overcome (that her flaw creates in the first place) or have her confronted with a flaw-driven mistake that she creates and has to make amends for. That's the kind of stuff that makes for good episodes and opportunities for developing characters.

I mean, look at all of her siblings (barring Lily). They have distinguishable flaws that have made for some of my favorite episodes, and that's because I either see a relatable journey of self improvement or I enjoy an interesting introspective look at the characters. The closest episode that's done that for Leni was, in my opinion, "Driving Miss Hazy", an early Season 1 episode. We see Leni having to overcome her self-doubt in order to get what her dimness prevents her from getting. Still, even that episode kinda falls flat. See, it's not so much that Leni is a bad learner but one that has to be taught with unconventional means. After that, she gets driving down pat in the span of one afternoon. Plus, as I mentioned in that DMH blog, the episode tells me that it's funny/okay when Leni creates driving mishaps but only when they're of her accord. As a result, she doesn't really have to face the consequences of her reckless behavior at all.

But still, I'm not going to completely negate the effect that the episode had on humanizing her, even if I don't think that they went far enough. I mean, at least there seemed to be effort in doing that, which is more than I can say for any subsequent appearances she's had.

With all of that being said, I don't want anyone to get the idea that I hate Leni. Again, I still find her personality and quirks enjoyable (she wouldn't be my fourth favorite Loud if that wasn't true). It's just that as I've watched the show, one of my biggest moments of satisfaction is watching flawed, likeable characters grow and develop for the better. That's made me more endeared to characters like Lori, who I didn't have the best first impression with and who was actually my second least favorite Loud when I started watching. So, as characters like her continue to find favor in my rankings, Leni's position will continue to slip further down if her "perfect", stagnant appearances continue. I'll still like her, but the lot she's given just might have her slip out of my Top 5. I'm sincerely hoping that doesn't happen, though.