Tom Sloane: Difference between revisions

 

==Tom and wealth==

[[Image:Tom's_carofdeath.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Tom's terrifyingly dangerous first car]]

 

 

==The "Love Triangle" Story Arc==

[[Image:Tom_DyeDye.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Tom tries to head off Jane's verbal onslaught]]

 

In the episode "[[Jane's Addition]]," Tom was introduced and began dating [[Jane Lane]] in very short order. They met at a [[Mystik Spiral]] gig while Daria was briefly absent. The amount of time Jane spent with Tom was a source of tension between Daria and Jane for many episodes afterward, much as Jane's dates with [[Evan]] had been ("[[See Jane Run]]").

 

===Why?===

In a [http://www.the-wildone.com/dvdaria/glenninterviewsfull.html 2006 interview with Kara Wild], [[Glenn Eichler]] said Tom was created as "I thought it was really pushing credibility for Daria to have only had one or two dates during her whole high school career - I thought it was time in the evolution of her personality for a boyfriend to enter the picture. And of course it would provide us with some fresh storylines, always welcome after 39 episodes." The reason Tom started as Jane's boyfriend was both because Glenn felt Daria would need to grow on a high school boy for him to ask her out, meaning "he would need to spend a fair amount of time in her company BEFORE they started dating", and because "I thought the situation would allow us to explore and test Daria and Jane's friendship". He admits this "may have backfired" as a chunk of the audience didn't buy Jane would forgive Daria for that.

 

In recent times, a popular depiction of Tom has seen him (or her) getting dolled up, dressing up in a nurse's outfit and seducing the men of Lawndale. Whether or not he is doing this as a coping mechanism for being dumped by Daria, a devious fetish or just for the lulz is usually open to interpretation. Originally a stand-alone series started by [[Shiva]], this trope has been crossed over into several other series, including [[God Save The Esteem]], [[Lawndale Fighting Championship]] and [[Rude Awakening]].

 

[[Image:tomsketch.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Tom Sloane's initial design, from the ''Complete Animated Series'' DVD]]

 

* When he was dating Jane, we rarely saw any interaction between him and Jane's brother Trent. The exceptions are "[[The F Word]]" and "[[Mart of Darkness]]". In the former, he pleads with Tom not to abandon Jane because "she needs you right now" (she'd started dressing 'conventional' and he was worried). In the latter, while Trent seems to have no issue with Tom, Trent's laconic, easily-distracted approach to things was shown to drive Tom up the wall.