Amy Barksdale: Difference between revisions

|firstappearance=[[I Don't]]

|lastappearance=[[Aunt Nauseam]]

|episodecount=3

|gender=Female

==Getting the Barksdale Timeline Straight==

[[image:amy-idont1.gif|thumb|left|Amy Barksdale in "[[I Don't]]"]]

 

We are reasonably sure that Helen was born in the summer of 1950, though she was likely 47 at the time of "I Don't," which probably took place in spring 1998 (before Helen's 48th birthday). Amy Barksdale would then have been born about 1958, give or take a year, and Rita about 1947-1948. This becomes important later in working out the major events of Amy's childhood.

As an adult, Amy is sarcastic to the point of rudeness when speaking with or about her sisters, even if she's talking to her nieces or her sisters' spouses/boyfriends. She says what's on her mind and doesn't care what anyone thinks of it. (In "I Don't," she feels "no particular obligation to listen to anyone else's B.S. Ever.") Her wit is quick but with a sharp, angry edge. Her lack of involvement in Barksdale family life has carried over to the point that Daria and Quinn barely recognize Amy when she appears in "I Don't." Amy can't recall whether Daria is in high school, college, "or something." She's deliberately remained out of the picture for decades, a willing and determined outsider who is always "out of place" when with her siblings.

 

In "Aunt Nauseam," Amy makes a curious comment. In response to Daria, who says: "Mom and Aunt Rita are on the brink of mutually assured destruction, Quinn's obviously having a nervous breakdown, and Dad's on the lamb," Amy says, "Gee, reminds me of my childhood." This suggests that Helen and Rita's frequent fighting caused their father to absent himself from the home to escape it, and it had a negative effect on their mother as well.

 

Related to the Saint Amy theme is '''Maternal Amy''', in which she either has a baby or else acts ''in loco parentis'' for Daria because Jake and Helen are either dead, absent, or otherwise unable or unwilling to raise her. The best example is the Amy Barksdale of [[Kara Wild]]'s [[Driven Wild Universe]], who has a baby with her live-in boyfriend, [[Joel Silverman]]. Amy proves herself a good if occasionally exasperated mother. Perhaps the best Maternal Amy story in this [[series]] is Ms. Wild's "[[Mother's Milk]]."

 

In this same vein, Amy gets married to a wealthy Air National Guard pilot, [[Maurice 'Reese' Wyatt]], in [[Brother Grimace]]'s "[[A Path of Roses and Thorns]]," a [[Dariaverse crossover]] with [[Richard Lobinske]]'s [[Falling into College]] series. Amy inherits twin girls from Wyatt's previous marriage and becomes a beloved stepmother to them both. (She is more than a bit of the Saint Amy here.) Amy gets married and has children in [[Richard Lobinske]]'s "[[Alien Heritage]]."

 

 

A trope-breaking version of this appears in "[[It Slipped Through My Hands, Like a Shadow, Like a Dream]]," in which Amy eventually becomes overwhelmed dealing with a mentally retarded Daria who has received little love and affection from her parents or sister.

 

===Amy of the Undefined Job===

One issue with which a number of fanfic writers wrestled was Amy's occupation. What exactly did she do? [[Kara Wild]] (in the [[Driven Wild Universe]]) suggested that she was an art appraiser, an idea that was adopted by other writers, such as [[Greystar]] in his [[The Longest Year]] series. [[Peter Guerin|Peter Guerin's]] fanfics portrayed her as an intrepid reporter, while [[Richard Lobinske]] set her up as a college professor at [[Tennyson University]] in the [[Falling Into College]] series and as a magazine writer in "[[Misery's End]]." Show creator Glenn Eichler offered his own suggestions (see "External Links").

 

There are more unusual occupations, however, which fanfic writers have not hesitated to apply to Amy Barksdale's life. Amy has only herself to blame for keeping so much of her life out of public view. The following tropes explore the Extreme Amy.

 

The [[Abruptly Amy (series)|Abruptly Amy]] parody brought forth the intriguing notion that Amy was secretly a spy. This trope has been taken up elsewhere (e.g., [[The Angst Guy]]'s "[[Prayers for a SAINT]]" and "[[Invisible Planet]]"). [[Brother Grimace]] parlayed this even further in "[[It's All About Respect]]," where the insinuation was made that Amy was part of a special-operations group with the U.N. (However, Brother Grimace has [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retcon retconned] his works to bring this Amy into line with the [[Falling Into College]] series.) This latter Amy has been brought into [[Doggieboy]]'s post-atomic war series, "[[Apocalyptic Daria]]."

 

An unusual characterization that is occasionally seen is the Amy who has gone bad in an eye-popping, over-the-top way. Most famous of these tales is probably [[Ranchoth]]'s "[[Janissaries]]," in which Daria, directing "public relations" for Cobra, abruptly discovers her aunt is an infamous supervillain at the same moment that Amy recognizes Daria, too. Also of note here is the mad scientist Amy of [[Wyvern337]]'s "[[Monsters]]" and assassin Amy of "[[Outcasts from Beyond]]."

 

==Trivia==

Amy Barksdale's facial appearance becomes narrower and more angular (and less Daria-ish) between her two earlier appearances in the series and her final appearance in "[[Aunt Nauseam]]." Why this happens has never been determined. (It was an animation error, yes, but fans want an in-story explanation for everything.) Her [[boob war|bust]] also appears to undergo a dramatic reduction in "Aunt Nauseam." (Or maybe it's just the sweater she's wearing.)

 

In "[[Through a Lens Darkly]]," Daria asks her aunt if she wants a picture of Daria with her new contacts. Amy replies, "Either that or a shot of Ralph Fiennes. Whichever." In "[[Aunt Nauseam]]," [[Rita Barksdale]] initially says she cannot visit Helen because "I promised Ralph—you know, the actor I've been dating—I promised to take him to New York for his birthday, maybe catch a play or two." Did Rita steal Amy's secret heartthrob?

 

==External Links==

* [http://www.the-wildone.com/essays/kw_essays/savior_or_chimera.html "Amy: Savior or Chimera?"] (essay) by [[Kara Wild]]

* [http://www.the-wildone.com/dvdaria/glenninterviewsfull.html Collected interviews] with [[Glenn Eichler]] on [[DVDaria]]

* [http://dariablog2.blogspot.com/search/label/amy%20barksdale Posts about Amy Barksdale] on [[DFB2]]

* [http://www.the-wildone.com/aa_mainpg.html Abruptly Amy] on [[Contrarian's Corner]]