Helen Morgendorffer: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|I think it's so important for a family to find the time to eat together and share their day. Did I share with you how many meetings I had to rearrange so that I could be here -- not that I'm complaining...|[[Lane Miserables]]}}
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==Background==
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Helen Barksdale's early years were spent in the shadow of her older sister, [[Rita Barksdale|Rita]], whom her mother spoiled rotten with attention and money. Helen grew up extremely resentful of being ignored but at the same time determined to be the best at everything she did, probably in hopes of one day winning the approval of her parents. Unknown to her, this caused resentment from ''Rita'' (and her other sister [[Amy Barksdale]]) who felt they were expected to be the equal of Helen when it come to studying. Helen never got on with Amy, but the two of them both felt that their mother never gave ''them'' any encouragement or affection. ("[[I Don't]]", "[[Aunt Nauseum]]") Helen, in adult life, has intended to stay in contact with her mother but rarely has the time ("[[The Daria Database]]"), and may not feel that committed to the idea ("Nauseum").
Once in college, Helen became a hippie and joined the late 1960s counterculture. While in [[Middleton College]], she met [[Jake Morgendorffer]] and the two began dating. Jake and Helen each had issues with their families and may have connected because of that. As they were both arrested in summer 1969 ("[[That Was Then, This Is Dumb]]"), she presumably started college in the fall of 1968. After graduating in 1972, the two moved into a commune with friends before getting married in June 26, 1975. Her oldest daughter [[Daria Morgendorffer|Daria]] was born in 1982 and [[Quinn Morgendorffer|Quinn]] followed suit a year later.
Helen enrolled in law school and, like her husband, rejected the hippie lifestyle and embraced the world of corporate America. She has, on occasion, felt guilty about not retaining her hippie ideals (though she gets over it quickly).
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{{quote|That's exciting, isn't it Daria?|Helen}}
{{quote|No.|Daria ("[[The Daria Hunter]]"}}
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[[Image:Helen_Daria.jpg|right|220px|thumb|Helen and Daria in an attempt at conversation ("Lane Miserables")]]
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Helen's perception of Daria is made clear in the final regular episode, "[[Boxing Daria]]." In this story, Helen and Jake learn that their daughter is concerned they considered her a burden. At this fear, they firmly explain that while her cynical and sardonic loner personality has been a concern, they consider it worth the price for having a gifted and perceptive daughter of deep principles.
==Feminism and
One of the main aspects of Helen Morgendorffer's character is her feminist beliefs, which are rooted in her involvement in the 1960s counter-culture.
A firm believer in gender equality, Helen has tried to instill the same sort of beliefs in her daughters. This often puts her in conflict with her youngest daughter Quinn, over her daughter's belief that her looks are the most important aspect of her life. ("[[See Jane Run]]") However, Helen is not a misandrist, as she loves her husband and while she may not approve of all of [[Quinn Morgendorffer|Quinn's]] boyfriends, she is nonetheless kind and polite to young, middle-aged, and older men that she comes into contact with.
Helen has taken stances in past episodes against beauty standards for women, whilst simultaneously trying to get Daria to look less off-putting. In "[[This Year's Model]]" she expressed negative views about the modelling industry and about plastic surgery for girls & young women in "[[Too Cute]]"; however, right after stating plastic surgery was bad, she then started to talk about how it was understandable if a middle-aged women did it to get ahead in work. In "[[Of Human Bonding]]", after lecturing the [[Fashion Club]] about how a few lines and spots aren't sins and how women shouldn't be pushed aside just for age, she abruptly asks Sandi if her mother knows "a good collagen man". She keeps trying to hide her exact age. [[Glenn Eichler]] has stated this isn't a comment on Helen "so much as a comment on the pressures the working world exerts on women and on middle-aged adults in general".
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===Sapphic Helen===
The most notable works that touch upon this sensitive topic are the [[Writes of Passage]] episode [[Tie Died, My Darling]] by [[Deref]], where Helen reveals that she had a serious relationship with a woman while in college (which began before she met Jake), and [[Brother Grimace]]'s sequel to [[Night of the Storm]], [[The Winters of Those Gone Before]], in which Helen's repressed same-sex inclinations are explored with nightmarish repercussions that nearly destroy her family. ▼
▲The most notable works that touch upon this sensitive topic are the [[Writes of Passage]] episode [[Tie Died, My Darling]] by [[Deref]], where Helen reveals that she had a serious relationship with a woman while in college
==Trivia==
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