Daria and Politics: Difference between revisions

This article investigates what political attitudes various characters on the show are believed to have, based on [[canon]] sources from the TV series, the two MTV ''Daria'' books, the MTV ''Daria'' website, and scattered bits of material from the ''[[Beavis and Butt-head (TV series)|Beavis and Butt-head]]'' show. It also examines the political persuasions of characters in ''Daria'' fanfiction.

 

==Daria's Politics in Canon Sources==

In virtually every canon source available, Daria is outspokenly contemptuous of many aspects of late-1990s life in America. She reviles the middle-class way of life and its value system, mocks and challenges authority at every turn, and scorns her peers in every category from their intellects to their moral code. Her verbal barbs do not go unnoticed; [[Timothy O'Neill|Mr. O'Neill]] writes a letter to her parents in ''[[The Daria Diaries]]'' to complain about her disrespectful and wounding remarks, and [[Andrea]] confronts both Daria and [[Jane Lane|Jane]] with the consequences of their sarcasm in "[[Mart of Darkness]]." One of Daria's most persistent nemeses, [[Angela Li]], even gives Daria a special award at the latter's graduation in ''[[Is It College Yet?]]'' for "dazzling academic achievement in the face of near-total misanthropy."

 

It is noteworthy that most of those receiving Daria's barbs are not conservatives. Helen and Jake Morgendorffer, Mr. O'Neill, and many others are in fact political liberals whose excesses Daria mocks without end. She has, however, expressed mild respect for the ideals of the 1960s left wing in "That Was Them, This Is Dumb". In "[[Prize Fighters]]", she also expressed contempt for parts of the capitalist system in general and large corporations specifically, saying in an essay they were "fouling the planet and cheating their workers just to keep their stock prices pumped"; she was extremely put out to find the Wizard Foundation thought she was writing a spoof. She also showed distate for Wizard's hiring and promotion policies, which disadvantaged women and minorities. While dating [[Tom Sloane]], she was also repeatedly at odds with the priveleges and assumptions of the upper classes (and would also jump to conclusions based on her ''own'' assumptions about Tom's class).