I came to Jo free of fandom preconceptions, which was lucky for me. She's certainly not dim! (She's clumsy, but that's something else entirely.)

It struck me that Cliff and co's idealism is very practical, for all the hippyish trappings: after all, he's talking about finding a fungus which will revolutionise the world's food supply! I don't see him working with industry to get rich, but because it's the only way he can see to change things - which doesn't mean that he might not get sucked in deeper than he meant to...