# Sophia Loren Q **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2020, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545 "2020-04-25T07:33:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/1 "2020-04-25T07:33:25Z")
I was on one of those clickbait sites with old photos of famous celebrities and one of them was of Sophia Loren. The commentary–which struck me as kind of gratuitous, since they didn’t say it about any of the others–mentioned that she was “better known for her beauty than her brains.” Does _La Sophia_ have some reputation for stupidity that I’m unaware of? There are some celebs with reputations for being as dumb as posts, and others for being quite sharp. (It has been said that if you’re ever on a game show where you’re paired with a celebrity, the ones you want on your team are David Duchovny and Cheech Marin; the ones you _don’t_ want are Gillian Anderson and Tommy Chong.) Is it well-known one way or the other where Sophia Loren fits on this scale? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/2 "2020-04-25T07:54:53Z")
Quoting Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > She has also won a Grammy Award, five special Golden Globes (including the Cecil B. DeMille Award), a BAFTA Award, a Laurel Award, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the Honorary Academy Award in 1991. In 1995, she received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievements, one of many such awards. In 1999, Loren was named by the American Film Institute the 21st greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. She is currently the only living actress and the highest ranked living person on the list." Doesn’t sound like the achievements of a dummy. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/3 "2020-04-25T08:08:53Z")
She is better known for her beauty than her brains, but I’ve never heard her described as unintelligent in any way, quite the opposite. She’s very well spoken, in more than one language and considered very sophisticated, and known for her insight. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/4 "2020-04-25T12:07:51Z")
Loren was shown to be a smart woman throughout her career, but to most people she was a sex symbol.\* The line is not doubting her intelligence; it was talking about her image. - The same was said to be true of Marilyn Monroe. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/5 "2020-04-25T12:31:26Z")
All beautiful actresses are better known for their beauty than their brains. They are not paid to be smart. If they are, they are smart enough to keep it to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/6 "2020-04-25T14:27:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Loren was shown to be a smart woman throughout her career, but to most people she was a sex symbol.\* The line is not doubting her intelligence; it was talking about her image. > > - The same was said to be true of Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn did some brainy stuff, like marry Arthur Miller, lean on the Copa to book Ella Fitzgerald when they were not accustomed to booking black singers, and buy subscriptions to The Nation for every member of Congress. These are not the actions of a cartoon ditz. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/7 "2020-04-25T15:01:44Z")
The statement is literally true, but insulting nonetheless. It’s innuendo. I don’t know whether that’s what the writer intended, but it’s the effect. I’ve never heard anyone accuse Sophia Loren of being stupid, or even of below-average intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/8 "2020-04-28T06:23:25Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > The statement is literally true, but insulting nonetheless. It’s innuendo. I don’t know whether that’s what the writer intended, but it’s the effect. > > I’ve never heard anyone accuse Sophia Loren of being stupid, or even of below-average intelligence. That was my impression too. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/9 "2020-04-28T09:49:50Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > The statement is literally true, but insulting nonetheless. It’s innuendo. I don’t know whether that’s what the writer intended, but it’s the effect. > > I’ve never heard anyone accuse Sophia Loren of being stupid, or even of below-average intelligence. This. Consider who writes that crap. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/10 "2020-04-28T11:09:34Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This. Consider who writes that crap. :dubious: Yeah, but he (or she) didn’t make comparable comments about the other women in the series, including Sharon Tate, Jayne Mansfield and Cher. Just wondering why Sophia got singled out. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sophia-loren-q/852545/11 "2020-04-28T12:31:53Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This. Consider who writes that crap. :dubious: Yeah, I’ve clicked though a few of those clickbait sites out of boredom, and they are terribly written. It’s clear the writers will come up with just about any bs to pad out a paragraph or two per page. I mean, she was no [Hedy Lamarr](https://www.marketplace.org/2017/11/21/inventor-changed-our-world-and-also-happened-be-famous-hollywood-star/), but hey…