I'm very puzzled about Dianne's brain capacity. At times I feel like she's putting on an act because 1. She think it makes her funny, and/or 2. She's trying to compensate the fact that she's older than her boyfriend and most of his fandom so she thinks being dumb makes her seem younger and cuter, hence; more relatable?
From what I've seen I'm however leaning towards her actually being that thick, which kind of makes me feel sorry for Joe.
Dianne is not 'thick', IMO. She is, however, dyslexic. She has admitted to this in the vid when they visited Zalfie in Brighton, when DB was competing against JS on the dance machine. Also, in an earlier vid in the early New Year, there was a big clue when Dianne picked up Anton du Beke' s book and stated it took her 8x to read the first page of a book.
If you are dyslexic, it does not equate to lack of intelligence.
As for the Joanne vids, I agree that post-Strictly, Dianne has often acted as the fall-guy. This was not, however, the stance she took when mentoring the dance. So why the change? Well, first, I suggest she is simply supporting Joe, by adopting the role he wants her to play, and second, it is easy to play along in an unfamiliar milieu by acting as sidekick and interjecting from time to time, while often copying/backing up the main lead.
Say what you want about him, he might not always make the best choices, but he's booksmart, well-informed and does actually have a genuine interest in a lot of things. Dianne doesn't seem to know anything about anything besides dance, and it must be quite frustrating for Joe to not be able to have a intellectual conversation about just normal grown up stuff, especially considering that he actually does seem to be interested in a lot of things. He always used to talk about watching documentaries and conspiracy theories videos, and I remember always being surprised by his knowledge level when watching him do gameshows and quizzes on his gaming channel.
It is difficult to rebut this proposition without appearing pompous. I would, however, aver that Joe is far from being intellectual. I see no evidence of books in his flat. I accept he may be reading from a tablet, but there is little evidence of that in his vids (if any). I do not count interests in conspiracy theories as evidence of intellect: is David Icke a leading intellect? Joe's interest in fine art is perhaps more promising, but the trail seems to go cold upon conclusion of A levels, at which he showed promise for tertiary education. But this seems to have been rejected by his subsequent career choices, and I have not seen reference to him attending London art exhibitions. Does he? You could argue that he is an intellect as yet unfulfilled. I might argue that he finds the superficial allure of the bright lights and glamour more interesting. It does not make him a bad person.
Can someone even imagine Dianne watching a documentary or just having a proper conversation about some kind of current event going on in the media? Whether it be politics, climate change, the MJ allegations or Brexit. Maybe I'm too harsh, but I honestly can't see Dianne get her head around either of those things to be able to actually have a grown-up conversation about it where critical thinking is included
Dianne seems to me authentic in a world of superficiality. She is honest and forthright. She knows what she likes, and seems to be a good mentor at her craft - she knew how to cover over Joe's weaknesses at dance, and did not let on until after the contest was over. I would not argue that she is intellectual, but with the handicap of dyslexia, that was unlikely to be her goal, given the rural environment in which she was raised and tutored. Dianne is, however, ambitious, hard-working, determined and focussed: as such, she has now risen to the top of her career path outside films. She is currently established in the mainstream entertainment world in a way that Joe has yet to attain.
In the world of media entertainment, too often the deep subjects you list are ignored, not least because taking a stand on divisive issues like Brexit will not be career- enhancing and could well be counter'productive.
Hanging out with someone who is just clueless about everything can be fun at times but it really sucks the energy out of you after a while. I think it might really get to Joe one day, we've already seen him give those God-give-me-strength glances to the camera, and I definitely think there's some truth behind them, and If Joe would be the one to end the relationship, I think this could be the breaking deal. Sex is great and all but, 99 % of the time you'll be spending with your partner you're gonna do other stuff, and you'll want someone you can talk to about everything.
I've seen those know-all glances too. They do not reflect well on Joe. He seemed oblivious for ages to Dianne's dyslexia. Anybody can be a smart arse about spelling, if they are not dyslexic but their partner is. He seems to have slowed down on this now - and for his sake, if he is serious, he had better continue with his steep learning curve, otherwise his tears will be large and long.
Dianne has developed her coping mechanism for dyslexia, which avoids too much reading. She is a bright, infectious, positive, warm personality, a good team player and a leader. Even Zoe remarked on the positive effect on her brother. If Joe does not see this now, he will if he squanders his chances. Happily, the current PDAs, while OTT, seem go indicate he may have woken up.
Yes he probably gained the views of some 50 year old strictly viewers during to process and good on him. But honestly. I'm 26 and would rather be caught dead than caught watching Joanne do a Little mermaid hair do. On the other hand I have no problem admitting I used to enjoy his prank call videos, voice impressions and heck, even the birth stimulator videos.
All you mention I agree with (and left me cold), save the Tens video, which I thought was funny and aimed at an older audience.
If you're still in denial that Joe and Dianne are king and queen of the tweenie fest I suggest you take a look at twitter or his comment section. It's not a party I'd like to be associated with.
I am not disagreeing with you that he has expanded his younger audience, almost by accident. I suspect Strictly had an effect on galvanizing the younger audience too, but in a different way, and neither of us want the screaming teenagers, although they have intermittently been around forever with media stars.
Do you guys maybe think Dianne has ADHD? She is dylexic (for many people adhd and dyslexia go hand-in-hand), she has problems with concentration (when she was talking about reading the page of Anton's book 8 times), in Joe's recent vlog she also said that she's easily distracted and can't watch a full movie. I don't know if she is and dont want to start any rumours but that idea just popped in my head.