Jodie Landon

Jodie Abigail Landon, better known as Jodie, is a character in the MTV television show, Daria. Jodie dates football player Mack Mackenzie. She first appeared in the episode "The Invitation."

Character Overview
Landon lives in the town of Lawndale. She is an intellectual girl bound for a prestigious university, but she feels tremendous pressure from her parents, Andrew and Michele, to excel in school.

An African-American, Landon is one of few black students seen at Daria's new school, Lawndale High. Unlike many teenage female black television characters (both cartoon and real), Landon is not a member of a group of popular girls, though she is considered "cool." She is a rather lonely girl who maintains a casual friendship both with Daria and with Daria's best friend, Jane. Landon sometimes looks for Daria to ask her a question or an opinion on something. In return, she is one of the few people of Daria's age whom the cynical girl respects.

On the other hand, the girls differ on their points of view; Jodie is more gregarious and tends to favor a certain practicality with her ethics while Daria is a firm loner prefers to be more rigidly principled with her own. This divergence has lead to a few arguments, notably in "Partner's Complaint", but ultimately there is a mutual respect between them.

The president of various school clubs, Landon sees herself as a future leader of American black society. Being one of the few black students in her school inspires her to be aware of black issues, although she simultaneously is bitter about having to always play the part and having to always be calm, reasonable, and carefully spoken. In "Gifted" she went so far as to refer to her perceived role as "queen of the Negroes" and described herself as being at "breaking point" playing that part. In "Is It College Yet?", she decided to go to Turner, a traditionally black university, for at least a year before going to the elite Crestmore, so she could relax socially for a time.

Jodie does a lot of volunteer work, internships, and extra-curricular courses at the behest of her parents - in "Is It Summer Yet?", she was working for most of the summer and could barely see Mack. In "The F Word", she'd tried to get some time off and failed, sounding defeated and later stating bitterly that "my parents would rather I drop dead from exhaustion than miss the opportunity to shred some bribe-taking congressman's incriminating phone bills". She would apply to Turner behind her father's back, only to let him push her into choosing Crestmore despite being miserable about the decision; when Mack pointed out to Andrew that she'd applied without telling him, however, her parents let her choose Turner. (Michelle appears to have pushed Andrew into this; in "Gifted", there were implications she'd done the same thing so Jodie could avoid Grove Hills)

Jodie's relationship with Mack is hinted to be under strain during the series and spin-off books, with Jodie unable to fully commit to it. In "The Daria Diaries", Jodie even questions why she dates him, whether it's because she genuinely likes him or "because he's who he is and you're who you are and others don't care to question the equation?".

The Daria Diaries: "Living up to your Potential"
In "The Daria Diaries", there is an editorial for the Lawndale Lowdown by Jodie about living up to your potential. As it goes on, it becomes steadily more bitter as Jodie "covertly" refers to trying to please two unrealistically high (and mutually contradictory) expectations from her parents (corporate activity from Michelle and political legislation from Andrew), when "what if she really wants to be a ballerina?"); being so pushed to succeed that she feels she's not allowed to take a break ("Fun is a luxury you cannot afford"); her belief that she's "not all that superior to the so-called "norm"" but is terrified that if she makes a mistake, she'll have a slide into disgrace; and wondering whether she dates Mack because she likes him.

"Always do your very best - never mind the terrible, terrible toll it may take on your spirit. Have a great summer!"

Powderkeg Jodie
Jodie is often portrayed in fanfic as being under tremendous pressure from her parents to succeed, to the point where their only interaction with their daughter is to push her to extend herself further and further. As a result of this pressure, Jodie internalizes resentment and frustration until she eventually loses control and rebels against her parents' wishes. In some stories, this rebellion takes the form of an emotional confrontation with her parents wherein she tells them that she cannot take their demands and expectations anymore, or she begins dating people her parents would consider wildly inappropriate for her; in other cases, she acts out her frustrations more aggressively, dropping out of all her activities and refusing to accept her parents' value system (often with the help of Daria and Jane). In a few fics, her frustration is expressed in extreme fashions, such as suicide or violence, as she sees no way out from under her parents' unrealistic expectations.

While this portrayal certainly does have a basis in canon, the series itself never shows Jodie expressing any more than a mild exasperation at her parents. Also, while her parents are certainly contributors to her overachievement, Jodie also places a great deal of pressure on herself, as well; her extreme amount of activity cannot therefore be laid completely at the feet of her parents.

Cut-loose and running free Jodie
Another popular portrayel of Jodie in fanfics and fan art is of Jodie-post Lawndale high, free from her parents able to live her life without the strict direction from her parents. Most often that leads to her and Mack making up for lost ground, this has roots in Jodie and Mack's canon behavior, most notably in "Is It College Yet?" where the two of them are seen kissing after Mack has talked with Jodie's father pursauding him to let Jodie off.

Negligent Girlfriend Jodie
In canon, Jodie is often depicted as being too busy with her many projects and responsibilities to give much time or attention to her beau, Mack. This is used in some fanfics as the springboard to an eventual breakup of the couple. A detailed look at this issue appears under "Joma."