Comments on: Are We Afraid of Daria?

By: link love: aug 1-aug 7 « waverly and waverly

link love: aug 1-aug 7 « waverly and waverly — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:41:24 +0000

[...] Are We Afraid of Daria?: A follow up to the Where Are the Darias? post I linked a few weeks ago. In Praise of Precocious Narrators: Did you know that the first time I heard the word precocious was actually in Spanish (precoz)? It is the one and only word I can think of where I heard the Spanish word before ever hearing the English equivalent. And it happened rather late in life too: ninth grade, in reference to the main character in Ana Maria Matute’s Fiesta al Noroeste For the record, I barely survived AP Spanish. Also for the record, what I’ve just said is completely irrelevant. As for the topic at hand, I suppose I too like the precocious narrator, or at least I tend to be drawn to novels with such characters. The Glass children (Salinger), the narrator of Jean-Christophe Valtat’s 03, Josie and Jack Rayburn (Kelly Braffet’s Josie and Jack), the students of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, and Blue Van Meer of Special Topics in Calamity Physics (mentioned in the article). [...]

By: On the (Rest of the Net). « The Early Bird Catches the Worm

On the (Rest of the Net). « The Early Bird Catches the Worm — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:19:14 +0000

[...] Here with more Daria goodness, The Paris Review asks “Are We Afraid of Daria?” [...]

By: Lana

Lana — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:03:56 +0000

I’m not sure this is a totally valid argument. As you state:

“While it’s reassuring to know that wry, disaffected teen girls do exist on screen, nearly all of the characters mentioned here are ancillary to a peppy, pretty protagonist.”

Except that’s not actually true of the characters mentioned. Veronica Mars is the title character of her show. Arrested Development is an ensemble show of dysfunction, so Maeby isn’t really ancillary to anyone. Rory is a Gilmore Girl, and her mother was most certainly a teenage outcast, just of a different sort. Kat is the main character in 10 Things, and while her sister is the peppy prep, she’s not the protagonist by any means.

I don’t watch enough of the most recent examples to comment broadly, but isn’t Kristen Stewart generally the lead in her movies? Juno (mentioned in the past post) is also her story’s star, and Liz Lemon is essentially the main character of 30 Rock.

All those examples are ones with Daria-esque leads who are by no means foils to a livelier character. If Darias aren’t as abundant as Quinns, it’s probably because truly witty teenage misanthropes are still the minority in reality, even if anyone can at times relate to them. If anything, I think it’s admirable how many strong, smart, self-assured girl teen characters survive the drudgery of mass pop culture.

By: diana

diana — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:01:46 +0000

Exactly how familiar are you with this list of names? It seems like you just listed them and then went on to make the argument you wanted to make. Veronica, Will, Alex (WWP), Rory, Lindsay, Kat, and Liz Lemon are protagonists, and same for most of the characters Kristen Stewart plays. Maeby, Claire, Becca, and Darby aren’t ancillary to any “peppy, pretty protagonists,” unless you’re referring to their parents/brothers. Yes, April from Parks and Recreation is secondary to Leslie Knope, her boss. Yes, Alex on Modern Family does have a popular sister, but they have equal roles within the ensemble. I get that you miss Daria — I do too, and I’m not saying that she has an exact equivalent in today’s pop culture, and I wish there were more female protagonists, but your argument is flawed.

By: Thessaly La Force

Thessaly La Force — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:52:37 +0000

Thank you for the correction. My bad.

By: duh

duh — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:50:26 +0000

it’s six FEET under