Sicker, sadder world
July 25, 2013 7:22 AM Subscribe
"High school was a lot like the Civil War: it lasted four years, you were defined by what you wore, and I lost 1 in 10 of my friends to gangrene."
Daria: The Live-Action Movie, starring Aubrey Plaza.
Note: not actually a thing. Previously.
Daria: The Live-Action Movie, starring Aubrey Plaza.
Note: not actually a thing. Previously.
We rewatched a few of these with the kids recently. They still hold up well as entertainment and the 8 year old girl LOVED Daria. "She's so crabby!" She also loves Raven on Teen Titans for the same reason.
posted by DU at 7:30 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by DU at 7:30 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
This was already a thing. Daria ditched her glasses senior year and turned into April Ludgate.
posted by mochapickle at 7:32 AM on July 25, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 7:32 AM on July 25, 2013 [8 favorites]
I'm going to kick back with an OK Soda and grudgingly tolerate the hell out of this.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:32 AM on July 25, 2013 [36 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 7:32 AM on July 25, 2013 [36 favorites]
Wow. It's like they deadpanned all the humor right out of it!
Needs Beavis & Butthead.
posted by markkraft at 7:33 AM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
Needs Beavis & Butthead.
posted by markkraft at 7:33 AM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
This could not be more perfect.
(Except that I'd always assumed Daria's jacket was leather.)
posted by Sys Rq at 7:34 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
(Except that I'd always assumed Daria's jacket was leather.)
posted by Sys Rq at 7:34 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
the 8 year old girl LOVED Daria. "She's so crabby!" She also loves Raven on Teen Titans for the same reason.
I always thought it was telling that, from asking around, a lot of Daria's fanbase was in middle school when they fell for it.
I mean high school can be rough but middle school is the freaking plains of abbadon.
posted by The Whelk at 7:37 AM on July 25, 2013 [48 favorites]
I always thought it was telling that, from asking around, a lot of Daria's fanbase was in middle school when they fell for it.
I mean high school can be rough but middle school is the freaking plains of abbadon.
posted by The Whelk at 7:37 AM on July 25, 2013 [48 favorites]
It's sort of, so spot on that it's not as amusing as I feel it should be, until Trent shows up. What a truly sublime piece of casting.
posted by opsin at 7:37 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by opsin at 7:37 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
How did I miss that Aubrey Plaza was obviously Daria until just now? I mean that's not even casting, that's just having the fictional character born in real life.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:47 AM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:47 AM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
This is perfect casting but I can't help but feel disappointed, it feels a bit too negative.
posted by Memo at 7:51 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by Memo at 7:51 AM on July 25, 2013
> (Except that I'd always assumed Daria's jacket was leather.)
That jacket was transported through time and medium from Lindsay Weir.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:51 AM on July 25, 2013 [7 favorites]
That jacket was transported through time and medium from Lindsay Weir.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:51 AM on July 25, 2013 [7 favorites]
Why is this not actually a thing? WHY??
I want a Daria movie so bad it would horrify Daria.
posted by blurker at 7:52 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
I want a Daria movie so bad it would horrify Daria.
posted by blurker at 7:52 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
> (Except that I'd always assumed Daria's jacket was leather.)
That jacket was transported through time and medium from Lindsey Weir.
It's definitely an olive drab cloth jacket from the Army Surplus store, not leather. Lindsey's was her dad's, but Jake Morgandorfer didn't enlist.
posted by explosion at 7:54 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
That jacket was transported through time and medium from Lindsey Weir.
It's definitely an olive drab cloth jacket from the Army Surplus store, not leather. Lindsey's was her dad's, but Jake Morgandorfer didn't enlist.
posted by explosion at 7:54 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
"All Grown Up" may be my favorite Daria fan-art ever. Largely because I picture Quinn having ditched the cool kids for the interesting adults.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 7:58 AM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 7:58 AM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
"All Grown Up" may be my favorite Daria fan-art ever. Largely because I picture Quinn having ditched the cool kids for the interesting adults.
Have a hard time believing Trent would actually ever have gotten it together.
posted by dismas at 8:02 AM on July 25, 2013
Have a hard time believing Trent would actually ever have gotten it together.
posted by dismas at 8:02 AM on July 25, 2013
This trailer has a serious flaw. Why on earth would Quinn be organizing Daria's high school reunion, since she was her *younger* sister?
posted by DiscourseMarker at 8:03 AM on July 25, 2013 [15 favorites]
posted by DiscourseMarker at 8:03 AM on July 25, 2013 [15 favorites]
Huh. I am apparently the same age as Daria. Who knew?
posted by ocherdraco at 8:09 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by ocherdraco at 8:09 AM on July 25, 2013
Jake DID go to a Military Academy and was from a military family but avoided Vietnam via Colledge. /darianerd.
posted by The Whelk at 8:10 AM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:10 AM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
It's definitely an olive drab cloth jacket from the Army Surplus store
It doesn't look ANYTHING like an Army surplus jacket, except that it's green. (Not even the right kind of green, though.) It has a wing collar and lapels.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:20 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
It doesn't look ANYTHING like an Army surplus jacket, except that it's green. (Not even the right kind of green, though.) It has a wing collar and lapels.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:20 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh my god, I want this to be real. This is too perfect. Yes, Daria is "too" deadpan, but she was in the original. It's what made it so funny.
posted by xingcat at 8:24 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by xingcat at 8:24 AM on July 25, 2013
I'd always assumed that Daria's jacket was just a green corduroy that she'd picked up at the thrift store.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:24 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:24 AM on July 25, 2013
I am a huge Daria fan (own the DVD boxed set & T-shirt; follow on Facebook), and I approve, despite the Daria / Quinn age snafu.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:29 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:29 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Reminder: The To-Do List comes out tonight with her in it.
posted by Talez at 8:30 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by Talez at 8:30 AM on July 25, 2013
This is amazing and I am sad it's not real.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 8:33 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 8:33 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
I wanted to like this. I didn't.
I thought it was missing too much of what actually made the cartoon fun.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:35 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
I thought it was missing too much of what actually made the cartoon fun.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:35 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Have a hard time believing Trent would actually ever have gotten it together.
These days Mystik Spiral is a Mod Revival Revival band. He's 3rd-wave mod, the second coming of Paul Weller, "The Mod-Son". Still thinking of changing the band's name.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:53 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
These days Mystik Spiral is a Mod Revival Revival band. He's 3rd-wave mod, the second coming of Paul Weller, "The Mod-Son". Still thinking of changing the band's name.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:53 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
It just kills me that this isn't real.
posted by deadmessenger at 8:55 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by deadmessenger at 8:55 AM on July 25, 2013
I thought it was missing too much of what actually made the cartoon fun.
You might be right, but you might have to entertain the possibility that you're not the same person you were when you last saw it (I'm assuming here, maybe you rewatched it last week)
I LOVED the show when I was in middle school. Upon rewatching year or two back (shortly post-college) I still liked it but didn't seen Daria and Jane as role models so much anymore (which seems like the point of the complete arc of the show). Also I realized with a little bit of embarrassment that I wanted to be Daria in high school but ended up being Jodie Landon instead (but seriously! she's nearly always right!)
posted by dismas at 8:56 AM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
You might be right, but you might have to entertain the possibility that you're not the same person you were when you last saw it (I'm assuming here, maybe you rewatched it last week)
I LOVED the show when I was in middle school. Upon rewatching year or two back (shortly post-college) I still liked it but didn't seen Daria and Jane as role models so much anymore (which seems like the point of the complete arc of the show). Also I realized with a little bit of embarrassment that I wanted to be Daria in high school but ended up being Jodie Landon instead (but seriously! she's nearly always right!)
posted by dismas at 8:56 AM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
The original Daria fandom - i.e. the people that were hardcore Daria geeks when the show was on the air - were on average older than MTV's desired demographic. It made the show a bit of a problem for MTV. There were a lot of guys in their 30s and 40s watching the most obsessively. It didn't start reaching a younger audience until Viacom leased the show to the Noggin network with all the really funny/adultish stuff cut out (like a subplot where Jane accidentally dates a woman.)
So, uh... actually for most younger people they came to Daria fandom in middle school. The majority of fans are.. uh...well, slightly younger than your grandparents and in some cases parents. I know. I'm one of 'em.
posted by medea42 at 9:01 AM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
So, uh... actually for most younger people they came to Daria fandom in middle school. The majority of fans are.. uh...well, slightly younger than your grandparents and in some cases parents. I know. I'm one of 'em.
posted by medea42 at 9:01 AM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
There has to be a Kickstarter for this, or I'm going to unleash my inner Jake.
posted by Roentgen at 9:05 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Roentgen at 9:05 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Any background on this show and who Daria is? This FPP didn't make any sense to me.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:08 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by KokuRyu at 9:08 AM on July 25, 2013
Any background on this show and who Daria is? This FPP didn't make any sense to me.
Kids. Lawn. Etc.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 9:13 AM on July 25, 2013 [10 favorites]
Kids. Lawn. Etc.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 9:13 AM on July 25, 2013 [10 favorites]
Daria was an animated show on MTV from 1997-2002 (notionally a spinoff of Beavis and Butthead, but extremely different in tone) that continues to have a cult following.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:14 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:14 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
Any background on this show and who Daria is? This FPP didn't make any sense to me.
Is Google down or something?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:15 AM on July 25, 2013 [19 favorites]
Is Google down or something?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:15 AM on July 25, 2013 [19 favorites]
Well I was actually in middle school when the Orginal episodes where airing on MTV and when I talk to people my age who are Daria fans, it seems like most of them found it in middle school, but I'm so not surprised there was an older OG fandom as well.
posted by The Whelk at 9:22 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by The Whelk at 9:22 AM on July 25, 2013
( like the binomial arc of like, teen wolf fandom, everyone is 14 or 41)
posted by The Whelk at 9:27 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:27 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
I always thought it was telling that, from asking around, a lot of Daria's fanbase was in middle school when they fell for it.
Most kids' TV shows are actually "aspirational" in this regard -- high school shows are aimed at middle school students, shows starring early-teenaged characters are aimed at tweens, etc.
posted by Etrigan at 9:28 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
Most kids' TV shows are actually "aspirational" in this regard -- high school shows are aimed at middle school students, shows starring early-teenaged characters are aimed at tweens, etc.
posted by Etrigan at 9:28 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
These days Mystik Spiral is a Mod Revival Revival band. He's 3rd-wave mod, the second coming of Paul Weller, "The Mod-Son". Still thinking of changing the band's name.
Those months they spent touring in a tiny van opening for The Beets really changed their perspective. Kinda.
posted by mintcake! at 9:28 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
Those months they spent touring in a tiny van opening for The Beets really changed their perspective. Kinda.
posted by mintcake! at 9:28 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
Watching this was basically the media equivalent of being really thirsty in the wilderness and finding out that your water bottle only has a few drops left in it.
posted by invitapriore at 9:36 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by invitapriore at 9:36 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Folks, go to MeTa if you have to but wrap this derail entirely up please.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:45 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:45 AM on July 25, 2013
DAMMIT I WAS SO FUCKING EXCITED
posted by windykites at 9:45 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by windykites at 9:45 AM on July 25, 2013
AND THEN IT WAS ALL A LIE
God it's high school all over again.
posted by windykites at 9:50 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
God it's high school all over again.
posted by windykites at 9:50 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
The funny and somewhat ironic thing about Aubrey Plaza in this is that she actually sounds LESS like Daria when she tries to do the voice.
If she just talked like she normally does, she'd be home free.
Still, its a great video.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:04 AM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
If she just talked like she normally does, she'd be home free.
Still, its a great video.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:04 AM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
Well, I can't watch this until I get home from work, but am so excited!
I watched as an adult, but apparently saw the "kid" version, because I sure never saw Jane dating another woman, although I loved the pompous period specific clothing guy. "Oh my, this won't do, Jane. That skirt is from the fifties and the shirt is from the sixties."
one scene from the credits summarizes my adult memories of high school; Daria in gym class, the ball goes by, Daria sticks her hand out moments later, making no attempt to catch the ball.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 10:19 AM on July 25, 2013
I watched as an adult, but apparently saw the "kid" version, because I sure never saw Jane dating another woman, although I loved the pompous period specific clothing guy. "Oh my, this won't do, Jane. That skirt is from the fifties and the shirt is from the sixties."
one scene from the credits summarizes my adult memories of high school; Daria in gym class, the ball goes by, Daria sticks her hand out moments later, making no attempt to catch the ball.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 10:19 AM on July 25, 2013
You will like the end of the video, then.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 10:25 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 10:25 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
I so don't see the typical jock/nerd/mean girl dynamics in these shows anymore, and considering how little of that crap went on at my HS a little over ten years ago ..then maybe we've finally turned a corner?
I don't really keep up with stuff for teens anymore, and don't know any teens. Have they been replaced by a new set of archetypes? (Aside from, I'm guessing, "hipster" being one of them)
posted by picklenickle at 10:59 AM on July 25, 2013
I don't really keep up with stuff for teens anymore, and don't know any teens. Have they been replaced by a new set of archetypes? (Aside from, I'm guessing, "hipster" being one of them)
posted by picklenickle at 10:59 AM on July 25, 2013
Overachiever/over scheduled is a big one, Jodi was totally prescient.
posted by The Whelk at 11:13 AM on July 25, 2013
posted by The Whelk at 11:13 AM on July 25, 2013
Jane kind of dating a woman happened in the Is it Fall Yet film. She doesn't realize it's a date, she thinks she's hanging out with a friend (who is getting her drunk) from the art collective she's spending the summer at.
posted by dismas at 11:22 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by dismas at 11:22 AM on July 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
( it's both strange and encouraging that, when watching media targeted at teens today, how much the Daria Archtype has disappeared - I so don't see the typical jock/nerd/mean girl dynamics in these shows anymore, and considering how little of that crap went on at my HS a little over ten years ago ..then maybe we've finally turned a corner?)
Having rewatched it . . . 3 or 4 times now, I honestly think that this show was the beginning of a subversion of these archetypes, in that by the end, most of Daria's perceptions of these characters are blown apart. I mean, even Trent ends up kind of pretty much sucking.
I love Daria so much. We graduated high school in the same year and I went through a lot of the same conflicts she did around the same time. Also she's the only character I've ever seen in fiction to be afflicted by the same overactive blushing mechanism that I was in high school. The episode about that TOTALLY hits home for me in a completely bizarre way.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 11:23 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Having rewatched it . . . 3 or 4 times now, I honestly think that this show was the beginning of a subversion of these archetypes, in that by the end, most of Daria's perceptions of these characters are blown apart. I mean, even Trent ends up kind of pretty much sucking.
I love Daria so much. We graduated high school in the same year and I went through a lot of the same conflicts she did around the same time. Also she's the only character I've ever seen in fiction to be afflicted by the same overactive blushing mechanism that I was in high school. The episode about that TOTALLY hits home for me in a completely bizarre way.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 11:23 AM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm going to kick back with an OK Soda and grudgingly tolerate the hell out of this.
If they started making OK Cola again I would buy all of it. DO YOU HEAR ME COCA-COLA COMPANY I WANT TO GIVE YOU MONEY!
posted by Navelgazer at 12:18 PM on July 25, 2013
If they started making OK Cola again I would buy all of it. DO YOU HEAR ME COCA-COLA COMPANY I WANT TO GIVE YOU MONEY!
posted by Navelgazer at 12:18 PM on July 25, 2013
I never liked Daria much. Lots of people I knew were way into it, but I just thought it was kind of obvious and not clever enough.
I found this trailer a lot funnier than the actual animated series, though, for some reason. I don't know why, although it might have something to do with never quite liking the art style much either...
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 12:51 PM on July 25, 2013
I found this trailer a lot funnier than the actual animated series, though, for some reason. I don't know why, although it might have something to do with never quite liking the art style much either...
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 12:51 PM on July 25, 2013
I feel like this trailer is a terrific parody of lazy nostalgiaphagic cash-ins, but I can't actually tell if it's going for parody or playing it straight.
posted by threeants at 2:03 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by threeants at 2:03 PM on July 25, 2013
I can't actually tell if it's going for parody or playing it straight.
That's exactly how I've come to feel about the original Daria cartoons. I mean, are we meant to identify with her (as I and I'm sure most fans did), or are we supposed to kind of hate the shit out of her (which I do now because upon rewatching I've come to realize that, man, she was an asshole and so was I)?
posted by Sys Rq at 2:16 PM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
That's exactly how I've come to feel about the original Daria cartoons. I mean, are we meant to identify with her (as I and I'm sure most fans did), or are we supposed to kind of hate the shit out of her (which I do now because upon rewatching I've come to realize that, man, she was an asshole and so was I)?
posted by Sys Rq at 2:16 PM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Daria's graduation speech from Is It College Yet?
"Um, thank you. I'm not much for public speaking. Or much for speaking. Or, come to think of it, much for the public. And I'm not very good at lying. So let me just say that, in my experience, high school sucks. If I had to do it all over again, I'd have started advanced placement classes in preschool so I could go from eighth grade straight to college. However, given the unalterable fact that high school sucks, I'd like to add that if you're lucky enough to have a good friend and a family that cares it doesn't have to suck quite as much. Otherwise, my advice is: stand firm for what you believe in, until and unless logic and experience prove you wrong; remember, when the emperor looks naked, the emperor is naked; the truth and a lie are not "sort of the same thing"; and there's no aspect, no facet, no moment of life that can't be improved with pizza. Thank you. "
posted by Roentgen at 2:34 PM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
"Um, thank you. I'm not much for public speaking. Or much for speaking. Or, come to think of it, much for the public. And I'm not very good at lying. So let me just say that, in my experience, high school sucks. If I had to do it all over again, I'd have started advanced placement classes in preschool so I could go from eighth grade straight to college. However, given the unalterable fact that high school sucks, I'd like to add that if you're lucky enough to have a good friend and a family that cares it doesn't have to suck quite as much. Otherwise, my advice is: stand firm for what you believe in, until and unless logic and experience prove you wrong; remember, when the emperor looks naked, the emperor is naked; the truth and a lie are not "sort of the same thing"; and there's no aspect, no facet, no moment of life that can't be improved with pizza. Thank you. "
posted by Roentgen at 2:34 PM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
It's hard to hate her after "Boxing Daria."
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 2:35 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 2:35 PM on July 25, 2013
They sorta already made a Daria movie and it was amazing.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 2:47 PM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Senor Cardgage at 2:47 PM on July 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
or are we supposed to kind of hate the shit out of her (which I do now because upon rewatching I've come to realize that, man, she was an asshole and so was I)?
Both! That's why she's a good character to grow up with, sometimes you are the problem! Maybe you actually do have a bad attitude!
posted by The Whelk at 2:56 PM on July 25, 2013 [5 favorites]
Both! That's why she's a good character to grow up with, sometimes you are the problem! Maybe you actually do have a bad attitude!
posted by The Whelk at 2:56 PM on July 25, 2013 [5 favorites]
Daria taught me sometimes you can be right, and still be an asshole about it.
posted by The Whelk at 3:11 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by The Whelk at 3:11 PM on July 25, 2013
I just watched an episode and it's way more hilarious now than it was then. I was in junior high when I watched it and I think I didn't really "get" a lot of the humor, I just liked her because she was weird and I was weird. But the deadpan assholery "I'm onto you" shit she has going on, I appreciate it so much more now. I'm also a little surprised to realise how strongly this show influenced/es my worldview. It's ironic, kinda.
posted by windykites at 4:34 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by windykites at 4:34 PM on July 25, 2013
Color me a disappointed Daria's coat green that this isn't a real thing. Poop.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 4:59 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 4:59 PM on July 25, 2013
Sys Rq: That's exactly how I've come to feel about the original Daria cartoons. I mean, are we meant to identify with her (as I and I'm sure most fans did), or are we supposed to kind of hate the shit out of her (which I do now because upon rewatching I've come to realize that, man, she was an asshole and so was I)?
I think it's both: I identified with her on a lot of issues and her attitude toward them, and she's an asshole. However, she's an asshole who gets checked on it by her friends and is forced to admit that she is wrong, which is realistic to my life.
posted by gucci mane at 5:24 PM on July 25, 2013
I think it's both: I identified with her on a lot of issues and her attitude toward them, and she's an asshole. However, she's an asshole who gets checked on it by her friends and is forced to admit that she is wrong, which is realistic to my life.
posted by gucci mane at 5:24 PM on July 25, 2013
I think it's both: I identified with her on a lot of issues and her attitude toward them, and she's an asshole. However, she's an asshole who gets checked on it by her friends and is forced to admit that she is wrong, which is realistic to my life.
I thought we were supposed to both identify with her and be deeply, profoundly in love with her.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:33 PM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
I am right in the middle of making my 34-year-old partner watch Daria. We're about to watch the Tom-introducing episode. It is kind of odd to be shepherding him through a key feature of my teenage experience 15 or so years later--I couldn't tell whether it was GOOD good or just This Was Formative in High School good, so I wasn't sure initially whether I should make him watch it.
It turns out that I definitely should.
posted by little cow make small moo at 5:36 PM on July 25, 2013
It turns out that I definitely should.
posted by little cow make small moo at 5:36 PM on July 25, 2013
The lack of Mr. DeMartino is harshing my buzz here.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:44 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:44 PM on July 25, 2013
Pope Guilty: I think the guy on the microphone at the reunion was supposed to be Mr. DeMartino.
little cow make small moo: A friend of mine said that he stopped watching Daria when they introduced Tom, and I had to fervently reassure him that that's when the series gets really, really good.
posted by cthuljew at 7:47 PM on July 25, 2013
little cow make small moo: A friend of mine said that he stopped watching Daria when they introduced Tom, and I had to fervently reassure him that that's when the series gets really, really good.
posted by cthuljew at 7:47 PM on July 25, 2013
Oh, he didn't seem infuriated enough, heh.
I like him because Mr. DeMartino loves teaching and cares deeply for his students, and his boundless rage comes from the total worthlessness of his skills, ambitions, and passions in the face of the sheer apathy and laziness of his students. The summer movie has him go and teach some younger kids and really get through to them, and find himself fulfilled and happy, only to return to the high school in the fall and have it all undone in seconds. It's fantastic.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:59 PM on July 25, 2013
I like him because Mr. DeMartino loves teaching and cares deeply for his students, and his boundless rage comes from the total worthlessness of his skills, ambitions, and passions in the face of the sheer apathy and laziness of his students. The summer movie has him go and teach some younger kids and really get through to them, and find himself fulfilled and happy, only to return to the high school in the fall and have it all undone in seconds. It's fantastic.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:59 PM on July 25, 2013
I was actually amazed that they found the human equivalent of Mr. DeMartino, who bugs his eyes out as much as he humanly can. And the guy doing Trent's voice was absolutely dead on.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:09 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:09 PM on July 25, 2013
Reflecting some more on how Daria affected me as a kid, what I realized is that even though Daria was more relatable in terms of what she finds stupid or burdensome and how she reacts to it, Jane is the character I found myself really idolizing. She's just so comfortable with herself: Daria puts a lot of effort into pushing back against the world she's forced to take part in, but Jane seems more inclined to just laugh at it and go back to what she was doing. Plus, when you think about it, Jane is a really good friend. Jane is awesome.
posted by invitapriore at 8:18 PM on July 25, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by invitapriore at 8:18 PM on July 25, 2013 [7 favorites]
PAGing Ruthless Bunny. Ruthless Bunny to the WHITE COURtesy PHONE, please.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:34 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:34 PM on July 25, 2013
As I said in the other thread, while I admired Daria for speaking her mind and being grumpy and yes, kind of an asshole with an attitude problem (who gets totally called on it throughout the series), I really wanted to be Jane Lane. I took enormous pride that my standard school day outfit was basically Jane Lane cosplay. (Black shirt, white trim, red jacket, yesssss)
posted by The Whelk at 8:45 PM on July 25, 2013
posted by The Whelk at 8:45 PM on July 25, 2013
Haha. I guess this is where I get to put my favorite Daria anecdote. In summer a bit over a decade ago I went to church camp. I didn't fit in with the girls in my cabin; it was just one of those weird cabin assignments where all my friends from previous years were placed in a different cabin and I ended up with a bunch of girls eight months younger than me who were all from the same school and knew one another. As a result, I didn't spend a whole lot of time in my cabin.
On the sixth day, somehow I was exposed as not having learned any of the names of the girls in my cabin. Not a single one. I was called out and put on the spot, and my fight-or-flight reaction started kicking in. Everyone was looking at me, accusation in their eyes. How could I have lived with them for a whole week and not learned a single one of their names? I started trying to compose what came after "Okay, look, I can explain..." and just blank cards were coming up in my mind.
Suddenly the "coolest girl" in the cabin pipes up. "Ohhhh, I get it," she said. "You're like Daria! You just don't care, right? Like Daria?" All eyes swiveled back to me.
I blinked. "Right, yeah," I affirmed. "Basically exactly like Daria?"
"Cool!" she replied. Everyone relaxed.
And that is how I was not ripped into little teenage shreds that day by the girls in my cabin at church camp. Thanks, Morgendorffer, for helping a bunch of girls with whom I had very little in common understand me.
posted by town of cats at 9:09 PM on July 25, 2013 [11 favorites]
On the sixth day, somehow I was exposed as not having learned any of the names of the girls in my cabin. Not a single one. I was called out and put on the spot, and my fight-or-flight reaction started kicking in. Everyone was looking at me, accusation in their eyes. How could I have lived with them for a whole week and not learned a single one of their names? I started trying to compose what came after "Okay, look, I can explain..." and just blank cards were coming up in my mind.
Suddenly the "coolest girl" in the cabin pipes up. "Ohhhh, I get it," she said. "You're like Daria! You just don't care, right? Like Daria?" All eyes swiveled back to me.
I blinked. "Right, yeah," I affirmed. "Basically exactly like Daria?"
"Cool!" she replied. Everyone relaxed.
And that is how I was not ripped into little teenage shreds that day by the girls in my cabin at church camp. Thanks, Morgendorffer, for helping a bunch of girls with whom I had very little in common understand me.
posted by town of cats at 9:09 PM on July 25, 2013 [11 favorites]
I always thought it was telling that, from asking around, a lot of Daria's fanbase was in middle school when they fell for it.
Kids watched Daria?! As far as I knew, they found it dull, and the fan base was college-age-ish, wishing we'd called bullshit on high school grumpily rather than playing along, but far enough past to laugh at it.
I wanted to like this trailer but found her delivery irritating. It sounded fake-stilted more than deadpan to my ear.
Seconding that Ghost World was pretty much the ultimate Daria movie (and then some, of course.)
posted by desuetude at 9:32 PM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Kids watched Daria?! As far as I knew, they found it dull, and the fan base was college-age-ish, wishing we'd called bullshit on high school grumpily rather than playing along, but far enough past to laugh at it.
I wanted to like this trailer but found her delivery irritating. It sounded fake-stilted more than deadpan to my ear.
Seconding that Ghost World was pretty much the ultimate Daria movie (and then some, of course.)
posted by desuetude at 9:32 PM on July 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
This senior in middle school me WORSHIPED Daria, so I was just the right age for when other characters started calling her on her shitty, cynical attitude ..which is a plot I lost as I was drawn up in my own High School Dramas.
I think it's telling that I watched Ghost World* after having just....basically run away from home post High School graduation and I saw how much I was shitting myself, like right there, on the screen, and there are consequences for being always anti-something and maybe I had to actually believe or care about something first before I could be above it all. You have to have skin in the game.
*Which is Daria with consequences.
posted by The Whelk at 10:51 PM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
I think it's telling that I watched Ghost World* after having just....basically run away from home post High School graduation and I saw how much I was shitting myself, like right there, on the screen, and there are consequences for being always anti-something and maybe I had to actually believe or care about something first before I could be above it all. You have to have skin in the game.
*Which is Daria with consequences.
posted by The Whelk at 10:51 PM on July 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
I think it's telling that I watched Ghost World* after having just....basically run away from home post High School graduation and I saw how much I was shitting myself, like right there, on the screen, and there are consequences for being always anti-something and maybe I had to actually believe or care about something first before I could be above it all. You have to have skin in the game.
I watched Daria and Ghost World and still haven't got that message. Hearing it said that way is like when my sister told me I wasn't supposed to admire Rob from High Fidelity. I've just always wanted to either be Daria or be with somebody like Daria.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 11:41 PM on July 25, 2013
I watched High Fidelity for the first time recently. Given the premise of the movie, the ending is way bleaker and more realistic than I expected. Amazing setup.
In a sense, that's true of Daria, too. For all the silly fun the show builds up over time, the coda with Tom and Daria and then the last episode is very, very dark.
posted by cthuljew at 12:08 AM on July 26, 2013
In a sense, that's true of Daria, too. For all the silly fun the show builds up over time, the coda with Tom and Daria and then the last episode is very, very dark.
posted by cthuljew at 12:08 AM on July 26, 2013
Wait, shit, I totally just confused High Fidelity for Grosse Pointe Blank. Shouldn't have watched those on the same day.
posted by cthuljew at 12:54 AM on July 26, 2013
posted by cthuljew at 12:54 AM on July 26, 2013
PAGing Ruthless Bunny. Ruthless Bunny to the WHITE COURtesy PHONE, please.
Aw, c'mon, you already got Husbunny and Medea42 chiming in, you really need me too?
Cincgreen (Husbunny) and I sat in bed and watched this the other night and enjoyed it a lot.
Since Husbunny and I met in a Daria chat room, since I met Medea42 in the same chat room, since we all worked on the Lawndale After Dark Daria Porn site, of COURSE I'm going to get jazzed up for this little snippet.
In fact, Cincgreen and I said simultaneously "I'm going to write that fanfic!" But, you know, he's got work to do on the Hallowed Halls of Fielding and I still have a couple of ideas for chapters for Bed and Breakfast Man...so perhaps after that we'll get around to that.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:35 AM on July 26, 2013 [3 favorites]
Aw, c'mon, you already got Husbunny and Medea42 chiming in, you really need me too?
Cincgreen (Husbunny) and I sat in bed and watched this the other night and enjoyed it a lot.
Since Husbunny and I met in a Daria chat room, since I met Medea42 in the same chat room, since we all worked on the Lawndale After Dark Daria Porn site, of COURSE I'm going to get jazzed up for this little snippet.
In fact, Cincgreen and I said simultaneously "I'm going to write that fanfic!" But, you know, he's got work to do on the Hallowed Halls of Fielding and I still have a couple of ideas for chapters for Bed and Breakfast Man...so perhaps after that we'll get around to that.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:35 AM on July 26, 2013 [3 favorites]
Wait, shit, I totally just confused High Fidelity for Grosse Pointe Blank. Shouldn't have watched those on the same day.
I love Grosse Point Blank - it's probably my favorite comedy ever - but I have such mixed feelings about High Fidelity. I feel like the core idea is that Cusack's character is a shitbag, but it also comes off as so sympathetic to him.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:09 AM on July 26, 2013
I love Grosse Point Blank - it's probably my favorite comedy ever - but I have such mixed feelings about High Fidelity. I feel like the core idea is that Cusack's character is a shitbag, but it also comes off as so sympathetic to him.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:09 AM on July 26, 2013
The original Daria fandom - i.e. the people that were hardcore Daria geeks when the show was on the air - were on average older than MTV's desired demographic.
Citation needed.
The most fervent Daria fans I ever knew were 8th or 9th grade girls. I am talking full turbo fans, for whom the show was the type of "OMG I identify!" thing that The Wonder Years was for me. The type of show where you are so feelsy that you genuinly feel the antagonist is you, and practically feel everything they do on the show as you watch it. In short, fanfic writers.
posted by mediocre at 12:29 PM on July 26, 2013
Citation needed.
The most fervent Daria fans I ever knew were 8th or 9th grade girls. I am talking full turbo fans, for whom the show was the type of "OMG I identify!" thing that The Wonder Years was for me. The type of show where you are so feelsy that you genuinly feel the antagonist is you, and practically feel everything they do on the show as you watch it. In short, fanfic writers.
posted by mediocre at 12:29 PM on July 26, 2013
Dear god, I've had that 'Manly' song from the musical episode stuck in my head ever since we watched it
(manlyyyyy)
posted by little cow make small moo at 4:48 PM on July 26, 2013
(manlyyyyy)
posted by little cow make small moo at 4:48 PM on July 26, 2013
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( it's both strange and encouraging that, when watching media targeted at teens today, how much the Daria Archtype has disappeared - I so don't see the typical jock/nerd/mean girl dynamics in these shows anymore, and considering how little of that crap went on at my HS a little over ten years ago ..then maybe we've finally turned a corner?)
posted by The Whelk at 7:25 AM on July 25, 2013 [15 favorites]