King Of The Hill remains one of the greatest animated series ever. Although underrated in its time, the show has gained more popularity in recent years as fans begin to realize the hidden complexity behind its seemingly simple stories. The show about a conservative patriarch from Texas (born in New York) has touched viewers everywhere, because of its complex, but funny characters.
One such character is Luanne. A beautiful young woman who moves in with her aunt and uncle after her mum is imprisoned for stabbing her dad. The beauty of Luanne is her naivete. She is not just beautiful on the outside, but also on the inside. Her innocence elicits in audiences a desire to protect. In essence, Laune may be naïve, but she is also sweet, kind, loving, and loyal.
"I Am A Proud, Ignorant Woman!"
When local pork businessman, Trip Larsen, takes a shining to Luanne, she confesses to him that she doesn't know a lot of things. Trip reassures her that she is not stupid. just ignorant. He elucidates that this just means that she hasn't "had a chance to learn all the wrong things yet."
Of course, it is clear that Trip really means that she is so naïve, she is not a threat to his devious plans. When Peggy asks Luanne to stop dating Trip, Luanne defends herself expertly. She asserts that she is a "proud, ignorant woman! And no one is going to change that!"
"Now, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard anyone say," Peggy replies.
"Oh! You Mean Sex?"
Luanne and Hank play very well in every scene because Luanne's bluntness embarrasses Hank. Hank, who screams when a 'feminine hygiene product' commercial is on TV, tries to warn Luanne that Trip may be after something else. He dithers around the topic until he says: "Luanne, sometimes men aren't interested in what they say they're interested in. To put it bluntly, they are more interested in something else."
"Oh! You mean sex?" Luanne asks bluntly.
Hank screams, "Bwah!", and runs out of the room immediately.
"Fight The Occupation!"
After Buckley dies in the Mega Lo Mart explosion, Luanne is unable to grieve for her boyfriend. To make matters worse, she was also in the explosion, after visiting Mega Lo Mart to break up with Buckley. Beauty-school student, Luanne decides she would rather show how ugly the world is than try to make it beautiful. To do so, she revises her destiny and becomes a photojournalist.
At Buckley's funeral, she reveals her first photograph as a photojournalist: a chubby Bobby in the nude, reaching for fries.
"This is the picture of what a hungry Irish child looks like. Fight the occupation! FIGHT THE OCCUPATION!"
"You Poor Thing!"
Luanne's naivete leads her into the arms of terrible men looking to use her. While she is working at the beauty school academy, Rad Thibodeaux walks in for a free haircut. Thibodeaux introduces himself to Luanne as a sensitive person and a "self-proclaimed genius" living in a harsh world that neither understands nor values people like him.
"You poor thing!" Luanne exclaims.
This scene reveals the extent of Luanne's naivete. Rad spends his haircut spouting creepy pickup lines, even going so far as to pronounce his last name, "Thiboday-ox", yet Luanne trusts him immediately and completely.
"Vote Communist!"
Unfortunately for the USA, Luanne is easily swayed in all matters. Hank lectures her into voting in her first election after she decides she would "vote for president next year" instead. "Luanne, you should be hungry for democracy!" Hanks scolds.
Later, to Hank's horror, Luanne lists her many good reasons for choosing Communist Party leader, Robert Carigi. "One, the line in his booth was the shortest. I like his tie: it's red. And his shirt is white, and his jacket is blue. And that stands for America. Communism!"
She later adds that "Robert Carigi's got the cutest little ears and prettiest eyebrows," forcing Hank to confess that she is acting like an idiot. Luanne runs home crying.
"Here's A Little Trick I Use To Remember My Name"
After Luanne unwittingly joins a cult at college, the cult leaders have significant trouble breaking Luanne. She is too airheaded for their control tactics to work on her. During one of the leaders' speeches, she tells the ladies that they do not need food or water. Luanne is adamant that she is hungry, and orders a meat lover's pizza to be delivered to the house.
Furthermore, the cult leader is unable to brainwash Luanne into changing her name to Jane. Luanne, thinking they cannot remember her name, reminds them: "Here's a little trick I use to remember my name. I think of a man named Lu, and then a woman named, Anne. They meet in a kingdom in the forest."
The cult leader resorts to locking Luanne in a closet to break her spirit. "You have an independent streak that makes it very difficult for us to love you!" she admonishes.
"Can You Please Melt Sharona Johnson's Face?"
Sadly for Luanne, she is struggling with the death of her boyfriend in the months following the explosion. At her beauty academy, her teacher bullies her for not being smart, as does the star pupil, Sharona Johnson. Luanne tries hard to pass her exam, and the stress gets to her. She imagines Buckley's angel visiting her, and they both play on the trampoline together.
Feeling comforted and protected, she returns the next night to ask Buckley's angel to "melt Sharona Johnson's face. Oh! And help me pass my test!"
"My Mama's In Prison Cos She Fights So Much"
'Boxing Luanne' is one of many episodes where Luanne proves herself. She may be naïve, ignorant, and airheaded, but Luanne is also tough and always willing to become better. In her redemption story, she becomes fed up with men constantly harassing and objectifying her. To prove that she is more than her looks, she decides to become a boxer, after an offer by Buck Strickland.
Buck does not think she is a good boxer. Rather, he sees Luanne's looks as a way to make money. He tells Luanne, however, that she is a great boxer, to which Luanne replies: "My mama's in prison cos she fights so much. Do you think that there's some way her genes could have been passed down to me?"
"Then The Snowman Thanked Bobby And Uncle Hank!"
Dale, Boomhauer, and Bill stowaway on a truck going to Arizona. As always, Dale is careless and does not alert his wife that he will be away for a few days. Unquestionably, Luanne does not notice that Dale is gone, and chooses to share her new Christmas song with Nancy, to hear her thoughts.
"Then the snowman thanked Bobby and Uncle Hank!
For taking him to Arizona!
Cos he wants to see his friend, the crippled boy!
Just one more time before he - MELTED!"
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When asked if she likes Luanne's song, Nancy replies: "Sug, it's great. But right now, I'm busy filing a missing person's report, OK?"
"You Were Wrong, Aunt Peggy! Finding A Job Is Easy!"
"I learnt something really important at college today. I don't want to be there!" Luanne quits college, after originally quitting beauty school. She decides to go back to her first love, hair, and receives support from everyone except Peggy. Peggy, often incredibly protective of Luanne, pressures her, saying: "Getting certified as a stylist was the easy part. Now you have to prepare yourself for the constant rejection of the job hunt."
Immediately after saying this, the owner of the coolest hair salon in Arlen, 'hottyz', offers Luanne a job on the spot. "You were wrong, Aunt Peggy! Find a job is easy!" As always, Luanne lives life on pretty privilege but is too distracted to notice.