Note: The following is based mainly on the first two seasons, which I saw.
“Daria” (1997-2002) was an MTV cartoon about Daria Morgendorffer, an American high school student. She is best known for her monotone and sarcasm, making other characters seem like self-centred fools.
Daria once asked her aunt:
Is life always tawdry, stupid and humiliating or is it just a phase?
Daria reads books and does not hide her intelligence. She thinks for herself and says what she thinks – what she calls being honest. She is self-righteous and has a “rigid” moral code, which she terms integrity. And, probably worst of all, she dresses unfashionably.
This makes her seem strange to other students. Their aim in life is being popular: to be accepted and liked by everyone – the opposite of being a loser like Daria and her equally independent-minded-and-therefore-strange friend Jane.
Daria’s mother is a lawyer, her father a businessman. They are so busy with work they have little time for her.
Her sister Quinn is so shallow that her shallowness is almost deep. All she cares about is fashion, boys, her looks and being popular. Her guide to life is Waif, a fashion magazine. She only dates boys with working cars.
Quinn is a walking female stereotype, the opposite of Daria in almost every way. She tells her friends that Daria is her “cousin or whatever”.
Another stereotype that Daria plays counter to is Brittany, an airheaded cheerleader complete with blonde hair.
The show easily passes the Bechdel Test since the main characters are mostly female. All the strong authority figures are female too. (The Bechdel Test says that a show is only worth watching if the female characters talk to each other about something other than a male character.)
It takes place in Lawndale, a white upper-middle-class suburb of a big American city with a Dutch past – presumably New York (where the show was written and produced).
All the regular characters are white except for two token blacks (Jodie and Mack) and two token Asian Americans (Tiffany and Ms Li).
Unlike the Asian ones, the black characters have no clear faults. This is especially striking in Mack since all the other regular male characters have clear faults. As far as I know, Daria never says anything bad about either Jodie or Mack. They are Noble But Boring Middle-Class Negroes, right down to the boring love life.
We do however get some insight into Jodie every now and then, like in her Queen of the Negroes speech.
Some books Daria has read:
- Paul Auster: City of Glass
- John Gardner: On Moral Fiction
- Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet
- Orwell: 1984
- Vonnegut: Breakfast of Champions
- Austen: Sense & Sensibility
- Flaubert: Madama Bovary
- Kerouac: The Dharma Bums
- Shelley: Frankenstein
- Twain: Huckleberry Finn
Daria has too much insight into people and life for a teenager, even for one who reads as much as she does. She is more like a 30-year-old looking back on 16.
See also:
- DariaWiki – a fan wiki
- Anne D. Bernstein’s blog – one of the main writers and artists behind the show
- My So-Called Life
- stereotype
- Orwell: 1984
- Kerouac
- Zora Neale Hurston: What White Publishers Won’t Print
- Blacks according to American television
I used to love this show. I’ve been looking for the DVDs for a while now.
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I disagree about Jodie being a boring stereotype. I think you really misread her character. Have you seen the movie,”Is it fall yet?” Or the later seasons of Daria?
The reason I asked is because, all the characters, Quinn especially, seem like stereotypes in the early seasons, but they get fleshed out more as the series progresses. If the show hadn’t been canceled, if I recall it was because one of the writers, producers died during 9/11, I think this would have continued. That was what I liked about the show. Everyone had matured and learned something about themselves before the end of it.
Even Brittany! Kevin gets held back, and he asks her to still be his girlfriend. She says that she will, with her fingers crossed. She totally is dumping his dumb ass when she finds a college boyfriend.
Jodie is a more fleshed out character than Mack. Mack is the smart foil to Kevin’s leaden stupidity. But most of the female characters are more fleshed out than their male counterparts. I mean Trent, Tom, Kevin, don’t have that much depth. As you said this is a show about females primarily, males secondarily.And Jodie and Mack were supporting characters.
I liked that speech Jodie made in the movie “Is it College Yet?”
Her father wanted her to go to an expensive prestigious college. Mack saw that Jodie felt weighed down by her father’s expectations and interceded on her behalf. Jodie finally tells her father that she wants to go to the black college, just to relieve the pressure she feels all the time. That she’s tired of being the “black” kid and just wants to be a kid. She also doesn’t want to go someplace people might think she got into just because of Affirmative Action.
It is clear by the way the actress says it that the pressure her parents and everyone else put on her to be the “Model Minority” all the time has gotten to her. And she’s sick of it.
It’s a pretty poignant and truthful moment. I always thought the relationship between Jodie and Mack was the best in the show. Unlike all the white characters, even Daria they act more mature.
The show always emphasized that Jodie was more mature than Daria. Daria gets to be an individual, and negate whatever she wants, something that Jodie in her postion cannot afford to do.
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SCENE 5 – LAWNDALE HIGH SCHOOL – CAFETERIA
(Jodie and Mack are having lunch)
Jodie – How did your father’s meeting at the bank go?
Mack – Not good. My Dad says I can’t go to Vance unless they give me a scholarship. We can only afford State University, and they don’t even have a business school.
Jodie – Oh, Mack. You’ve worked so hard. You’ve just got to get that scholarship.
Mack – Would you mind calling the committee and telling them that?
Jodie – I’ll even tell them how cute you look when you study.
Mack – What about you? How are your applications going?
Jodie – Well, I got the big ones in today. Turner and Crestmore.
Mack – Crestmore… the dream of dreams.
Jodie – Hmmm.
Mack – What’s wrong?
Jodie – It’s a top school and everything, but I’d really rather go to Turner.
Mack – Your father’s alma mater? He must love that.
Jodie – He doesn’t know I applied.
Mack – Why?
Jodie – Because he wouldn’t let me go anyway. He says not even a great African-American college like Turner can beat the Crestmore name on a resume. To say nothing of the bragging rights it’ll give him on the golf course.
Mack – Oh, man. That sucks.
Jodie – You know, my grandmother was in the first Turner graduating class to admit women. I’d be carrying on a tradition. Plus, I’d finally get a break from having to be the perfect Jodie doll at a mostly-white school.
Mack – I hear that.
Jodie – I wish my father did. I can always transfer to Crestmore after a year or two. At least, I’d find what Turner’s like. But his mind’s made up.
Mack – Well, Crestmore hasn’t accepted you yet.
Jodie – Hey, maybe we should both go to State University. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about how to get together on weekends.
(Brittany and Kevin enter)
Brittany – Hi, Jodie. Hi, Mack. You know, I applied to State University, too. They’ve one of the best cheerleading squads in the country.
Mack – God help me!
Jodie – Ummm, that’s nice, Brittany. Kevin, do you know where you’re going?
Kevin – It’s a secret, man.
Mack – Why? Is the school embarrassed?(HAHAHA!)
Kevin – Why would it be embarrassed? I’m a QB. It’s not like I’m a brain or anything.
Mack – Truer words were never spoken.
Kevin – Thanks, man!
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SCENE 11 – LANDON HOUSE – LIVING ROOM
(Andrew Landon is reading the paper as Jodie enters the room)
Andrew – You call that a tax cut? I’ve seen haircuts more drastic.
Jodie – Um, Dad? Could I talk to you a second?
Andrew – Sure! What’s on your mind?
Jodie – Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about Crestmore, and a lot about Turner.
Andrew – Turner’s a great school. Not nearly as elite as Crestmore, though.
Jodie – That’s just it. I don’t want to go to an elitist school.
Andrew – Sure you do.
Jodie – I want to go to a school where I fit in, where I can be myself and relax for once and really focus on learning. I want to go to Turner. At least for a year or two.
Andrew – You want to go to college to relax? That doesn’t sound like my Honor Society daughter.
Jodie – Relax socially; stop being the black kid, and just being a kid. I’m tired of being in the extreme minority, and I don’t want to go to a place where people might think I got in just because I’m African-American.
Andrew – Let people think what they want.
Jodie – But Dad, you don’t know what it’s like. You went to a black high school and then to Turner.
Andrew – Because I HAD to. If I had a Crestmore degree in my pocket… Jodie, their graduates are literally running this country. Think of how that degree can help you catapult ahead. I’m not saying your life won’t be harder until you graduate, but it will be a hell of a lot easier after. Four years versus the rest of your life. Where is that Landon spirit?
(Jodie looks crestfallen)
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Student said:
How wonderful. I mostly just saw the first two seasons.
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SCENE 30 – LAWNDALE HIGH SCHOOL – HALLWAY
(Jodie is putting up a poster for a used books sale next to a trophy case when Mack approaches)
Mack – Hey, shake the hand of a Vance University man. (holds his hand out in an exaggerated gesture)
Jodie – You got the scholarship? Oh, Mack! That’s great! (shakes his hand)
Mack – You’re actually shaking my hand?
Jodie – Oh, Mack! (hugs Mack)
Mack – Is something the matter?
Jodie – What could be the matter? Everything’s perfect. (begins to cry) I got into Crestmore.
Mack – (hugs a crying Jodie) Crestmore took you when Turner didn’t? That’s weird.
Jodie – I got into Turner, too.
Mack – (releases Jodie) What? But didn’t you tell your father that’s where you want to go?
Jodie – I tried, Mack, but he’s right. Crestmore is gonna open doors for me that Turner never could. I think it’s a better choice. (stops crying)
Mack – No, you don’t. Look at you! You’re miserable!
Jodie – I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay? I told you, I want to go to Crestmore. (runs away crying)
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(Mack enters office)
Andrew – Come in, Mack. Have a seat, and congratulations about Vance.
Mack – Thank you. Thanks for squeezing me in before school.
Andrew – No problem, no problem. You said on the phone you wanted to talk about Jodie?
Mack – Yeah.
Andrew – You’re not gonna ask me for her hand in marriage, are you? Because I’m too young to be a grandfather, Mack, you understand?
Mack – Grandfather? Ummm, no, Mr. Landon, it’s nothing like that.
Andrew – Thank you, God! I mean… of course not. So, how can I help you?
Mack – I hope you don’t think I’m out of line, but Jodie’s been acting really unhappy lately, and I think it’s because of Crestmore.
Andrew – Impossible! We had a long talk about it and she’s really looking forward to going.
Mack – With all due respect, sir, I don’t believe that’s true. She’s been putting a lot of pressure on herself for a long time. I think she really needs a different kind of environment. Like Turner.
Andrew – (brief laugh) How is she gonna go to Turner? She didn’t even apply. (pause) What do you mean, acting uphappy?
Mack – Quiet, distracted, crying. (pause) You’re not going to be a grandfather.
Andrew – Look, Michael, we all think we know what we want when we’re young. If Jodie passes on Crestmore, she’ll end up regretting it for the rest of her life. Besides, Crestmore is a lot closer to Vance than Turner is. Better for you, if you want to see each other.
Mack – We won’t see each other if Jodie has a breakdown and drops out of school.
Andrew – Then it’s a good thing breakdowns aren’t allowed in our family. Anyway, if she really wanted to go to Turner, she’d have applied there.
Mack – She did. She got in.
Andrew – What?
Mack – She got in. She’s afraid to tell you.
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This happens right around the time that Daria and Tom break up about the class divisions in their relationship.
I admired the way Mack steps up to the plate to make sure Jodie is happy. They may not last forever but they have a good relationship to be so young. It’s a pretty realistic depiction of being black in the burbs. I think the creators made them a black couple for a reason.
Sorry but Daria was my s*** back in the day. Me and my friend at the time were so p***** when it got canceled.
Watch the later seasons and the movies when you get a chance.
Thanks for the post Abagond!
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@ Abagond
I know you have kids and in your experience why do black people like put pressure on their kids like Jodie’s parents? Probably for the same reason Jodie’s parents do, but in regards to exclusion/and casual racism that goes on in the suburbs….just why?
Maybe they really think they are doing their kids a favor? Or it’s a generational thing? Older black people don’t seem to understand why I hate my mostly white college. A few do, but most are like…”Well what are you complaining about? You should be happy! You made it.”
I understand their viewpoint, but at the same time I feel like they should be more sympathetic. THIS generation experiences racism too, just like the previous one did. I feel like they could provide better guidance than they do.
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It’s gotten to the point that lately I don’t trust many of them. I fell like they are phony or hiding something from me.
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@Student of the World
“It’s a pretty poignant and truthful moment. I always thought the relationship between Jodie and Mack was the best in the show. Unlike all the white characters, even Daria they act more mature.
The show always emphasized that Jodie was more mature than Daria. Daria gets to be an individual, and negate whatever she wants, something that Jodie in her postion cannot afford to do.”
Yes! She was NOT boring. or some White girl dipped in Chocolate and the show makes that a point. It was one of the few things Mtv did right. Daria was so smart, I have yet to see anything like it.
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I used to watch this on occasion (college days). I think her character is a spin-off from the Beavis & Butthead show, another one I caught during it’s heyday. It was interesting and different, given the times.
MTV just has their stuff mixed up and out of order these days. They should return the main channel to its origins and reroute their affiliates accordingly to have whatever shows and non-music material.
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Daria was very good show. Loved the movie. I was almost like Daria when I was a teen. It was one of the few shows I could relate alot to this show. Jane was my favorite character because sometimes Daria could be a** and I’m an artist,too. Did anyone see the camping episode ? She was a total jerk there. It’s a little creepy that other than skin color, we look just alike. People used to call me Daira. Now they say I look like Meg from Family Guy!
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Unlike the Asian ones, the black characters have no clear faults.
-Jodie and Mack may not have had the most tangible flaws, but they were definitely there. They were boring, too boring. And their “boringness” was motivated by the main character flaw in every other character besides Daria: “Their aim in life is being popular”- “to be accepted.” In this case their characters are looking for acceptance by their family and middle class white society.
Boring=perfect in this case. If that even makes sense…
The show easily passes the Bechdel Test… All the strong authority figures are female too.
-I never noticed this, but looking back, this is def true. I believe the show’s creator was a women. I’m guessing she was a feminist, considering some of them tend to see switching gender roles as way to empower women. Daria’s principle is a masculinized, while her main teacher is a feminine male. Even in Daria’s own family you see this woman-domineering, male-submissive dynamic. Daria’s Father may not be feminized, but he does act more like the third child in the family while her Mother takes on the leadership role.
-I really loved this show back in the day. I honestly believe it has influenced my life growing up. I learned early on that conformity is bullsh*t.
Now I leave you w/ the theme song. Lol always enjoyed the pics at the end. Epic
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This show used to annoy the hell out of me. There were girls who dressed and acted like Daria when I was in high school, (same time the show originally aired) but they wanted acceptance just as much as everyone else, just from a different group of people. This show was made to flatter and appeal to girls who thought of themselves as different from those around them. It was about how they saw themselves, not how they actually were.
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The uniform of nonconformity.
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I LOVED this show!
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‘Andrew – Then it’s a good thing breakdowns aren’t allowed in our family.’ 😀
studentoftheworld thank you!
i couldn’t follow this show right till the end because i didn’t have MTV. they showed a couple of series on a terrestrial channel in the UK. i didn’t even know there was a movie, which i may have to download now. this is when i feel compelled to say ‘they don’t make them like they used to’.
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I despised this show and the character. Daria always reminded me of the white, smug know-it-all (usually) liberals I knew in high school and college who irritated me tremendously.
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Ditto to what jasonburns said.
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I loved this show, it was so funny to me. My mum would always ask why I liked watching this depressed girl LOL. It’s funny how I got a lot of it when I was younger I think I was 7 or 8. I started watching it again and picking up everything now.
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Abagond:
The Concept of Duality & Blackness
All black people need their own mascot or alter ego. There’s 4 of me at work at all times.
Zen Aquarius
Free Aquarius
Don Aquarius
Star Aquarius
Represented in the image of a “Killer Whale.”
Tyrone
The Lighter Side Of Blackness
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Same here Aiyo… The show was on when I was about 8-9 years old. I thought it was funny.
I just checked Amazon.com and the entire series is on sale for 50 bucks, not bad. I might pick it up
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Never heard of this show, so I can’t criticize it. Sounds like one of those “I wear glasses and don’t show cleavage = I am different” sort of characters.
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I despised this show and the character. Daria always reminded me of the white, smug know-it-all (usually) liberals I knew in high school and college who irritated me tremendously.
I think you’ve accidentally equated intelligence with white liberals that you don’t like. Kinda makes you sound ridiculous! ; )
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@ Jasonburns
To be fair, Daria gets called on her bullshit a LOT. It’s pretty funny when she does.
But I understand your dislike, I had the same problem with Juno. Too quirky and fake.
At least with Daria it came across as genuine and not affected.
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@ Aiyo
So hard to find, but I think Net flix has the whole series and movies online.
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Yeah, ppl who are different just for the sake of being different are pretty lame. They actually bug me more than the obviously trying to fit in types.
Nonconformity is about doing whatever the hell YOU want, not doing the opposite of whatever everybody else is doing.
I agree with Student of The World’s comment. Daria did get called out for being a b*tch sometimes. I think its a good thing her character was realistic w/ flaws.
Oh, and why are white ppl the only ones who get separated into liberal & conservative as if they are cultures & not ideologies?
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MTV has the full episodes on the website, if anyone wants to check it out.
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Oh man, I loved freakin’ Daria! Nostalgia all up in this post!
Daria did get called out for being a b*tch sometimes. I think its a good thing her character was realistic w/ flaws.
Yeah, like the episode where that famous football player re-enrolled back into their HS, and he verbally dissected her when she insulted him for being a dumb jock. Then the goal post named after him collapsed and crushed him to death…
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Reminds me of Roseanne’s “Darlene.”
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I almost forgot about this show. This was back then when MTV was trying to porduce its own animation.
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@ Brothawolf
Just say it dude. We’re all thinking it…
“Back when MTV was good!”
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I understand why many of you were annoyed by the show. I also felt the same way about Juno, just like Student of the World.
That said, however, Daria’s interest in being nonconformist was played out as not just a virtue or for humor, but also a character flaw (unlike Juno).
I related to the show a lot, as a bespectacled, odd-ball, dark-haired middleschooler. I’m happy there was a cartoon out there that spoke to that viewpoint, and I know many women my age who felt the same way. Up until Daria decent female leads in a cartoon were practically unheard of, especially one so lovingly-made. The show doesn’t feel “by committee,” which plagues many cartoons and shows, especially those targeted to female audiences (think everything from the 1980s My Little Pony to Gossip Girl).
Thanks for all the transcript bits, Student of the World. Takes me back. 🙂
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Abagond, since you are analyzing social dynamics in cartoons, did you ever watch Robotech during the 80s? For those of you that don’t know it was an 85 series Japanimation cartoon that was part science fiction war story, part soap opera. I’ve just been recently re-watching the whole series and that cartoon hits on a lot subjects way ahead of their time. There were women in positions of power and combat, interracial relationships, transvestites. When I look at the show now, I can’t believe it even made it to TV in the 80s.
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“Just say it dude. We’re all thinking it…Back when MTV was good!”
-Franklin
Never crossed my mind, actually.
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I own Daria on dvd.
I think you should have waited to comment on the show after you watch the last few seasons which are dramatically different than the first two.
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i loved daria as a kid. MTV needs to go back to shows like this instead of the b.s that’s out now.
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Heres the website where I watch it http://www.letmewatchthis.ch/watch-9867-Daria
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@ Cynic
“Oh, and why are white ppl the only ones who get separated into liberal & conservative as if they are cultures & not ideologies?”
Daria was white and the people I knew who acted like her were white. I didn’t start meeting black people who act like her until after college, but that show was on at the end of my high school and early college years.
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Also, check out the shortlived but very awesome Freaks and Geeks. Back then, I could have sworn Linda Cardelini could have been a real life Daria (at least until she moved on to ER).
But I am glad to see my fellow Black Americans love Daria just as much as me.
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I lovE that show! I was kinda a mix between Daria,Jane,and Trent-yet I was also pretty popular@ the same time! (Go figure that out,Freud)!..lol For those of you who may live inthe New England area,you can find a used (but good condition) dvd of Daria@ the Newbury Comics store,for a pretty good deal around 35-45 bucks. : )
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I enjoyed this show when it aired. I wondered why it went away, until I heard that one of the main creators was killed on 9/11…it was a damned shame.
@ tulio:
Robotech fan right here!! I have the entire series on DVD…it was an excellent show, one of the few really well-written animes out there.
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This show aired when i was a little kid. . .seventh grader i believe. I watched it ALL the time, don’t know why because i think i did not understand most of the themes and acedotes.
I especially liked Jodie, because i wanted to wear braids, but my mom wouldn’t let me until i got to high school because they required extensions.
This show somehow brings back memories of the early days of middle school.
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