Through a Lens Darkly: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
(→Trivia) |
Charles RB (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
Line 13:
==Summary==
Daria starts to think about trying contacts, but is worried when an unwitting[[Jane]] casually remarks how the glasses are part of Daria’s "persona": someone who doesn't care about their looks. That causes Daria to turn to ''[[Quinn Morgendorffer|Quinn]]'' (who has been ''waiting'' for this day): if she does start to show she cares about her looks a little bit, does this make her a hypocrite and invalidate many of her previous stances? This philosophical question causes physical pain for Quinn, so Daria translates it - but her sister, misunderstandinh her sister’s problem launches in a long and useless speech describing everything Daria should change on her appearance, prompting the later to flee.
Finally, Daria phones and gets good advice from her glass-wearing [[Amy Barksdale|aunt Amy]], who points out that using contact lenses is no vanity, only an option to have a slightly different appearance. And it would also "set your parents back a couple hundred bucks". This sets Daria’s mind to visit an ophthalmologist and purchase them.
The next day, Daria wears her new contact lenses instead of her glasses, eliciting reactions from colleagues and teachers: Jane thinks she looks cool; [[Timothy O'Neill|O’Neill]] and [[Angela Li| Mr. Li]], after first failing to recognize her, are delighted and make enthusiastic comments. Daria tries to downplay her appearance by stating they are for driving, but is stuck dumb when asked why she’s using them in school then. Later, [[Kevin Thompson|Kevin]] and [[Brittany Taylor|Brittany]] also compliment Daria’s new look.▼
▲The next day, Daria wears her new contact lenses instead of her glasses,
However, the contact lenses are very irritating to wear, so Daria takes them just as the school day ends, needing help from Jane to walk home. That night, Daria has a nightmare in which her reflection is monstrous and distorted.▼
▲
The next day, with her eyes still sensitive, Daria decides not to put the contacts on and also not to wear glasses. The resulting lack of vision causes her to keep bumping into colleagues in school. At lunch, a conversation with Kevin, who had decided to start wearing glasses to “be a little smarter”, makes Jane realize Daria is not wearing glasses nor contacts. She is pleasantly surprised but Daria flees in self-disgust at being found out.▼
▲The next day, with her eyes still sensitive, Daria decides not to put the contacts on... and also not to wear glasses. The resulting lack of vision causes her to keep bumping into colleagues in school. At lunch, a conversation with Kevin, who had decided to start wearing glasses to “be a little smarter” - but to avoid being too smart because "I like having friends", he took the lenses out - makes Jane realize Daria
Jane and [[Jodie Landon|Jodie]] find Daria hidden in a stall in the bathroom and try to bring her out, pointing that a little vanity is nothing wrong and that Daria holds herself to a too high standard, but Daria refuses to leave, feeling ashamed and a hypocrite. It is Brittany that inadvertently brings her out when she comments that Daria caring about her appearance makes the blond cheerleader feel more at ease with her lack of intelligence, as they are just all human. Daria accepts that and leaves the stall. Jodie and Jane are struck at Brittany’s insight.▼
▲Jane and [[Jodie Landon|Jodie]] find Daria hidden in a stall in the bathroom and try to bring her out, pointing that a little vanity is nothing wrong and that Daria holds herself to a too high standard, but Daria refuses to leave, feeling ashamed and a hypocrite. It is Brittany that inadvertently brings her out when she comments that Daria
Later that day Daria and Jane talk about glasses and appearances. Daria comments that she is confused and ''wants'' her glasses back: she says she knows her glasses mark her out as different but, more importantly for her, she thinks that she has the capacity to 'see' things better than most people "so to hell with them and what they think of you and your glasses". She says she prefers herself that way to caring about her appearance.
Line 38 ⟶ 40:
* Outside of Quinn, Daria had rarely had her appearance attacked (to her face) at Lawndale High. [[Beavis and Butt-head (comics)|Issues of ''Beavis and Butt-head'']], however, would have Beavis and Butt-head regularly making disparaging remarks, [[Beavis and Butt-head issue 22|twice genuinely angering her]].
* Daria was briefly ''sans'' glasses in "[[Quinn the Brain]]", but her eyesight wasn't mentioned.
* Coincidentally, this episode aired during the theatrical run of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She's_All_That ''She's All That'']: a film centred around an unpopular, "unattractive" girl gaining popularity and happiness after having a makeover, including using contacts instead of glasses. (This is a recurring trope in American romantic comedies and teen dramas) Twelve years later, internet review The Nostalgia Chick would [http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/team-nchick/nostalgia-chick/32202-shes-all-that compare the episode with the film], finding both that Daria was a more believable misanthrope than ''All That's'' Laney and that ''Lens'' lacks the film's implications that conformity will lead to happiness.
| |||