Reed only told Sue he was a judo master. And then he showed her a few moves... Tony Stark, international playboy, has got nothing on the Marvel Comics' scientific community's number one Mack Daddy. :-)

She was of the class that dazzled the young, nouveau riche Reed as his family moved about in such circles, yet possessed of a strength and character that underscored and informed her beauty; a beauty that in so many other, lesser girls of her class, was a mere collection of practiced affectations. Sue was the real deal.

Her sense of dignity yet apparent fragility is likely what drew Namor's eye as well, seeing in her a creature of regal bearing appropriate to the sort of Atlantis he hoped to rule. She was fit for a Prince of the Blood Royal. Reed was in no way her equal and Namor was likely insulted on Sue's behalf that such rabble dared consort with someone so far above his station. 

Alicia carries herself as member of polite, albeit less genteel, society and has a heart and sensitivity as big as all outdoors. Sue is able to find common ground with her and feel a tremendous kinship with the poor girl, raised by one sort of brute and hopelessly in love with another. Alicia is a creature of beauty trapped in a world of ugliness, and yet supremely capable of compassion despite it all. She and Sue understand one another and are a comfort to each other in times of strain. As is shopping. Never underestimate the importance of shopping.

Sue's approach is matter-of-fact with her fellow members of the FF and while she clearly wishes them to be better than their lowest instincts early on, she nevertheless loves and cares for them enough to eventually accept them on their own, flawed terms. Boys will be boys, after all. If only the lot of them could just grow up and learn to behave themselves... Reed often being the worst of them, even if he doesn't see it himself. So wrapped up in his work, like a small boy with a chemistry set... It's not just for her sake that she wants him to come out of the lab and move about in society, interacting with others. 

It would be nearly impossible to find an actress poised and delicate enough to play Sue's exterior self and yet intelligent and self-assured in a way that demonstrates the utter lack of pretense informing those movements; To play the society deb and the woman of intense strength beneath. Morena Baccarin and Natalie Portman have both played figures who move about with grace and a sense of royalty, but they play too many games with the eyes. Sue does not flirt. She looks at you directly and speaks her mind without fear. She speaks persuasively and with emotion, yet never carelessly. She is controlled and knows exactly what she is going to say before she says it. I can't bring to mind a performer or performance that suggests Sue as she should be done.

We're just going to have to CGI her.

And we thought Ben was going to be our greatest special effects challenge...

So you think it's easier to tear down Reed Richards than believe that he's a polymath of the first order?

I mean, Ben Grimm was a combat pilot - but he was awfully big to fit into those small aircraft cockpits. But I'm willing to allow a little disbelief.

Hey, Reed was as surprised as anyone when Sue defeated Doom with that flip-over bit he showed her with the stack of pillows... He just made that up on the spot!

BH: "...don't forget to tip your waiters!"

AUUGGHHH! >thud!<

I do plead guilty to some awkward sentence construction there. And a badly placed apostrophe. As well as to speaking in sentence fragments. Like these. No worries. I took no offense. I was, however, baffled that my calling Reed a "mack daddy" and presenting a scenario wherein he was lying to Sue to get her into "judo" positions could be taken seriously.