Mack Mackenzie

Michael Jordan Mackenzie is "Mack" to everyone except Kevin Thompson, who calls him "Mack Daddy," to Mack's eternal annoyance. An African-American classmate of Daria Morgendorffer and Jane Lane, Mack attends school at Lawndale High with his girlfriend, Jodie Landon, and is the captain of the Lawndale Lions football team.

General Notes on the Character
Mack is the only recurring male character of Daria and Jane's age at Lawndale High who acts with intelligence and integrity and as such enjoys their respect. Ironically, in interviews with Kara Wild, two of the driving forces behind the show stated that this was because Mack was never developed fully, as the show's staff never cast him to their satisfaction. Because Mack wasn't fully developed, he wasn't given flaws.

We know little about Mack's family, though in "The Misery Chick" he reveals his name was originally "Michael James Mackenzie, but Dad went to a Bulls playoff game when I was twelve and then he changed it." Jodie in "Partner's Complaint" describes him as being "bad with money," still owing his father his overdrawn allowance from third grade. (Mack finally pays his father back during Is It Fall Yet?, and also has enough money from his summer job to take Jodie to Chez Pierre "once.")

The series generally portrays Mack's and Jodie's relationship in a positive light, though Jodie often places a higher priority on her own commitments than on the relationship. The implication in "My Night at Daria's" is that the couple is sexually active. Jodie promises to tell Daria all about it "once my parents are dead."

Mack is clearly and specifically portrayed as in a lower socioeconomic class than Jodie, though the details are not known. (Being in a lower socioeconomic class than Jodie Landon is not difficult.) In Is It College Yet?, he states that he can get into Vance University if he gets a scholarship, which he does.

He is portrayed as being a competent football team captain and a good leader, but not as competent at actually playing the game. He is unable to successfully perform in the quarterback role when Kevin is knocked out of action by a leg injury in "A Tree Grows in Lawndale."

Saint Mack
Mack is in a curious position in the pantheon of Daria characters in that he seems to be without fault, or at least lacking major drawbacks as a male in a female-dominated story universe. In Is It Fall Yet?, Jodie bemoans Mack's cash-flow issues, but that appears to be the extent of his flaws. This characterization is sometimes referred to as "Saint Mack." One extreme example of a "Saint Mack" is "The Thirteenth Man," by The Angst Guy. A less extreme instance appears in Bob Marley's "You Don't Know Mack."

Mack-Who-Belongs-With-Someone-Else
Debate has arisen on a number of occasion over the issue of why Mack dates Jodie. Is it because they are among the very few black students at Lawndale High (a situation implied several times in the series)? Couldn't they find anyone else to date? This is the late 1990s in the series, after all. The few true-blue shippers left in Daria fandom have taken pains to hook Mack up with other characters in alternate-universe or post-canon tales. Among those usually chosen as his new mate are Jane Lane (a popular one), Brittany Taylor (also popular, though she did irritate him in the series), and Daria Morgendorffer (a more difficult mix).