Helen Morgendorffer: Difference between revisions

'''Helen Morgendorffer''' (née Barksdale) is a fictional character created for the MTV animated series ''Daria.''. A corporate lawyer, she is the mother of [[Daria Morgendorffer]] and [[Quinn Morgendorffer]].

Daria tends to speak with her mother more often than her sister [[Quinn Morgendorffer]] does, and usually the conversations are of an adult level of maturity. At times Helen will succeed in getting Daria to talk about whatever current trouble she is dealing with. On occasion Helen demonstrates a deeper understanding of her daughter's habits than most of the family gives her credit for, such as in the episodes calledepisode "[[Write Where It Hurts]],", where she succinctly explains Daria's cynical habits and offers some help and sage parental advice.

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.

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, she 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. However, Helen is not a misandrist, as she loves her husband and while she may not approve of all of [[DariaQuinn Morgendorffer|Quinn's]] boyfriends, she is nonetheless kind and polite to young, middle-aged, and older men that she comes into contact with.

Helen's workaholism affects her ability to be a good mother, a character defect that was explored in the episode "Psycho Therapy" but is visible as early as "[[Esteemsters]]" ([''to Daria''] "We tell you over and over again that you're wonderful and you just...don't...get it! What's wrong with you?") Though Helen also shows herself at times to be quite perceptive (e.g., "[[Write Where It Hurts]]" and "[[Is It Fall Yet?]]"), certain fanfics carry her parental disconnection to the extreme, producing the Evil Helen stereotype. This stereotype was especially strong in early fanfics, as revealed in "[[To Helen Back]]," by [[C.E. Forman]], "[[Connect Four]]," by [[Diane Long]], and the fanfics by [[Michelle Klein-Hass]]. However, it persisted in later ones as well, such as "[[Darius]]" by [[The Angst Guy]], an [[Alternate Universe|alternate-universe]] story in which grave marital and family stresses have overwhelmed her motherly instincts and made her quite ruthless.