She doesn't do anything especially smart or clever, tbh. Reading books is a terrible indicator of someone's intelligence. And for all the fairytales she reads, Belle really should be more genre-savvy...
Mulan's a pretty quick thinker, as is Tiana imo. They're constantly shown using their wits to get themselves out of tough spots..
^ I dunno. She's quick-witted in dealing with the frog trappers, and in figuring out how to grab Facilier's talisman on the spot. And she's got some decent business acumen.
^^ After Tiana can't make her dream manifest "on her own, " she thinks a frog will turn into a rich prince. That's just around the "snooping" level for me. Not exactly a great sign of "intellect."
As for outwitting Facilier, Ariel outwitted Ursula, first. And Mulan outwitted Shan-Yu, second. So Tiana is third in line after both of them in defeating a bad person.
^^ Ariel didn't outwit Ursula,(wasn't it Eric who impales her?) *and* in any event it came after she signed a tremendously stupid contract. The whole deal had "bad news" written all over it. Also, she combs her hair with a fork. :)
In Tiana's defense, the frog really was a rich prince. And I never said Tiana was an intellectual; I don't think any of the DPs are. She's just a quick thinker and a good problem solver, which is a different kind of smart
I disagree. If you actually watch TLM, Ariel did outwit Ursula. Ursula was going to fire on Eric. Ariel pulled Ursula's hair, and caused Ursula to misfire on her eels. If it weren't for Ariel, Eric would have been dead, for the second time, and Ursula would have ruled the ocean. Ariel also saves Sebastian's life, and Flounder's life, too.
I still find Tiana dumb for kissing a frog. The prince was NOT wealthy. Naveen's "allowance" had been stopped, because he was such a cad, and had blown through all of his money. His parents expected more out of him. The reason he ended up in the hick town, was not because he was "high on the hog." He was low on money. So Naveen wasn't rich, and Tiana had enough money of her own for the restaurant. She just needed "backup" from Naveen and Louis. And I'm pretty sure, Naveen's parents paid for Tia and Naveen's wedding.
Ariel is every bit the quick thinker that Tiana is. Ariel saves multiple people. (Tiana only saves Naveen). And, like you said, Mulan is still smarter than the two of them.
Like I keep saying, reading does NOT make you intelligent. Where are all these Twilight and 50 Shades haters go silent any time this question pops up?
Mulan, Jasmine, Cinderella, and maybe Elsa and Aurora are smarter. I'm of two minds about Rapunzel and Tiana because like Belle they show intelligence but they make some pretty poor choices (as bad as Snow, Ariel or Anna sometimes, but strangely only those three get called stupid for it, not the other three).
^^ The second paragraph I find to be true, for the most part. But I'd put Elsa in the same category as Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Belle, and Tiana--- because they "appear smart," and then they do make some really bad choices. Only Snow, Merida, Ariel, and Anna receive constant flack for making bad choices. The others should be on the same level as those four, now that I've watched everything again. Mulan, Jasmine and Aurora ( who both get little screen-time), and Cinderella are shown not making any extremely "poor decisions." All the rest do.
^^ "If you actually watch TLM..." rude and unnecessary.
Killing Ursula's dumb useless sidekicks didn't really derail Ursula's overall plan; Eric impaling her with a ship's mast is what accomplished that. Ariel didn't really do much to save herself. Tiana outwitted her enemies head on more than once and defeated Facilier mostly alone. I believe she overall shows better problem-solving skills. And her screwups (every DP screws up) are not as dumb as Ariel's. At least she knew better than to make a deal with the villain. She knew his reputation.
At any rate, I think we'll have to agree to disagree here. It would be nice if you could keep it civil as well.
Eric would not have been able to run a ship's mast through Ursula, if Ariel hadn't been able "to think fast." Eric would be dead, and Ursula would rule the ocean with her eels. Eric is not totally responsible for Ursula's demise, because Ursula would have got him the first time. Ariel distracted Ursula just enough for Eric to gain his wits and find a ship. Ariel did outwit Ursula. As for being uncivil, I don't think it was wrong to point out "the little mermaid sequence of events," as it actually played out in the movie. I'm not being uncivil. People make generalizations about Ariel, and gloss over these details, in order to make Ariel seem like a complete idiot, which she isn't.
Mulan and Rapunzel are both much more intelligent. Belle is more educated than Mulan, certainly, but Rapunzel is entirely self-educated and has managed to chart stars, as well as being quick-thinking.
8804 -- I never said Ariel is a complete idiot, sorry if you got that impression. I just don't think she's smart (and her mistakes are worse). Most people are average, and there's nothing wrong with that. Being smart isn't the most important thing in the world.
It also has no effect on what I think of her overall -- I don't dislike her. The contract was realllly stupid, but I think it's cool that she was interested in human culture before she met Eric and that she tried to make it happen.
And your comment that I highlighted implied that I hadn't actually seen the movie, otherwise I'd agree with you.
Anyway, this poll is about Belle. I still stand by what I said about Tiana and Mulan being smarter.
Mulan's a pretty quick thinker, as is Tiana imo. They're constantly shown using their wits to get themselves out of tough spots..
She wouldn't have gone into the West Wing. :)
As for outwitting Facilier, Ariel outwitted Ursula, first. And Mulan outwitted Shan-Yu, second. So Tiana is third in line after both of them in defeating a bad person.
In Tiana's defense, the frog really was a rich prince. And I never said Tiana was an intellectual; I don't think any of the DPs are. She's just a quick thinker and a good problem solver, which is a different kind of smart
And still, Mulan is smarter than both.
I still find Tiana dumb for kissing a frog. The prince was NOT wealthy. Naveen's "allowance" had been stopped, because he was such a cad, and had blown through all of his money. His parents expected more out of him. The reason he ended up in the hick town, was not because he was "high on the hog." He was low on money. So Naveen wasn't rich, and Tiana had enough money of her own for the restaurant. She just needed "backup" from Naveen and Louis. And I'm pretty sure, Naveen's parents paid for Tia and Naveen's wedding.
Ariel is every bit the quick thinker that Tiana is. Ariel saves multiple people. (Tiana only saves Naveen). And, like you said, Mulan is still smarter than the two of them.
Mulan, Jasmine, Cinderella, and maybe Elsa and Aurora are smarter. I'm of two minds about Rapunzel and Tiana because like Belle they show intelligence but they make some pretty poor choices (as bad as Snow, Ariel or Anna sometimes, but strangely only those three get called stupid for it, not the other three).
Killing Ursula's dumb useless sidekicks didn't really derail Ursula's overall plan; Eric impaling her with a ship's mast is what accomplished that. Ariel didn't really do much to save herself. Tiana outwitted her enemies head on more than once and defeated Facilier mostly alone. I believe she overall shows better problem-solving skills. And her screwups (every DP screws up) are not as dumb as Ariel's. At least she knew better than to make a deal with the villain. She knew his reputation.
At any rate, I think we'll have to agree to disagree here. It would be nice if you could keep it civil as well.
It also has no effect on what I think of her overall -- I don't dislike her. The contract was realllly stupid, but I think it's cool that she was interested in human culture before she met Eric and that she tried to make it happen.
And your comment that I highlighted implied that I hadn't actually seen the movie, otherwise I'd agree with you.
Anyway, this poll is about Belle. I still stand by what I said about Tiana and Mulan being smarter.
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