I'm anti-Daria
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littlelotte1410 — 10 years ago(May 19, 2015 09:42 AM)
^This. Perfect. I hate when people are so quick to make judgments about shows that they've barely seen any of. If they've seen at least 75% of it, I'll give what they have to say more credence. Until then, I can't listen to it.
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mpiccolo55000 — 11 years ago(March 28, 2015 08:29 PM)
I agree with all the replies that the original poster missed the point. She was a cynical teenage girl, yes, but she also had knowledge beyond her years. It's not easy being around other kids when kids can be so shallow, and Daria had discovered more "truths" than they had.
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RazorFriendly2 — 10 years ago(February 04, 2016 10:13 PM)
I can't take any of the complaints the OP of this thread has about Daria seriously. My reason? Because the OP cites Saved by the Bell as the more realistic portrayal of high school life while saying that Daria was just unbelievable. Let's examine Saved by the Bell a little more closely, shall we? Does anyone really think the following "realities" shown in SBTB were anything close to realistic?
The school: The school looked like a shopping mall. Spotlessly clean and in up-to-date 80's colors, This school must have been the most sanitary high school that ever existed on television.
Stereotypes: Want to talk about unbelievable portrayals of high school life? How about that group? Let's see, we have a cheerleader, a jock (who looks like a prep), a prep (who looks like a jock), a brain (who looks like a cheerleader) a geek (who looks and sounds like the worst stereotype of geeks in every movie ever made, right down to the pocket protector), and, who am I missing? Oh yeah, the black American princess (who also looks like a cheerleader). Later, the writers would add another female character who was a rebel. How do we know she was a rebel? Because she wore a black leather jacket and sneered a lot. An equally stereotypical female geek was brought in as a love interest for the character of screech.
Let's be honest. The script for Saved by the Bell was insulting to a fifth graders intelligence. Not only were these insipid characters (or should I say caricatures?)completely shallow and unbelievable, the likelihood that they would come together as a group of friends was completely implausible, especially with the inclusion of Screech, who, in a more realistically written show, would have died in a hazing at the hands of Slater and Zach, or committed suicide after being bullied to death.
High school life: I don't know anyone who had all of their classes with all of their best friends. Yet, in the bizarro universe of SBTB, there they were together in every single class. Not only were they in all classes together, they also ruled the school. Every event, every dance, every talent show was dominated by this group,if not created for it. No attention was ever paid to peripheral characters. At least on Daria, her peers were fully developed characters who often fit the stereotypes in SBTB, but they were nuanced with depth and given more substance than what their outward appearance or social ranking within high school hierarchies would indicate.
The adults: All the adults in SBTB were idiots, including patently stupid principle Mr. Belding. Even the monkey Gleek from The Super Friends had more intelligence than any of the adults on this show. For some reason, Belding was always falling for some stupid prank orchestrated by Zach and carried out by his minions.
I was in high school when SBTB first aired. I only know of the details of it because it seemed it was always on and all of my friends watched it. Personally, I never understood the popularity of that show or the people who found it funny. I thought it was offensively stupid then. It's stupid now. In fact, I think Daria was the perfect antidote for a show like SBTB, and in some way, seemed to parody the very mainstream that pop culture junk like SBTB was aimed at. I was in my early 20's when Daria premiered and I connected with it immediately. I thought it was intelligently written, and for once, it wasn't pandering to people who might have been the outcast in high school or simply didn't fit in. In Saved by the Bell, it was like the writers were saying "let's make these shallow characters seem like good people by letting someone into their clique that they would never associate with in real life.
I wasn't unpopular or unattractive in high school, but I wasn't popular or considered part of any group either. I had bullies but stood up to them. I didn't care for the jocks too much, but didn't outright dislike them either. I even tutored one in English to help him get his grades up at the request of my favorite teacher. We got along, but when tutoring sessions were over, he was with his friends and I was with mine. I knew a lot of kids that more closely fit the profiles seen in Daria than even came remotely close in Saved by the Bell. Other than the fact that Daria was a cynical, less artificial portrayal of high school life, if not shockingly accurate at times, I really don't understand what the OP's problem is with this show. If the paronizing tone, braying laugh track, and winking self awareness of Saved by the Bell is your idea of a well written and hilarious show, then by all means, watch the reruns to your hearts content. Let the rest of us enjoy Daria for the honest, and less idyllic portrayal of high school life that it really is.
You're such a mess, the train wreck stops to watch you! -
RazorFriendly2 — 10 years ago(February 08, 2016 08:07 PM)
You're welcome, and thank you. I normally wouldn't have made such a long-winded post, but felt compelled to do so since the OP compared Daria to what I considered then, and now, to be and inferior show that I could never relate to. The jock I tutored that I mentioned in my post was on the football team. He reminded me a lot of the character Kevin from Daria. His name was Matt. He wasn't a "dumb" jock, but he was no academic either; which is where I came in. My relationship to Matt was very similar to that of Kevin and Daria. We ran in different circles but there was never any malice. We just didn't really get each other. That said, Matt was someone I probably wouldn't have had much interaction with had it not been for our teacher, but he was nice as a person, not unlike the Kevin character. And that's what I like about Daria. Maybe the characters weren't people we would have chosen to hang around, but they were portrayed as humans who had insecurities and flaws no different from our own.
You're such a mess, the train wreck stops to watch you! -
furienna — 9 years ago(October 22, 2016 12:56 PM)
I will not deny that a lot of your criticism of "Saved by the bell" is valid. But I don't hate the show, even though I have to say that it's not one of my favorites either. And to be fair to the OP, he/she never said that SBTB was more
realistic
than "Daria". He/she only stated that he/she prefers SBTB's more light-hearted tone over "Daria"'s more cynical one, and that opinion is as valid as yours. And I also find it disturbing that you say that if SBTB had been "more realistic", Screech would have been killed or driven to suicide by Zach and Slater (who were mostly nice guys, as far as I remember). Sure, bullying is real and terrible. But ugh, I don't believe that "Daria" went that far either
I wonder if we're not dealing with how different personality types might prefer different kinds of shows. You simply can't relate to "Save by the bell", but the OP can. He/she on the other hand can not relate to "Daria", but you can. So you will see both these shows from two different angles and never agree
And I also have to point out that I can see why the OP didn't like Daria's attitude. She and Jane can be so unlikable at times. Yeah, I used to be an outsider as a teenager as well. And I love that Daria is a writer and Jane is an artist. But they also have a tendency to think that they are
so
much better than everybody else, which makes them seem so self-righteous. Their hatred for the Fashion Club (of which Daria's sister happens to be the vice president) is too extreme too. Of course, those girls
do
seem to be shallow twits. And I wouldn't have been friends with them either, when I was a teenager. But as for Daria and Jane, they're not above comparing them to a hydra (one of the worst monsters in Greek mythology) and making a joke about them being
executed
for being too shallow. Not cool!
Intelligence and purity. -
rosepetals334 — 9 years ago(November 28, 2016 01:01 PM)
I feel like when I was in high school, I could hang out with Daria & Jane. Many years later, though, I can easily see they are a bit immature, especially how they are both just arrogant people that think they are intelligent, and the way they constantly project their hatred/. There is a line between the two. Besides, does being around people that do not reach your level of what you call intelligence really mean you are smart? It is one thing to know things that people don't know and try to help them understand, but it is another when you blatantly talk down to others and not help them learn things about the world. I almost feel sorry for them because it IS possible to be book smart AND have a social life, even amongst other people like them, but I guess even that would be asking to much for them, especially Daria.
I could maybe handle being around them in small doses now. Maybe Jane has a chance, but Daria strikes me as the type of person who emotionally and psychologically remains in high school when everyone else around her grows up. I bet even Britney the cheerleader and the fashion club end up with better lives outside of high school than Daria would ever hope to achieve.
The more personalities you have the less boring you are! -
VIETgrlTerifa — 9 years ago(December 27, 2016 12:25 PM)
I feel like when I was in high school, I could hang out with Daria & Jane. Many years later, though, I can easily see they are a bit immature, especially how they are both just arrogant people that think they are intelligent, and the way they constantly project their hatred/.
There is a line between the two. Besides, does being around people that do not reach your level of what you call intelligence really mean you are smart? It is one thing to know things that people don't know and try to help them understand, but it is another when you blatantly talk down to others and not help them learn things about the world. I almost feel sorry for them because it IS possible to be book smart AND have a social life, even amongst other people like them, but I guess even that would be asking to much for them, especially Daria.
I could maybe handle being around them in small doses now. Maybe Jane has a chance, but Daria strikes me as the type of person who emotionally and psychologically remains in high school when everyone else around her grows up. I bet even Britney the cheerleader and the fashion club end up with better lives outside of high school than Daria would ever hope to achieve.
I think that's the thing. Jane and Daria are in high school. The show is set at a time where our two protagonists are not at their most mature and at times can be insufferable aka their teenage years where things seem to be a much bigger deal than they arethough as we grow older we lose perspective on how big of a deal some things should be as well. It gets to the point where they are called out on it by many characters, including the ones that were subjects of their ridicule.
If the show stayed the way it was in season 1-3, then I wouldn't have had much hope for Jane and Daria as adults either, but I think season 4-5 and the two TV movies showed that they were beginning to evolve and mature and gain perspective. I don't see them becoming drastically different, but I can see them gaining more awareness of others and themselves, maturing, and thus tempering their self-centered perspectives and endless and, at times, mean-spirited commentary of others who they felt were inferior.
I remember that one episode where Jane was looking for Gummi Bears at that huge super store and they were chasing after Andrea who worked at the store. It turns out Andrea, with her goth demeanor and nihilistic personality was actually running away from them. When they finally caught her, it was very telling that Andrea, who I don't remember Daria and Jane really ever talking about, was preparing herself for some nasty comments from Jane and Daria and to be "cut up mercilessly" by them. Although the show didn't dwell on that too much, you can tell it took Jane and Daria by surprise and it was the show's way of showing how much Jane and Daria's "fun" was actually picked up by others and how intimidating and self-conscious it could make those who were not built to just laugh it off or who were actually conscious or paid attention to what Daria and Jane were actually saying to even be aware what Jane and Daria were saying were biting and judgmental commentary on them as people.
I also liked it when Jodi called Daria out a bit in "Gifted" when they visited that intellectually snobby preparatory school when she told Daria she needed to understand why Jodi had to act a certain way because she didn't have the privileges Daria had to just be distant and above. It was her way of saying to Daria that she knows what Daria thinks of her and she needs to be more empathetic about why people are the way that they are.
As the series progressed, Daria become more receptive to Helen's heart-to-hearts as well (and Helen also became better at them), which to me shows Daria's willingness to mature. -
rosepetals334 — 9 years ago(January 09, 2017 01:10 PM)
Apologies for the late reply, I agree with your post. Looking back on it, im rather fond of the "Is it College Yet" movie, i LOVED seeing an epilogue, if you will, of everyone's futures, respectively. I especially admire how Quinn embraced her 'inner brain' by becoming a business woman (i bet she takes after her mother's yelling style, and after spending years being controlled by a fashion club she is ready to let some words lose), Helen and Jake are proud parents.
The more personalities you have the less boring you are!