History Main / WorkingClassPeopleAreMorons

* In ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' Applejack (a farmer) is typically shown to be the least intelligent of the [[IncrediblyLamePun mane cast]]. Though her brother [[TheBigGuy Big Macintosh]] seems to be considerably smarter than her.
** Her little sister Applebloom is also an aversion, as she's shown to be pretty smart for her age. Admittedly this is compared to Scootaloo (who's possibly another example, though a slightly different ''type'' of working class) and Sweetie Bell, neither of whom are the sharpest knives in the drawer.

* Subverted for laughs by the Reality TV show {{The Simple Life}}. Their country hosts were more or less average, but every time Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie opened their mouths they made everyone around them look like geniuses by comparison. Detractors will say that [[{{Upper Class Twit}} Hilton and Richie]] are morons by any standard.

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* Subverted-- or perhaps debunked?--- by the Reality TV show "the Simple Life." Their country hosts were more or less average, but every time Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie opened their mouths they made everyone around them look like geniuses by comparison... the expressions on the faces of their hosts were priceless.

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* ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob''— Bob runs a newsstand, and is generally the most poorly educated member of the central cast (he's dating a college teacher, his adopted daughter is a genius, and Voluptua is a 300-year old member of space royalty), but he consistently displays more [[CommonSense common sense]] than those around him. Played with when Jean expresses surprise that he went to college. Bob: "I majored in [[ADegreeInUseless newsstand management!]] No way I could have kept it running through [[WeirdnessMagnet all this]] if I didn't have a degree in it!"

Especially {{egregious}} in episodes involving court cases, where heartfelt pleas seem to sway judges faster than a bisexual on a swingset.

* Subverted in ''JackieChanAdventures''. Two farmhands look exactly like stereotypical hicks, but it turns out they both have [=PhDs=]. And they take [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight remakably well]] to the concept of a magical flying chicken and a pig with LaserEyes.

* In ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' Applejack (a farmer) is typically shown to be the least intelligent of the mane cast. Though her brother [[TheBigGuy Big Macintosh]] seems to be considerably smarter than her.

* Subverted-- or perhaps debunked?--- by the Reality TV show "the Simple Life." Their country hosts were more or less average, but every time Paris Hilton or her sister opened their mouths they made everyone around them look like geniuses by comparison... the expressions on the faces of their hosts were priceless.

-->-- '''Jim''', ''BlazingSaddles''

* ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob''— Bob runs a newsstand, and is generally the most poorly educated member of the main cast, but he consistently displays more [[CommonSense common sense]] than those around him. Played with when Jean expresses surprise that he went to college. Bob: "I majored in [[ADegreeInUseless newsstand management!]] No way I could have kept it running through [[WeirdnessMagnet all this]] if I didn't have a degree in it!"

* ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob''— Bob runs a newsstand, and is generally the most poorly educated member of the main cast, but he consistently displays more common sense than those around him. Played with when Jean expresses surprise that he went to college. Bob: "I majored in [[ADegreeInUseless newsstand management!]] No way I could have kept it running through [[WeirdnessMagnet all this]] if I didn't have a degree in it!"

* ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob:'' Bob runs a newsstand, and is generally the most poorly educated member of the main cast, but he consistently displays more common sense than those around him. Played with when Jean expresses surprise that he went to college. Bob: "I majored in [[ADegreeInUseless newsstand management!]] No way I could have kept it running through [[WeirdnessMagnet all this]] if I didn't have a degree in it!"

* Eliza's father in ''{{Pygmalion}}'' is a send-up of this trope. In actual fact, he's rather intelligent, with his ingenious methods of staying away from work.

* Eliza's father in ''{{Pygmalion}}'' is a send-up of this trope. In actual fact, he's actually rather intelligent, with his ingenious methods of staying away from work.

* Eliza's father in ''{{Pygmalion}}'' is a send-up of this trope. However, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he's actually rather intelligent, with his ingenious methods of staying away from work]].

* While it may have just been a matter of UnfortunateImplications, there are [[OmegaCast only five characters]] in the movie, TheHouseofYes. Four of them are members of an elitist, wealthy, well-educated family. The fifth is a ditzy girl who is trying to marry the main character and also happens to be middle class and uneducated. Despite this contrast, she is the most sympathetic and sane person in the film.

* Eric Flint [[WordOfGod explains in the afterword]] that he wrote [[SixteenThirtyTwo 1632]] in part to combat this:

* The LordPeterWimsey stories are full of this trope.

* Eliza's father in ''{{Pygmalion}}'' is a send-up of this trope. However, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he's actually rather intelligent, with his ingenious methods of staying away from work.]]

* Subverted for laughs in a RobotChicken sketch that placed HeMan's Teela and Evil-Lyn in a farm for a reality show called "Country Folk R Morons" (a play on The Simple Life, starring the RC sketch's main [[YourMilageMayVary target or inspiriation]] Paris Hilton). A farmer tries to explain to them theoretical quantum chrono dynamics. Teela: "Your f[bleep]ing stupid!"

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* In the works of Shakespeare, commoners are often portrayed as a mindless horde, e.g. the mob commanded by Laertes in ''Hamlet'' or the mob that lynches Cinna the poet in ''Julius Caesar''.
** And then PlayedForLaughs in ''AMidsummerNightsDream.''

* Eliza's father in ''{{Pygmalion}}'' is a send-up of this trope
** [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Except he actually is rather intelligent, the man has ingenious methods of staying away from work.]]