Daria Morgendorffer: Difference between revisions

==Daria's Growth==

Though the series was a rich one, replete with interesting characters and multiple points-of-view, it was mostly the story of one character, Daria herself, and her evolution.

At the beginning, she can be fairly characterized as smart, cynical, and a little ruthless. She is not afraid to physically rough up her little sister when the latter clearly deserves it (note the ending of [[The New Kid]]). She is not afraid to take a series of very risky, manipulative actions to call attention to her school's principal's unethical behavior ([[This Year's Model]]). She has, by her own admission, never had a real friend until [[Jane Lane]]. She hung around with Beavis and Butthead with little apparent purpose save for her own amusement and that it bothered her parents, and manipulated them into performing dangerous actions for a science project. Her relationships with boys can be summed up in a single line, spoken to Jane in [[Dye! Dye! My Darling]]: "Can you picture me making out with anyone? Ever?"

Her growth on the romantic front is seen later in that same episode, and in her fairly long (by High School standards) relationship with [[Tom Sloane]] throughout most of the rest of the series. And by how she ultimately concludes that relationship of her own free will and on her own terms. She is able to deal with a situation similar to that in [[This Year's Model]] by taking far less risky actions in [[Fizz Ed]]. She has managed to rescue her friendship with Jane after circumstances, and her own actions, could easily have ended it. She has largely reconciled with her little sister, enabling the latter to finally begin to live up to her intellectual potential (which, while it may well be far, far below Daria's, is certainly far above that of the High School [[Fashion Club]]) Quinn insists on still maintaining ties with. The two can even work together, as seen in [[Speedtrapped]] and, more importantly, in [[Aunt Nauseam]] when the two are able to effectively force a (presumably temporary) reconciliation between their mother and their aunts. She is able to find common ground with her mother (and to a lesser degree with her hapless father) in many episodes. She is able to face down her childhood fears and deal with them honestly [[Boxing Daria]]. She is able to deal with her own flaws (see [[Partner's Complaint]] for example), a far cry from the girl who had "low esteem for everyone else," esteem so low it was mistaken for low SELF esteem.

And, finally, in the series finale [[Is it College Yet?]], she outlines a nearly-fully-grown philosophy:

* 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 is no aspect, no facet, no moment of life that can't be improved with pizza. Thank you.