This Daria Episode Really Makes You Think 

Had a really bad cough while I was making this. Apologies if I didn't hide it well enough.

Brittany really *is* nice. She's just a bit shallow and silly. She's never mean the way the Fashion Club are. Quite a few times she invites Daria to hang out with her because she thinks it's a nice thing to do. She keeps Daria's secret about her rash and cheers her up when she feels like a hypocrite for wanting contacts.

It's nice that Jane isn't 100% the same as Daria. The small differences in how they handle people and situations gives Jane that extra push to being my favorite character.

Fun Fact: In almost every episode the Morgendorffer's have lasagna for dinner.

It was and is refreshing how the popular kids i.e. Brittany and Kevin are never particularly mean nor malicious towards Daria, hell they're even dare I say friendly with her.

I think Jodi wanted to have an honest yet cynical conversation about Tommy. In later episodes it is shown that Jodi is constantly trying to maintain a perfect image. That she does not get many chances to drop the façade and speak honestly. Daria and Jane are some of the few people that Jodi feels comfortable enough to genuinely loosen up around since they are both honest and smart enough to speak candidly themselves. Jodi isn't actually looking for advice here. She probably had a good idea of what she was going to say already. She was looking for catharsis. A chance to let release all that pent up frustration with people who actually understand.

If you want to see Jane and Daria's friendship get tested just wait until you get to Tom.

Daria was right. You don't have to mourn when people you don't like die.

When I was in high school, I had a bully. He was very popular, captain of the wrestling team and held all kinds of huge parties on his parent’s property. He used to slam me into lockers all the time, one time in swim class he called me over in front of the girls team and kneed me in the crotch so I fell in the water. He was a nightmare. One night, at one of his huge forest parties he got on his motorcycle drunk and drove head first into a tree. He was like 17. For the next month there were vigils, assemblies, and even write ups in both town papers. The wrestling room got named after him and ever kept talking about how great of a person he was. The year book was titled Year of the (his last name). As I watched everyone grieve I wondered if there was something wrong with me. He was just this monster that made my life hell and he died doing something “cool”. I felt relief no longer looking over my shoulder and worrying about being beaten up. Years later I went to my high school reunion and there was a group of all the popular kids talking about him. I sat with them, and eventually they asked me what I remembered about him. I was honest but I also said that I would love to know some good things about him. One of his friends asked my why I didn’t come to them or tell them about this abuse he did to me, that they would have talked to him. All I could think was you were there, you laughed when he shoved me into lockers or knocked my lunch out of my hands. But I didn’t say that, they were grieving a person I never met. I was think of this monster they didn’t know. I didn’t want to hurt them so I just let it go. Finally, when I was working an IT desk job an old man came in to get his computer looked at. We got to talking and it turned out he was from my home town. He asked me age and said” well, you must of known my son” That’s right, this was my dead bully’s father. I excused myself saying I just got a call on the radio and then had a panic attack in the back room. This nice old man was clearly still in a lot of pain some 20 years on. I had to have a a coworker go help him. I couldn’t accidentally let it slip how I felt about his son. I guess this made me realize that you are not always the same person to everyone. I am sure there are people out there that hate me, that find me to be an annoying jerk. And there are people who find me important in their lives and a light in their world. It is fine to feel relief when someone negative in your life dies, but you have to be able to respect others grief and let them remember their version of that person. We all deal with death in our own way and we are all different parts of peoples lives.

Hey, it’s that show that did cynicism right. Take notes, HBO Velma.

What I think really sets Daria and Jane apart is the reasons why they are on the fringes: Daria is naturally out of step with her peers. Jane, however, chooses to be. There are a few episodes that show she has the potential to be a normal high school girl, even a popular girl (joining the track team, when she is invited to try out for the cheer squad, etc.). That option is never really presented to Daria. I think that it might be part of the reason why Daria can be somewhat hostile towards her best friend at times whenever Jane explores these possibilities. She is worried about losing the person who gets her.

a little note: Daria's color pallette is noticably lighter in this episode compared to her other appearances

It's funny how you don't realize how well written some of these old school cartoons were until you're older. It allows them to hold up well, especially for breakdowns like yours 👍

The thing is Daria is that person with no filter on meaning she always honest but she also uses snark and sass to cover up her own insecurities.

I think in part Tommy hitting on Brittany is in part not only showing how sleazy he is, but also shows how he "peaked" in high school, that he's stuck in the past, a person who has nothing but a past fleeting moment of "glory," and he uses it to prey on those he THINKS will fall for it.

As someone who's been called a pessimist more times than I would like, I appreciate Daria's willingness to say what she really thinks rather than going with what you're "supposed to say" in this situation. Death does not unjerkify someone. And yet the jerk's assessment of her was right, she does go out of her way to find the bad in things, so actually they had speaking their minds in common.

No spoilers, but Daria's world view is eventually challenged and she goes grow throughout the series.

This is a great Jane episode. I didn't notice how well-written she is until my second viewing of the show. Best quips by far

Fun fact: some people smile not because they are happy, but as a defense mechanism for uncomfortable and stressful situations. Its great for reassuring people

Tommy was on my hit list the minute he had his first interaction with Brittany ☠ and truthfully Daria was trying to express her own feelings regarding his death the entire episode after witnessing Tommy treat everyone and her like disposable objects and NOBODY bothered to really listen to how she feels

Everyone always remembers how Tommy was a jerk because of how he treated Brittany, but how he treated Kevin gets glossed over when I think that shows more about just how much of a jerk this guy was. First, season 1 has made it a continual point this whole season that Kevin is very insecure about his scrawniness. That's why we never see him out of his football attire. The attire hides his scrawniness, and lets Kevin deal with it by pretending it doesn't exist. He also couldn't take the modelling job he was offered in one episode because it meant that his scrawny body would constantly be on display, and Kevin doesn't know how to handle all of the emotions and insecurity surrounding that. So we see Kevin idolizing Tommy because that's what he's supposed to do. Tommy is told that Kevin idolizes him and is his biggest fan. How does Tommy treat his BIGGEST FAN? He immediately taps into Kevin's biggest insecurity by making fun of how scrawny he is, immediately tries to sleep with his girlfriend just because he can, and he immediately makes it very clear that he does not value anything about Brittany or Kevin as people whatsoever. The difference though is the different way that Brittany and Kevin handle this. They were both treated horribly by Tommy in ways that were completely unacceptable. But only Brittany realizes this. She goes into a crisis though because she doesn't understand how to process that her own view of Tommy is now not the view she's SUPPOSED to have of him, namely, the same idolized view as everyone else. This is made even worse when he dies. She actually feels guilty because now she really thinks that she's SUPPOSED to be idolizing him, and that she must be a bad person for having a different opinion. She can't process that her view is correct while everyone else's is wrong because she has it ingrained in her that everyone else must be right. Kevin avoids this crises entirely the same way that he avoids his scrawniness insecurity. He immediately goes back to idolizing Tommy as if nothing ever happened because he also has it ingrained it him that Tommy must be awesome, and everyone else must be right about him. So much so that any uncomfortable contradictions to this belief just get glossed over and are never acknowledged. Tommy being a jerk to these two is forcing both of them to challenge some of their core beliefs because his being a jerk contradicts them. Kevin just doesn't process at all and immediately goes back to his happy place. He'd probably do this even if Tommy slept with Brittany. Brittany one the other hand at least recognizes that there is a struggle here. I think this is why Daria compliments Brittany here. She's able to have compassion for Brittany because she sees that at least Brittany is actually trying to think for once, so she rewards her for doing so. Plus Brittany is probably the only other person in the world besides Daria who knows that Tommy is not someone who should ever be idolized.

Tbh, Brittany is the most emotionally honest character on the show. We can all learn from Brittany.

Daria is a character who values authenticity above all else. What drives her feelings of frustration and anger in this episode (and throughout the show) is what she perceives as a lack of authenticity in others. Everyone who ultimately cane to her for confort had plenty of evidence that Tommy was a shit person yet "chose" to stay silent on the subject. Deep down she believes that everyone is aware of the negative things in life but choose to "lie" and pretend they don't exist instead. That's why she hates being called the misery chick: she doesn't see herself as a negative person but rather as one who says the truth.

This episode resonated with me because no one ever wanted my opinion on anything or cared what i thought UNTIL they needed someone to vent to. My existence mattered to them when they needed something from me. Its difficult to constantly be the one that has to listen and deal with everyone elses emotions, yet not receive the same consideration back.

One thing I appreciated about Jodie was that she was one of the few characters that could consistently call out Daria on her own terms. She was every bit as smart as Daria, but also had to deal with a heap of bullshit that Daria didn't. Thus, she was always in the perfect position to shut down Daria when she got a little too much on her high horse about this or that moral stance.

I fully get why Daria would antagonise Jodie - Jodie is, in a way, an opposite to Daria. While she acknowledges the problems with the world around her, she prefers to participate and benefit from it rather than reject it as Daria does (most of the time).

17:26 I view this differently. Jane saying Trent forgot is just her expecting her brother to be his typical self and just legit forgot, but Daria coming back with "no, he didn't" I think is important because it pointed out to Jane that Trent, despite his laid back go with the flow attitude is indeed thoughtful

OMG, Shady’s doing Daria!😮 Wonder if you like the other Mike Judge shows (yes, I know Mike Judge didn’t technically contribute but many still call it a B&B spin-off. There were even plans to feature B&B if the show wasn’t successful). Also, hey, smile!

I feel like this episode definitely touches on a big aspect of Daria's character and that is her particular way of thinking. Daria doesn't smile because she doesn't want to smile. She doesn't see a reason unless she's naturally happy and making herself smile feels like a lie/performance. In that same vein she doesn't feel very sad by the death of a man she didn't particularly care for/about. Daria knew Tommy would eventually die. She didn't expect it so soon but she's not very upset by it and doesn't really have a strong reaction. She's more preoccupied on the assembly lying about his character and legacy than the fact that he is actually dead. Her interaction with Brittney is telling because their reaction is the same lack of a strong reaction to his death. But while Britney feels guilty not feeling bad about him dying, Daria doesn't. She sees herself as a "realist" because she finds it hard to relate to the sentiment of feeling bad over some jerk's death. If anything it just makes her feel more like an "other" because everyone's reaction is completely different from her "business as usual" behavior. Even Jane her best friend is very shaken by what happened. She's not a "Misery Chick" so much as she's someone who doesn't like to pretend she isn't feeling what she's currently feeling to fit in. She could definitely be seen as being on the spectrum or Neurodivergent in some way with how she carries herself. She has the emotional intelligence to understand how people are feeling enough to help them, but she is honest about her feelings almost to a fault. She doesn't do or say anything she doesn't want to and she doesn't want to lie to herself or anyone else.

I had a guy in my homeroom die in a car crash and saw all the emotions people went though from the side line. I wasn't friends with the guy but I knew about him due to his cousin being my friend and in some of my classes. He was destoryed by hearing his cousin died and had fundraisers in the school to try and raise the money for the funeral due to not being in the best financial situation. School was cool with it. I was indifferent to the guy as he was sorta annoying but I felt for his cousin as he wasn't a bad guy just loud. His girlfriend survived the crash and while I don't think she got any victim blame for it she definitely had survivors guilt from talking to the cousin. It's a lot of emotions to someone who passed even if you don't like the guy

I don't think Daria brings up negative things just for fun. She does it because people gloss over uncomfortable things that she thinks are actually important to acknowledge - such as high schools prioritizing sports instead of learning (at the beginning of The Misery Chick) and the ways teenagers are often socially pressured into self-destructive behaviors (the whole plot of Arts 'n Crass). She's not trying to be a jerk; she's trying to bring important truths to other people's attention ... at least, that's how she sees it. I also think it's important to recognize that Daria isn't always right about things, and I don't think the show necessarily says that she is. She misinterprets the Tennyson poem because she's talking about her own experience, and missing the poem's greater point as a result. She's smart, but she's still human and still developing as a person, so she lacks self-awareness sometimes.

I'm like a minute in, The Misery Chick is my second favourite, while Arts N' Crass is my favourite. I can really relate to Daria in this episode. Being labelled "the misery chick" when you're not miserable. Relatable. I was hoping you spoke about both episodes, so I'm excited to hear your thoughts. EDIT: I'm glad you're enjoying the show. Yes, season 1 Daria is more rigid in her views. Your DVD set should have a little insert from the creators. They mention how they had to change all the music so they could afford to release the DVDs and mention how season 1 Daria would be mad, but season 5 wouldn't care. It's subtle, but she becomes less stern in her views. There's an episode in season 4 called Partner Complains I'd be interested to hear your view on. Daria and Jodie do a project together and Jodie questions Daria's viewpoint. Jodie does tend to hold a mirror up to Daria and she brings some changes to Daria. There's a season 2 episode called Gifted you might like to do an episode on because Jodie has a famous quote from that one when speaking with Daria. I'm also curious to hear your opinion on Tom Sloan. A lot of growth occurs due to that character, but Tom is polarizing in the community. I mostly like him, but a few parts I really don't. You'll see.

One year I was actually made to write a eulogy in my high school year book for a personal bully in my class that died in a swimming accident I used this episode as inspiration and guidance on how to handle the issue

At the end, I think what Jane means by 'you think and others dont' is more you think about and are aware of issues that others are willingly blind to - the difference between just eating the sausage without pause vs being aware of how it's made - I think that's why Daria sees herself as a realist vs negative, from her perspective she is simply stating reality. Meanwhile, the death forced everyone else to confront uncomfortable realities they aren't used to thinking about, so Jane's 'how do you deal with thinking until I can get back to my vegetative state' is less about being stupid and more about slipping back into the comfort of willfully blindness

Tommy Sherman looked like he was 30, which made him trying to get with Brittany extra creepy. Also, in defense of Daria, I had a similar situation happen to me. A fellow football player who loved to pick on people, me included, we were both on the football team, had died from a crystal meth overdose. We all had to go to his funeral, and while I never talked smack about the guy, and I did genuinely feel bad for his family, it was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow personally. Especially when you know this person treated people you know terribly, or just straight up jumped others (he had a twin brother). Still, it was all thoughts I had to myself, but this episode was one I really identified with. Thankfully, I never had to deal with monikers Daria had thrust upon her at the time.

As someone who lost my grandpa back in October due to a stroke most of my family would’ve been in an emotionally vulnerable state. Unfortunately 17 years prior my uncle died of colon cancer when he was 25 years old. So most of us handled our grief quite well and quickly moved on.

I think Daria sees herself as a realist. As someone who can see through the bullshit. And, quite often, she can. But because there's so much bullshit, and because she's always the one calling it out as being bullshit, she does tend to bring people down. Also, I think she is aware that Jodie is going to give a speech about Tommy on behalf of the school. Not herself. Daria is smart enough to know that. What Daria is criticising is that Jodie is going to give a speech honoring a guy Jodie herself doesn't think deserves it. No matter which capacity she's giving it in. Because even if you are praising a guy on behalf of an organization you represent, and not on your own behalf, it still comes off as phoney if you yourself don't believe he deserves the praise. I'm sure Daria would argue that the right thing for Jodie to have done, when told that she had to give a speech praising Tommy Sherman, would have been to say "Sorry, but I don't think he's done anything praiseworthy. So, even though I'm on the student council, I cannot give this speech, as it wouldn't be genuine."

Dang, I can relate. I constantly get asked why I don't smile very much. I am not unhappy, BUT that doesn't mean we HAVE to smile all the time. 😂🤣😂

This was the 90s. Emo didn’t actually exist yet. That’s beside the point though. Daria isn’t seen as the misery chick because she doesn’t smile and it isn’t because she’s antagonistic. She’s seen as the misery chick because she’s intelligent enough to not be happy and just do whatever everyone else thinks they’re supposed to do. She goes against the grain. That makes her “miserable” because how can you be happy if you aren’t exactly like everyone else?

One time a grown sleazy car salesman tried to hit on Brittney, calling her "sweetheart" and offering to take her for a drive.

I actually read the conversation between Brittney and Tommy slightly differently. I assumed it was meant to be weird because of how he was hitting on Brittney despite the fact that she was still in high school. It gave the impression that he generally didn't care in anyway that Brittney was not old enough, and not interested, and when she tried what a lot of women go to as their response to unwanted flirting anyway, the fact that she has a boyfriend, he still didn't care. And then that was also coupled with the fact that she HAD mentioned her boyfriend FIRST THING and yet he STILL wanted to hit on her despite it ALL

I think it could be argued that Daria in this episode specifically, was never given time to allow her emotions to process. Almost as soon as Tommy Sherman dies, she is bombarded with people going to her for advice. She may be seeing what everyone else is having a hard time with, and can't connect, but Jane doesn't bring up her emotions until later. She guards her emotions closely, and is something of a pragmatist as well. I know for a fact that I would feel the same way as Daria in the same situation, especially considering people die. It happens. I'll be sad for those I know and love, and uncaring for those I don't. And I don't blame Jane for her reaction to Daria's lack of emotional response, but she could have brought it up and Daria likely would have obliged, rather than hiding from her. That said, grief comes in many shapes. As for enjoying the negativity, people leave her alone in that realm, so she is able to find peace and quiet in it. So, she naturally gravitates towards it, and making others uncomfortable likely has to do with her being made uncomfortable by normal human behavior. Childish, but she does grow throughout the series as well, and ironically, makes her human. Or it can even be that she actively likes to push people into thinking. Which, considering her propensity for teaching shown in this series, makes a lot of sense, and this episode itself makes just such a statement, that the dark and depressing "Really makes you think." Edit: She also likely latched onto the fact that everyone was basically championing Tommy when he was a terrible person, either because she had already processed the emotions and that particular issue still bothered her, or because it was easier for her to process in lieu of said emotions.

Tommy is clearly a predator, this is messed up. I don’t understand why everyone is gaslighting Daria here. Everyone is going to 💀 eventually. Do people really have a hard time understanding this? Maybe I’m just not human.

Daria and Jodie are both outsiders but Jodie is an outsider because she’s Black. She relates to Daria as an outsider but she has the mentality and burden that she has to be twice as good as her White counterparts. She can’t afford to have Daria’s attitude. The “Gifted” episode addresses that a little bit.

Gotta say, I agree with Daria when it comes to death. I firmly believe that people aren't owed any more respect than human decency. Ya know, don't steal or hurt them, that kinda thing. But if you want me to respect you, either your leadership, your position, whatever, you need to earn it. Dying is not an act worthy of respect. If you were a dirt bag in life, you're a dirtbag in death, and I have no qualms saying as much.

As easy as it is to fall into the trap that Daria and Jane are above it all and smarter than everyone else, they're still just teens and are still ignorant to a lot of things. You can't know everything.

Everyone around Daria are people pleasers with the exception of Jane and Jody.Jane is more fun with her sarcasm and Jody is more like Daria but has overbearing parents who won't let her be herself.

"One thing they did well so far is the friendship between daria and jane" oh shady, the writers have such things in store for you

My paternal grandpa passed away when I was 12 and my dad asked me if I wanted to go to the funeral. My dad didn't want to force me into that awkward event, acknowledging that I barely knew him. Yet, he wanted the choice to be mine. I hesitantly declined the invite but hugged my dad afterwards, thanking him that he gave me a choice free of pressure.

So about the guy hitting on Brittany. It -is- weird. It -is- creepy. It's showing that not only does this guy not give a shit that he's hitting on someone who is taken and doesn't want it, but a -minor-. He's already so worshipped, he thinks he can get away with it. It's also startlingly common. Ask women and they'll tell you they've been cat-called and harassed as young as 14. Of course that's not -good-. So yeah, that's not an issue on the writers' part. It's showing that this guy is /scum/ and has probably gotten away with it before in a system that doesn't really care.

Fun fact: in the early days when camera photography wasn't as easy and simple as it is now, alot of folks and families back then didn't smile due to how long it would've taken to get a picture due to how long the process takes just to even simply as for a family group photo. Smiling in was considered inappropriate when taking a picture in the 1800's.

Daria tends to get bad press because she tells people what they don’t want to hear. It doesn’t come from a place of sadism or mean-spiritedness, but just blunt matter of fact observations and conclusions. She isn’t angry, she isn’t mean, or even sad. She just simply doesn’t look at the world through rose colored glasses.

Yeah, im completely with Daria on this topic. Even back when it aired on MTV, my version of Tommy Sherman, was a creep Teacher named Mr. Block; he was rude, nasty and personally told me i was a sheep who'd never amount to anything. Suffice to say, we didnt get along. Later, we got word he passed away after i made the honor role and while everyone was sad, i didnt feel a thing. Weird too because i had people come to me about it...maybe because i was the only person who was'nt broken up about it. It really does make me think...

I think its also how Jane did know this guy better than Daria, Daria just moved there and learned of him immediately before he died- while Jane grew up knowing of this guy. Daria has emotions, but shes very blunt and detached. And she has a very strong sense of right and wrong, and doesn’t understand why to follow social niceties- but thats something she should have to learn to grow.

im so tired of people confusing bringing up negatives with being miserable. you cant make informed decisions without looking at positives and negatives. and people dont like hearing the truth because it breaks their denial. it only feels like being a downer because most people are used to quinns not darias. its like calling someone a downer when they call you and say 'your house is on fire', and replying 'why do you have to be so negative?'

While Daria may not be emo, I have a small issue about how you described emo. Emo isn't about being miserable all the time, emo music and the scene itself is a branch off of punk rock, whilst punk is about being mad at the establishment whilst having your own personal ideas about solutions, emo is about being mad at how unfair life is and how, although life isn't supposed to be fair, how insanely unfair it is and how helpless most people feel because they can't think of solid solutions to these problems, just temporary things. There's also the obvious themes of suicide and depression itself but those are more a less side effects to the unfairness of life emo is about, not to oversimplify. Sorry for yapping, maybe I got your intention wrong, I'm just a lil' emo myself (mostly just a fan of the music)

The older I get the more I have to conclude that Daria was intentionally written as someone on the Spectrum. This episode seems to hit it hard as she genuinely doesn't understand how/why people are feeling the way they do.

I find it interesting how we as a society have gotten to the point that if anyone don’t praise the heck out of something and ignore it’s faults, that automatically means they hate whatever it is they are talking about. You can like or love something and still point out it’s flaws. Love what you do Shady Doo.

I believe in the late 90's that most if not all high school football goalposts had padding on the part that could be ran into it will probably still hurt but won't be knocked out and you are absolutely correct a goalpost that will shadder will be extremely dangerous

To the video maker. There's an episode where Daria explains to Jodie that her attitude is what works for her now. She does has her flaws. But that's why she's so relatable. She going by what works for her. But of course she has flaws. She's a teenaged girl coping with a world that's changing.

In defense of Daria's Detachment, that awful conversation was literally the first time she even seen the guy. and unlike everyone else in town she has no nostalgia and no fond memories of the man, just one annoying one. I don't think she feels glad that he died, more like she felt nothing because he meant nothing to her. I imagine something like that happening when Ted Nugent dies, everyone over 40 feeling sad, everyone under that but over 20 making jokes, and everyone under 20 not giving a damn either way and wanting to get the mourning over with. Ted Nugent is actually a perfect comparison, because you and I know him as that bastard who says racist shit. but everyone my dad's age treats him like he's the fucking Hercules of rock and roll. like he was some kind of unjustly maligned genius of the guitar, rejected by the youth because of their intolerance to intolerance. Everyone I know from that generation always talks around how much of a asshole he is. And this is while he's ALIVE!!!! it's only going to get worse when he's dead and can't say shit like " they deserved to get shot by the police". also, the reason I feel she's making fun of the speech for is because Jodie is supporting a system Daria feels is just a self interested mess. there's a episode latter that talks about the dichotomy between the two's views on the school system.

As a cynic from a young age I really enjoyed Daria, but as I got older she started to just seem mean without even trying to talk to anyone. And she just grew bland. I honestly enjoyed Jane who explored other avenues, and in a way outgrew Daria herself.

I don’t think Daria was necessarily mean to Jodie here. I think she’s just extremely cynical to the school’s politics and dislikes the shallow hero worship of a local celebrity. So she’s open to mocking it, even if she was asked to help with it. The fact that Jodie has no choice in all this isn’t explored (yet).

Talking to yourself is perfectly normal and sane behavior. It is societally weird but in reality it is just a way our complicated human brains work through thoughts sometimes. Never feel the pressure to stop talking to yourself and keep the self talk firm but kind.

Personally, the ending made me think 🤔 that the episode's message was Daria learning that the way you act is the way you're looked at by other people who aren't close to her. Dariea and since she doesn't want to change who she is she just accepts it and makes a profet out of it

I think your read on this one is really bad. To daria someone she didnt know or care about dying simply isnt any different than any other day, why would she act like it was. Just because her smiling may please others doesnt mean she should have smile when she doesnt want to and all she wants is people to respect that. And no the show wasnt sayings they all think shes the misery girl just because she doesnt smile. Its sayings that because they all think she is, they all feel they can dump all rely on someone they dont even like to talk to the rest of the time and dont bother to ask how she feels or if she is willing to take on said burden. So of course when everyone tries to force her into a role that she doesnt want, she fires back with insensitive comments.

I think your commentary is so interesting knowing that you're only halfway through the show! A lot of how Daria acts is addressed later on and her hypocrisy and just general unpleasantness is shown to be a bad thing quite a bit and omg trust me Daria takes SO many Ls in the latter seasons she honestly gets what she deserves

I think another part of Daria's viewpoint here that no one is pointing out is that Daria is diametrically opposed to the "good-washing" that this dude was receiving after his death. She doesn't want to recognize the person who just died as "good" person like the school staff was in the auditorium, and how others were remembering him as a football player - and she doesn't to her credit. She had seen this person she didn't really care for walk into her building, immediately do a bunch of sleazy, uncomfortable and rude things to people around her; saw what he said to Brittany and how it nevatively affected her, and then how he pissed off both herself and Jane directly at Daria's locker. So by the point he actually dropped dead, her opinion of him morally was already tarnished to the point she refused to even tolerate the good-washing he was recieving by default. And honestly similarly to how Brittany was handling her own experiences conflicting with societal expectations- I think Daraia was also struggling with the knowledge of everyone else not being able to see just how bad this person truly was by her own eyes and ears and it just frustrated her ontoo of the other students suddenly flooding to her for help with their mixed feelings on the situation.

From my understanding, it just cost extra money to change the background photos in school and they usually don’t allow that because it’s for the yearbooks so it’s best if everyone has the same background, but I think you can get a extra photo with a different background if you ask and had the money, I may be remembering that wrong though(of course this includes the fact that it would depend on the company who took the photos).

As someone who watched Daria in real time. I always saw her as a realist. She was a teenager and based on her life experience and maturity in the time she had a certain world view that we watch be challenged over time and we got to watch her grow. Her mom didn't ask her to smile before the picture was taken she asked her after, Daria doesn't have a time machine, so that's a no-go. A person she met for five minutes died and she didn't have a personal connection to him. Okay. That makes sense or else she would burst into tears every time the news comes on. She antagonized Jodie her personality it set, not reactionary, but she and Jodie have a good enough relationship that Jodie knows better than be offended by Daria being herself. She went to talk to Daria for a reason. Daria says the things Jodie would never say unprovoked, that's one of the reasons they are associates or friends. If the easy answer were that she's a pessimist or misery chick people wouldn't feel so comfortable coming to her to seek solace because instead of helping she would have gone out of her way to make them feel worse.

Daria sees the world and life differently. She's not miserable she's real.

See I don't feel they were 'antagonizing' Jodie at all. They were venting about how objectively horrible football is, and the undeservedly privileged status it enjoys. It's possible to be negative without being hostile. I guess I never really thought about the 'representative' angle before, but we do know Jodie is basically forced into everything she does, so... basically, any knock on what she's doing is not a knock on her, it's sympathy for her.

Also... Frankly, I'm completely with Daria throughout this episode. If I were at Lawndale (and not poisoned by whatever makes everyone in that town crazy), I really don't think I'd be torn up about Sherman at all. I can get the reasoning behind not talking ill of the dead but...if someone was nothing but a jerk to everyone, there's really no reason in my mind to afford that courtesy. Respect for the dead is a courtesy usually aimed more at the friends and family of the dead. But in this episode, Tommy Sherman has no friends or family (well, Kevin the sycophant aside), and most of the people that Daria speaks to had absolutely nothing positive to say about him at all at best, and were outright insulted or worse by him at worst. I think that's why when I watch the episode, I zoom in more on everyone being reminded of their own mortality instead, which feels like a more reasonable reaction than treating him like he deserved much in the way of mourning.

I think Daria is the origin or inspiration of all the animation we have now like Rick & Morty and Bojack, she was way ahead of her time and I think she deserves more recognition

I 200% agree with Daria. People don't become great because they died.

My mother used to call me Daria because I wasn't goth or emo but I was very stonefaced and sarcastic - it was my way of dealing with my issues. Im a very different person now, in no small part due to the fact I moved out many years ago.

Bro ive never clicked on a video so fast 😂 but i saw "daria" and knew it was gonna be a good one lol

I had a somewhat similar experience in high school. Our superintendent died. My English/humanities teacher had us write a short paper on how that made us feel/offer sympathies. I didn't know this person at all, and he was proposing a school policy that I heavily disagreed with so I didn't exactly feel fondly towards him. I wrote with MANY polite adverbs that I had nothing to say about his death and didn't really feel anything about it. Because pretending that I actually felt anything(at least positive) about a stranger would have been completely disingenuous of me. The teacher gave me a 0 for the assignment sighting that it was wrong or something that I couldn't feel bad about someone's death, even though I have 0 connection to this person. Since that day I swore to be unapologetically honest about my indifference and to be hostile to anyone who tried to shame or pressure me into pretending to feel things that I don't. And if I saw people doing it to others, I would call them out and brutally rip apart their false sense of moral superiority. I also don't believe that people become sacred cows once they die. Death does not exonerate or redeem what someone did in life.

Not a bad episode to review. Especially one that shows a good reflection of how Daria and Jane were especially with what happens in the later seasons. Now I was Daria in High School and went through a lot of what Daria went through in High School. Also Shady some of us cant smile unless laughing. I being one of them. Also another few episodes Id suggest especially if you like Jodi is the episode where Daria and Jodi are invited to a prissy prep school. And when their lab partners in season 2. Also Shady the point of Daria's attitude is to poke at the ideas and mindsets that were had in the 90s and early 2000's. She points out how that blind optimism is intrinsically flawed. And how she sees how things are different and how they really are where others won't.

Daria is many things but one thing she is not is emo. Theres nothing emo about her. She shows no emotion. She is cold. Like a capricorn and good at business which she does by charging people money to hear their problems

Seems like a show I'd like. Wouldn't relate to Daria 100 percent just seeing she is even though I'm put in bad situations that aren't my fault

I think Daria is "mean" to Jodi because she's a foil. She's just as smart as Daria, and Daria sees that, and doesn't understand why she is, as you put it, "performing an obligation that she doesn't believe in." In a way, Daria isn't being mean, but being critical because she might think Jodi should be smart enough to know/do better. And in that same way, Daria's lack of a smile is her not "performing an obligation." She's not so much bringing up misery as pointing out hypocrisy. Which I think is why she was kinder to Brittany, because she was showing geniune emotion and confusion, and was at least being honest, which was the opposite of Jodi's reaction to the situation. And she makes up with Jane when Jane levels with her. In all of the situations she values the honest, the *real*. But in the end she's smart enough to understand that others don't see her that way, and finds a practical way to accept it.

Furher into the show, I feel like Daria's world view is challenged more, and that she does grow as a person. She remains pretty cynical, but she also learns to be more open to other people, too. Of course, there is a LOT of character growth and exploration in the special, "Is It Fall Yet," especially with Quinn!

My favorite thing about this episode is that it shows (kinda) some of the issues Daria's worldview creates for herself, and to me, it makes her seem more like a teenager. She's definitely a super mature teenager but still hasn't quite gotten herself figured out. I may be blowing smoke, but that is what it made me think.

are you kiddding?? 1000% IT WAS THE TIME AND PLACE to speak with jane PRIVATELY AND HONESTLY no matter how soon. Thats exactly how we cope. Something being "in bad taste" doesnt apply to private, close, safe non-public situations. Especially since she was not at ALLLLL being mean or going out of her way to talk badly. In fact you cant TALK SMACK about someone if they have done EXACTLY what you are talking about. The implicating of talking smack hints to an unfairness in representation which we KNOW IN THIS CASE IS NOT THERE. overall considering daria at this point didnt pick up on jane's discomfort, it was the time and place. If she knew how jane felt, she wouldnt have considered it the time and place, but since she didnt, she wasnt wrong to consider it a safe place for exactly that as a healthy type of communication.

I'm still with daria on this one. He was an asshole and then he died. You can say he's an asshole 5 minutes before he died but 5 minutes after he died you're not allowed to talk smack? That's some bullshit. It was true when he as alive and was still true when he wasn't. Daria did nothing wrong. It's a stupid "taboo" and should not be respected. You say there's a time and a place and now is not it? Why? Why is now not the time? Is he less of an asshole all of a sudden? No? He did nothing to redeem his character? Then she should stay consistent in her action and continue to accurately describe his character..

I think the reason Daria considers herself a realist is because when everyone around you refuses to look at the negative being willing to look it head on is engaging with reality. People see that as pessimism, but pessimism is looking for the dark cloud that comes with every silver lining. Saying "people generally suck" isn't pessimism, it's realism. Saying "this person doesn't appear to suck, but they will, just give it time" is pessimism; even if that cynical perspective eventually is borne out. The point is that it's pessimistic to assume the worst without evidence

19:00 I’m fine with Daria doing some projection on the poem guy. She’s a frustrated high schooler, and using this to get her point across through a ‘frustrated and making it about herself’ is pretty appropriate for the show. This episode we got to see Daria being normal.

Ironically, a lot of the issues you've brought up will be revisited in 'Boxing Daria', the somewhat heart breaking series finale before the true end to the series with the movie.

I always extrapolated that Tennyson line out to an idea about living life to the fullest. My interpretation is something more along the lines of "It's better to have experiences and live life, even if that means it's not all good instead of not doing anything at all and not experiencing anything, good or bad."

I love the way you're analyzing the show so far. I remember watching it with my family, I get nostalgia but also a very refreshing review on how realistic and well-written this show was. It reminds me of how I'd like to write.

They're both right about this. Daria shouldn't have to feel sorry about a guy that was an @$$hole, and Jane making fun of him dying seconds before he died would at least make her a murderer suspect if Tommy didn't do it to himself.

The Tommy and Brittany thing is a "Dazed and confused" reference. "That's what I love about high school girls. I get older, and they stay the same age." Thank you for doing more Daria videos! Love your face and content

I wouldnt classify Darias realism and occasional pessamism as mean (most of the time) she lacks tact, and doesnt filter often, but mucj of the time her observations arent inaccurate or designed to cause harm. (Again, that's not always the case) And I always saw this episode as an attempt to point that out. Happy and positive isn't the neutral human state, but most people mistake neutral for sad/miserable/ negative.

I don't think Daria "earned" the label of "Misery Chick". I don't think it's fair to say she deserves a reductive label just because she's open about the negative. Like, do you deserve to be called a nerd or a dork by everyone because you get good grades? Even if it seems like an accurate label on the outside, it can still be reductive and hurtful. Generally speaking, people don't earn the boxes they're put into.

This was one of my fav Daria episodes. The one where she falls for Jane’s bfriend was very good too

Remember, darias like 15. Its important to make characters her age see the world through a blurred lens. Theyre realists that cant see whats real and are EXHAUSTED trying to see it

It's interesting that you bring up that Daria doesn't engage in any real introspection here. You're correct; and it's something that makes her feel like a real person - she has a blind spot, and she's a teenager. That blind spot will come up a few times, I dare say - she holds others to high standards that even she cannot meet. And it will bite her in the ass from time to time.

I like to go back and rewatch shows I grew up with as kid and Daria is one of them. I remember being mind blown finding out the character origins came from Beavis N Butthhead which I really like watching then but as I got older rewatching Daria I felt it was obviously way better written for obvious reasons on top of Darias creator giving up the rights for the character to be used. Your commentary on this just makes all of this even better and I'm glad I randomly stumbled on your channel. Keep up the great work!!! (Subbed)

I mean, I wouldn't have cared if a guy like that died, especially a potential predator, hitting on a 16 year old girl. So... I feel Daria not giving a fck.