Is there anyone here that actually doesn't identify with 'Daria'?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Daria
FrederickWit — 12 years ago(July 16, 2013 08:49 PM)
I notice that most of the people that like "Daria" always claim to be "just like Daria". And well, I was wondering if anyone actually liked the show but didn't identify with her.
For example, I do feel like I was a little like Daria but not so much. I was very quiet in high school, so I always just watched what everyone did. I too was mostly disturbed about how ridiculous people acted around me. However, I was not intellectual like Daria in fact, I didn't read much back then and I was actually very shy (Daria isn't really shy). Also, I wasn't awkward in my first relationship or anything, in fact, my girlfriend was the one who was more like Daria, hahaha. I guess I feel more like a mix of Tom, Jodie and maybe a little of Upchuck.
So, does anyone feel the same? Or are you all "Darias"?
"How come even in my fantasies everyone's a jerk?" -
peccadillo — 12 years ago(July 27, 2013 06:26 PM)
I like Daria as a character, and I do think she's easy to idolize (being so detached, it's like she's achieved a higher level of existence), but I could definitely never be her and wasn't really like her. I'm a really passionate person. I get tired of people, especially drama, but on the flip side I'm fun-loving and nostalgic.
It would be extremely difficult if not impossible to go through life with very little enthusiasm for anything and still be happy. On the surface Daria's a believable character, but when you get down to it I think she's unrealistic. She's what a lot of people would like to have been, not what the vast majority actually were. -
theknucklejoe — 12 years ago(July 28, 2013 07:53 AM)
I don't really see a lot of myself in Daria. I am not so cynical about people and life. I enjoyed the show's criticisms of teenage politics and stereotypes, as well as the societal norms and expectations from the time, as I was going through middle school and then high school during the show's run and felt like an outcast during middle school especially (high school was actually much better for me. A happy time. For the most part.) I liked Daria and Jane a lot, and I suppose I identified with and was influenced by her on some levels. However, my favorite character was always Trent. My big brother was always in bands, and I wanted to be in a band too. Bonus points that it was an alternative rock band and not like a metal band or something (though if it were a PUNK band) Regardless of whether or not it had any grounds in real life, I probably identified with Trent more.
Several times throughout my life I've wondered what Daria would think of me, and I don't always think it would be pleasant to know, heh I mean, I'm not a horrible person by any means, but she seemed to know how to pick out the worst character traits in a person. Maybe it was because they were all cartoon characters and the bad character traits were way emphasized, but still.
Cynicism is easy. -
sakura_droplet — 12 years ago(July 30, 2013 04:34 PM)
I wouldn't say I particularly identify with Daria, in terms of my own personality, although I do agree with a lot of her general viewpoints on things. I'm not sure which character(s) I'd say I'm similar too, to be honest
"Twitter is stupid. Instagram is just Twitter for people who can't read."Max
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TheWiseWolf — 12 years ago(March 21, 2014 12:43 PM)
I was very similar to Daria during my school days. I'd left school by the time it aired, but my old school friends found the similarity hilarious and started calling me Daria. I was very cynical and sarcastic, something of a loner, enjoyed reading, and so on, but I suffered from actual clinical depression, unlike Daria. She was more disinterested than depressed, and at the end of the day was actually pretty happy with her lot - I despaired at having no-one who was like me or understood me (I never had a Jane, sadly).
I do find it amusing to think of all the real-life Brittanys and Quinns watching it and identifying with Daria rather than their own cartoon counterparts. No-one wants to think they're stupid or shallow, even when they are. It's rather like all the people who rushed out and bought the Offspring's 'Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)' as soon as it became popular, never realizing they were the very people it was mocking. -
Illyngophobia — 11 years ago(May 26, 2014 08:54 PM)
Looking at things now, while I do see some traits of Daria in myself (the typical teenage cynicism and smartass attitude with survival along with her issues with her family that hit very close to home for me with the finale); I see more of myself in Jane, Trent, and hell Stacy or even Kevin of all people.
Like you, I was quiet in high school. I did have my little circle of outsiders that I mingled with; but I was the more silent one of the bunch. Reserved, I often had a wall up around mebut I don't recall having moments where I can come off as cold like Daria did. I did have some wit to my persona, but not like Daria. Along with that, Daria never seemed to have too many problems interacting with her peers. Sure, she's differentbut it never came off as it did with me feeling like I never belonged at school or that I was in an unsafe environment for the reasons that made me different from my peers.
"I'll go,because I am Cinema!" - Ben (Man Bites Dog) -
lowegoes — 11 years ago(May 30, 2014 05:30 AM)
My brother watched Daria with me when it aired on Paramount Comedy in the early 00s, and we both loved it. He's pretty much the polar opposite of her in terms of personality and just about everything else (despite the odd sarcasm), but he loved it (perhaps more for the other, more comical characters, I suppose). I was an outsider like Daria and had some similarities, but I definitely did not have her wit.
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reddragonhero17 — 11 years ago(July 05, 2014 02:34 PM)
I myself wouldn't identify with Daria (sorry fans). I can recall my high school years and they were not like what she experienced (although the students I faced with were either friendly and smart or narcissistic). Personally I found the very idea of some teenage girl treating almost everyone around her like garbage (including her family members) to be cataclysmically unfunny. Even worse, Glenn Eischer is using two ideals that, I'm sad to say, don't really go together: Solipsism and High School Caricature. The Caricature thing may have worked with sitcoms such as Saved by the Bell, but that was done with a sense of jovialness in the characters that emphasized each type. Here since that had gone out of fashion, the humor for me just banged and clanged so loudly. And the Solipsism worked better in the printed form with Lionel Essrog in Jonathan Lethem's
Motherless Brooklyn
and of course J.D. Salinger's
Catcher in the Rye
with Holden Caulfield's "phoniness" where he sees the world. On top of it all, the whole idea where students around Daria were of startling stupidity is just plain implausible that isn't funny. If they were really that dumb they would not of have made it to high school in the first place. The only positive I can give Daria is that she did point out some individuality and working out life's problems even though the former came with the nasty negative edge that I mentioned. overall, I'm glad that I lived without Daria. -
sitonpickle — 11 years ago(November 14, 2014 09:37 PM)
I do identify with Daria, but not nearly as much as I do with Jane. Jane's sort of a more simple and calm version of me. Daria's cynical attitude is the closest trait of her's to me. Her wit, intellectual and social avoidance is not me though. Don't get me wrong, I do often go through seasons and days in which I actively avoid contact with people, but not nearly as consistently or as harshly as Daria does.
"Forgetting a bad experience is not the same as learning from it" - Alan D.J -
bravelikethelion — 11 years ago(December 31, 2014 04:40 AM)
I both do and don't identify with Daria. On one hand, I was a loner in HS who read a lot and did pretty well in school. I didn't usually voice my opinions like Daria or try to antagonize people. I'd like to think I'm not such a black and white thinker like Daria was, though age helps with that :). I appreciated what Daria had to say about not fitting in with the masses and how she pointed out what was wrong with the world, but on the other hand I didn't mind when others called her out on being hypocritical or judgmental.
I also am a shy introvert, while I'd say Daria was an introvert who isn't shy at all. -
Brookiee124 — 11 years ago(March 13, 2015 12:00 PM)
In some ways I identify with Daria, but in some ways I don't.
I consider myself a realist like Daria, I love art and reading, I am quiet but not shy in the sense that I like talking about things of substance, grew up in a similar upper middle class suburb with busy parents, I have one best friend and everyone else is an acquaintance, and my sister is my exact opposite.
However, I played sports, I was involved in high school and did yearbook and other things, I got along with most everyone, I enjoy keeping up with fashion, I like doing my makeup and hair, and I'll admit I do enjoy superficial things like Quinn did. -
MovieGem — 10 years ago(October 08, 2015 10:31 AM)
I identify with Daria in the sense that I hate when people blindly go along with ridiculous thing just because its popular. I was very shy in H.S, I'm very introverted now and I'm still not as quick to express my opinion and not nearly as clear and articulately as Daria did.
I was more like Jane or Jodie, personality wise when I did interact.