How Daria was the Most Accurate Depiction of High School in Television History
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- čas přidán 17. 01. 2022
- Daria was released in 1997 as a spin-off to Beavis and Butthead and to bump up the female demographic for MTV. Unexpectedly the show turned out to be the voice to a generation of high schoolers.
20 Years removed from the airing of the final episode “Is It College Yet?” the show still has a strong loyal fanbase. Most impressively is how realistic the show and still remains one of the most accurate depictions of high school ever put on TV.
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The beauty of the show is that it is sarcastic in an interesting way, but yet the show is nowhere near having a nihilist tone...there is actually some positivity to it and promotes getting along with others
Exactly, Daria did have potential to be a great teacher. The one thing that people didn't get about Daria is just that and she was super misunderstood. She's not perfect, but one thing I always noticed about her is that she was willing to be more open to people who were not as dismissive of her because of her demeanor. Just look at her relationship with Jane, Trent, Jodie, Tom, or even Ted (especially Ted). This show aged so well, too. I really loved this video analysis.
Fun fact: Is It College Yet came out on my birthday. It makes it all the more special to me, really, especially what goes on in the movie.
Thank you so much for the kind words and your response as well!
I love is it college yet as well though it didn't come out on my birthday I taped it off TV and watched it regularly whenever I was nervous about college.
Yep,also the show doesnot shy away from darias own immaturity. Because she is a teenager too.
And some of the extragation comes from her own perspectice that breaks in moments. I think daria mastered the edgy unreliable teenager thats very human likable, yet cool. Yet very real.
I never met someone who likes Daria as much as I do. You have no idea how much I appreciate this video. I am your newest subscriber.
Thanks so much Liliana! I hope you enjoy some of our other videos from other contributors :) I will definitely be back soon enough with more passionate 90's nostalgia and Daria content this year though :D
Ditto.
dit
me too
Daria's parents are the best..the dad is hilarious...if you think about it, Daria has really good loving parents
Yup as a poorer kind of Eastern European Daria was my first introduction to upper middle class struggle for identity. Daria's parents are great and everyone in Daria is spoiled and coddled xD
@@peggysue1725 Mike Judge likes hiding messages of warnings about either lifestyles or fandoms taking it to far
I used to hate the character when she was in Beavis and Butt Head but Daria as soon as she got her own show I would say her character went from a 2 to 3 words punchline delivery system to actually having growth as a character
Jake is like Hal from Malcolm in The Middle if he'd been successful in the corporate world.
Yeah, they weren’t perfect, but they cared about their kids and did their best. Plus they were always on the girls side when it counted. I put them and Joyce from Buddy together like that.
She does, but Helen really biffed it giving birth to a second child
I always thought that Daria and Jane were popularity indifferent- they existed in a line parallel to the popularity line and were fine with that.
I was in my 30s when Daria began. I liked it. The show was shockingly well written for an MTV product. It showed surprising depth.
Daria ended few years before I was born. And it's still somewhat relatable. This show is simply timeless, issues that are relevant till this day can be seen in the show. I just hate how Daria and Jane had to fight over a guy. But then again they are teenagers and this is something inevitable, reminding us that they are still growing and learning.
That's a valid complaint although you could argue it was necessarily a fight over a guy as much as Daria overstepping a boundaries. I'd say most of their arguments are over guys but more because they hold each other to higher standards (at least Daria with Jane's loser boyfriends); but with Tom it was such a messy but realistic situation.
Either way YEP truly timeless show! Thanks for watching :)
I always found Daria funny and relatable. I love her and her show, so it’s nice to see someone else enjoy it as well. Unlike most people I see, who hate it or dislike it for almost no reason.
Great video. I don't think I noticed the bit about the ink blot test response when I watched Daria. Or at least I didn't grasp the full significance of it.
I would add to your comment about “Dye, Dye, My Darling”, that the episode “Fire!” Was probably the most tense episode of Daria & Jane’s friendship. When Daria has to be in closer proximity to Tom, it really set Jane off. Even Trent had to chime in where he was usually pretty oblivious about what was going on.
My other “dramatic favorites” were the episode where Helen had to bring the whole family to that retreat where they were all put through the wringer psychologically. As well as the final 1/2 hour episode, “Boxing Daria”. It was a jarring look at Daria and her childhood, and how it affected Jake and Helen.
It also showed a lot of Daria’s ease of independence, because she proves that even though she appreciates her family (even Quinn), she knows how to build her extended family and support system.
The “where-are-they-now” images during the credits of “Is It College Yet?” are some of the best! Daria and Jane as morning talk show hosts, Andrea as a swimsuit model, Trent in politics, and Tom in his old age in a retirement home.
Don't forget Stacey as a NASCAR driver! :-)
I introduced Daria to my daughter years ago and didn't care for it. Now that she's almost 13 I find her watching Daria almost every day.
We don't talk enough about this amazing show. I appreciated this video so much. It reminded me how much I loved Daria and how curious I am to see what a live-action movie would look like.
I really think they could do a live-action movie pretty well as long as they don't TRY to make it look like a cartoon and keep it in the 90s as a period piece
This was a great and rewarding watch, more Daria content pls
Definitely have a few ideas for the future!
I just finished watching Daria for the first time. Had no idea it existed until finishing watching Beavis and Butthead. And I noticed a show called Daria. Beautiful show, amazing characters, and as a senior in high school, I could relate to a lot. It’s hard to find shows that capture genuine emotions. And thanks for this high quality video, keep it up!
Thanks so much! I love knowing that it still hits for high school seniors today as well as it did for me in the late 90s :)
Fun and crazy fact- did you know wendy hoopes voiced 3 main character voices that sound nothing alike- Jane, Quinn, and Daria and Quinn's mother!?
Yeah when I learned that it blew my mind!
@@GeekscapeTV yeah it blew my mind too! Thats why i had to comment on that. Those voices are so unique.
Why did I get so choked up?! I was obsessed Daria growing up, I even bought the home burned dvds on eBay back in the day, I still have them 😂
i just finished binging the show and i completely forgot the pizza line at the end which triggered a realization of how much pizza daria and jane eat throughout the show. like who can eat that much pizza in a week? and almost every week? their connection is so deep, even in the food department with both being able to eat tons of pizza like its nothing. i think i know maybe 1 person who would enjoy having pizza weekly. im good with once a month. such an amazing underrated show
I'm old AF, in my 40s when I first saw Daria. Loved the show and even wrote Daria fan fic!
Never got into the show, but it sounds cool
A great honest and personal video essay. Guess I'm watching all the Daria episodes now.
I look forward to your thoughts!
Oh, the Jodie spin-off! You can tell what it actually is about: Viacom has been thinking about making a show for african-american audiences and they found that Jodie was a character that plenty of Black girls liked because she did not fall in the Mammie, the Jezebel or the Sapphire tropes, and further more, she acknowledges her tokenisation, so they picked her, also for the 90's nostalgia factor. With the recent update that the cast has been comfirmed, and Brittany and Mack are back, it feels unfortunate that they had to turn it into a movie rather than a show, but maybe that way it can be more successful than as a series. We will have to see how it turns out.
Even more, she even says that she knows she is acting good, partlybecause she is black. I mean her hinting she has to because it.
@@marocat4749 not just "good" but always perfect in every score, for the sake of pleasing her highly competitive parents' expectations. It really resounded with many black girls seeing how they had to do double the effort to get just half the recognition and success that a white guy could more easily get.
This is why (being a white person, Ik) I think Tolken Black from Southpark is actually one of the best protrails of a Black character on tv of all time. He talks just like everyone else on the show, his parents are well to do, his problems never stem from his skin color, and he likes nerdy shit like Warhammer 40k, DnD, and MTG. So often Black characters, especially animated ones, make being Black part of their personality. Not like their systematic struggles, but like the stereotypical nonsense White Americans invented about them. Jodie and Tolken don't do that. They're people first and Black people as an afterthought.
Thanks for these details.. even year later.
I started watching Daria through reruns as a teenager. Even though the show is old, I loved it because it was funny and relatable. i loved that the humor didn't try too hard to be funny and that the characters felt like real people. I especially related to Daria due to her being somewhat neurodiverse coded. As someone who's neurodiverse, I could heavily relate to Daria and her social struggles. I also love the fact that Daria's neurodiversity wasn't portrayed in an over-the-top way.
This is a really great point as well!
Two episodes I think deserve an honorble mention are Through a Lens Darkly and my personal favorite Arts n' Crass.
I love this show, it has nuance without being boring, its genuinely interesting in stories even as a kid watching
This show really went out its way not to show the popular kids as bullies and preps, and that mirrors my experience in high school: as somewhat of a Daria, the popular kids were popular because they were friendly, nice people, even if they weren't the smartest or most aware of their privileges. The school bullies were usually part of a different clique.
I have to agree with you in many respects about this series. I've always felt it was the only series that accurately depicted high school in the late 90s. I graduated in 1998 and I was one of the background kids like many of the characters in Daria. I also love how it shows she's different from the crowd, but that doesn't mean she's miserable. Great series.
A truly underrated series. It had outstanding writing which sadly is a rarity these days.
You were real for adding freaks and geeks as a true highschool depiction
Of course Quinn was smart: 1. Look at her family, especially Daria, 2. Look at how easily she maneuvers around her friends, 3. Look at how she is able to coordinate her social life. 4. She is smart enough to bamboozle her parents into letting her coast through school and get out of restrictions on her social life by playing dumb.😊
This is the BEST break down of the Daria series that I have ever seen; you nailed it! I started watching the series in real time when I was 25 and I loved the brutal honesty of the main character and her, couldn't care less attitude, about trivial teenage concerns. I never connected the, herd of wild ponies, reference in the Esteemers episode, with the Boxing Daria episode, until you pointed it out! The character of Daria was possibly on the spectrum and never truly diagnosed, but many people on the spectrum are very intelligent and focused; just socially awkward. In 2023, I still watch this animated series because of the excellent writing and I am also pretty quirky. Job very well done!
I was in high school from 1980-84, so the 90s angst and alternative stuff wasn't quite around yet. I was still an outcast because I was a KISS fan and a disabled kid, but I had friends and got along with most of the teachers and staff, but I was relieved to get out.
I like Daria because she's an anomaly, like I was. I was a relatively smart kid who got picked on for being disabled and reading too much, and not in PE, and not with the stoner kids. But like her, I was just me, and that made me hsppy. So, to me, the show is about self identity in spite of peer pressure and class pressure. Daria actively teaches herself about life. That's the biggest value of the show for me.
Please make a video about Jake's arc. It all begins when he watches those videos from his childhood. "Jake Jake quiver and quake, it's all coming back to me now!"
He recalls his childhood trauma that he'd forgotten about, and unravels because of it.
The episode where they do psychotherapy as a family is particularly telling.
There are so many layers to analyze with this show!
I'm rewatching this, since this is a pure love letter for one of my favorite shows of all time. Thank you!
Thanks!!!
I'd love to see a Jodie themed video - this was fascinating
Definitely gonna start working on this concept when we have a release date for the spin off :)
honestly, i forgot about this show for the longest time. one of my favorite mtv cartoons
I love Daria, it’s one of my all time favorite TV shows. I know I wasn’t the target demographic and I was definitely too young to watch it when it aired. But that show meant so much to me. I am very similar to Daria in a lot of ways. Also having Jodie as a character that was centered a lot was honestly amazing because I had never seen a black girl with locs on TV before.
The entire series along with the movie encapsulates everything that is completely relevant today. I wish for Gen Z to discover this great gem and binge watch it. Hope it stays relavent that trancends generations to come.
It's my favorite show, even after all these years.
I'm 25, and even though that I only watched a couple of episodes of Daria, I'm very interested in watching the rest of the show. Because I can really relate to Daria as a reclusive pessimistic and nihilistic adult, then as a stoic Ayn Randian liberal semi - extroverted teenager who once believed that the world was easy to handle, as everybody told me it was.
Definitely check it out! It is an amazing show!!!
Yes, I'd like to see a Jodie centric feature like the one you made for Daria.
Watching this, I have never made that connection to the first and last episode. I gotta do a whole rewatch of the series
Dude when I did the rewatch a few years ago and caught that it blew my mind.
It's wonderful to know that someone else sees how wonderful this series is.
It was beautifully written and had fantastic voice acting.
Wendy Hoopes was absolutely amazing providing the voices of Jane, Helen, and Quinn.
She should have received an award for her work on Daria.
I really hope MTV will bring everyone back for a full-length movie.
Yes yes yes to a live Daria reboot!!! I was screaming this at my CZcams when that fake trailer came out.
It would work so well!
People called me “Daria” in high school. Thing is, I saw it as a compliment whereas they meant it as an insult. 😅 turns out, I have autism. I was also told to take pre-first grade because I was “socializing” the same. I’m glad my parents fought that. To keep a kid back just because they aren’t popular is ableist BS. Maybe they should have tried to fix bias against me instead. People like to blame the person with the disability instead of the society that holds them down. I was picked on more in middle school and junior high. I also got called ugly and weird behind my back in high school, but rarely to my face. People generally left me alone, but then again, I made myself as invites possible (so I thought).
But I also loved Freaks and Geeks and My So Called Life. Those were the shows for us outcasts. It was more realistic than the corny popular kid shows. But they also showed some humanity in the popular kids. The main characters, however, were outcasts which was awesome and unheard of.
Daria is not asexual. Not having sex doesn’t make one asexual 😅 . In fact, I’d argue that Quinn is asexual.
Same, i was held back in third grade because i didnt socialize well even though i was academically fine. Why did they let so many of us slip through the cracks? I didn't realize i was on the spectrum until my 30s! So many years wasted of failing to be the person i thought was supposed to be until i finally understood my Identity. High school sucked, i ddnt have any real friends and i only felt like i belonged during this 6 week summer program called Upward Bound.
@@JDMimeTHEFIRSTTrue, some of us just clueless, unlucky and awkward as hell.
Daria came out at the perfect time for me. I graduated in 03. It is the best animated show of all time in my personal opinion.
This was one of the few shows were I felt seen. It's crazy how much I loved this show and related.
I just Finnished watching it for the first time
When dead clowns can't clown, we'll still be freakin' friends.
I got to meet Splendora at Riot Fest a couple of years back. I told them them that their "La La La" is the soundtrack of my life.
Well spoken, well put together - heartfelt greetings from the German version of you
30s are not better than 20s or highschool, you are damn right
I still argue that _My So-Called Life_ is the most accurate, albeit with some period anchoring to age it somewhat poorly. But it captured the existential despair that adolescents go through because they have no perspective to ground them; no matter how ephemeral the emotions might be, they are accurate. I'd also argue that the most realistic movie about Gen X teens is Larry Clark's KIDS. Even if your adolescence didn't have the sex, drugs, and violence of that film, the minutiae of it is astounding.
Jody may be the spinoff we want, but Andrea is the spinoff we deserve. 😂
This video was SO GOOD. Please more Daria content!!! 😁
Thanks so much :)
This was an AWESOME video! Found it on Reddit and very happy I did. I absolutely LOVE Daria and it's by far one of my favorite series ever. Really good breakdown of the series and explaining why it's a lot more realistic than I would have ever thought. I've seen the whole series multiple times, but always love comjng back to it. Subscribed and REALLY looking forward to your top 10 episode.
Thanks so much!!
Thank you. Brilliantly reviewed.
I’m on my fourth watch of the entire series, each time noticing more nuances and humours unnoticed before. This really is a stellar show which demands the viewers attention.
Daria is one of my favorite shows, She was a comfort for me when I was a teenager. Thank you for this :) New suscriber!
Thank you so much! It was a huge comfort to me as well growing up :)
This is a really well said, and beautiful video. Thank you, man.
You got a new fan.
Hey man, cool video. Just finished watching all 5 series. Loved it when it first aired on terrestrial telly in the uk.
I loved the end credits on is it college yet, showing the future careers of the characters. My favourite was Stacey as a NASCAR driver. Go Stacey!
One of my favourite quotes from Daria. When asked about her goals she replies, "it is my goal not to wake up at forty with the bitter realisation that ive wasted my life in a job i hate because i was forced to decide on a career in my teens."
Awesome show.
Yup. This was my family. But I was a Quinn in the streets, and Daria in the sheets. Oh yeah..😂
Fantastic video! I just re-watched Daria from beginning to end last summer and listening to your video was kind of like reliving that experience with someone else. I really enjoyed it. And yes, would love to see a follow up video on Jody!❤
We have started the process of planning a Jody video! Stay tuned :)
Velma is trying so hard to recreate Daria😂
Just no
You nailed it, I was in High School when it came out and it felt so real, I was a B&B fan for years and didn’t expect to love it. Daria was my spirit animal.
When I heard there was going to do a possible sequel to Daria with her in the work force, I was at least interested. Then I heard they were going to make Daria and Jodie the focus instead of Daria and Jane. Then more news was released that the show would be completely focused on Jodie, which made me kind of chuckle. I liked Jodie in the series because she was like the anti-Daria, as she was just as smart and would call Daria out when she was in the wrong. She was also willing to compromise and use the system to her favor at times while Daria would fight against that system even if it would benefit her not to.
However the fact that the series became more and more about Jodie as development went on made me kind of laugh as Jodie would complain multiple times in the series about how as a minority, she was put on a pedestal when she just wanted to feel normal. It was the main reason she wanted to go to a historic black collage instead of the one her dad wanted her to go to. I would still love to watch the series, but I can't completely ignore the irony.
I really liked this analysis of one of my all time favorite shows! I really enjoyed the deep dive about the more serious show moments; I also connected with the same moments that you mentioned in the video. If you would do any other Daria analysis videos, like Jodi centric episodes, or any of the other characters, I would definitely be interested in seeing that!
Thanks! I'm working on a concept but I'm still not 100% on it
I loved the first few seasons. I'm definitely in the camp who disliked the shift in direction the series took after Tom Sloan was introduced.
Love Daria, love Jodie, love them all…I’d love to see more content on Jodie☺️
from standing on my neck to you can step on my neck lol
"The truth and a lie are not sorta the same thing"
Me in 2023: Well...this is still relevant...
Somehow Static Shock can compete in this category; it may be #2 next to Daria, but it's another HS show that covers a lot of topics that are even more relevant today than when it was released
what I liked about the show is just how the stories forced Daria to grow TF up and I can relate
Love this so much!!❤
This is a great video, and I’d definitely love to see a top ten list from you dude. 😉👍
Hmmmmm I may be able to do that before this year is over!!!
i was 12 when Daria debuted, but i absolutely saw myself in Daria.
i was so grateful for that show and it still holds up today.
Having been a teen in the '90s, I connected with this show.
10:34 That guy looks like that one guy on that one episode of 'The Simpsons' who Homer drove insane. Can't remember his name, but I think he might have been at least partially based on Bill "D-FENS" Foster from Falling Down. Also, that tutor guy's shirt has the chest pocket on the right side instead of the usual left. When's the last time you ever saw a button-front shirt with a single chest pocket on the right side? That's the wearer's right, btw.
21:20 A lot of those Rorschach test images really do look like butterflies or moths. Either that or a pelvic bone.
22:27 Class of '98, represent!
25:10 Middle school also sucks. 'Young Sheldon' (Sheldon being the same age as Daria - and me) illustrates why skipping from elementary school to college is a terrible idea. That is, unless there's a college specifically for "young Teslas."
25:17 Gotta have something to take the edge off. For me, it was LAN parties.
27:16 When I was a forklift operator at a book bindery, I had a coworker who was the Jim to my Dwight. In some ways, he was more like Dwight because he was more assertive and aggressive like Dwight, whereas I have more of a laid-back laissez-faire (in the French Revolution sense of the term) attitude like Jim. But when it came to interests and demeanor, not necessarily attitude, he was the Jim and I was the Dwight. He was the Mac and I was the PC.
This was a really well done video, thank you. I would love to get a Jodie video.
I love Daria. I am glad to see that I am not the only one. I have probably seen the entire series over 10 times and it is still not enough. I still catch one-liners I never thought about before or small subtleties in the jokes. I am really excited for the Jodie spin off but Id also like to see Daria and what happened to her in college and beyond. What did she major in? How did she try to navigate the career ladder? What about her personal and family life?
Of the entire run of the series, I hated that love triangle with Tom.
As a viewer the love triangle was stressful but from the stance of actually making a cartoon serialized it's pretty impressive!
@@GeekscapeTV I think that part is what irritated me. Daria and Jane's friendship to me seemed like they were the type of people who were above and beyond stereotypical drama that you see high school TV shows. Their friendship could have been strained for many other reasons, but the triangle thing felt a 90210 Kelly-Dylan-Brenda rehash.
Same here. I just didn't like the Tom character either
@@blaxican You are not alone. Series co-crrator and showrunner Glenn Eichler, in archived interviews, said that some fans strongly opposed the arc with Tom.
I love watching Daria back in the day..my friend and I still talk about it to this day..I also have my t-shirt on with her crew❤it’s a great show
I only recently became a fan of Daria and purchased the complete series on DVD. What I appreciate about this show (besides it being an accurate depiction of high school) is Daria's sarcasm and brutal honesty! I can relate to being brutally honest and the fact that high school sucks. Until I watched this show, I didn't realize that I could relate to a show with a female cartoon character. Also I love the writing in Daria and the character relationships. I think this show will continue to remain relevant in 2023 and beyond! Thanks you for the video dude!
Great, great video.
I would loooove to see a Jodie spinoff. She and Mack were very interesting characters that had very little screen time. I would love to see cameos from the rest of the cast and most importantly, that the essence of the characters is not missed or changed. I would love for it to remain true to the core of the show and the personality of each characters, otherwise, I don't think I could watch it. I love this show too much.
For me a really powerful moment was when Daria and Tom kiss and Daria looks for her mother, then she quits her job to help her daughter.
Hey Geekscape, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on the show! It’s one of my all time favorites.
I especially appreciate you telling me your story about what happened in 3rd grade that’s related to it. Right now, I’m 28 and despite the fact that I have a college degree and a driver’s license, because I have social anxiety disorder, it’s tough for me to find jobs that don’t equal me being shoved in the closet so to speak despite evidence of me being outgoing and treating everyone around me like family. As such, if ever I try to move up, I usually get shot down for something stupid like learning foreign languages during my downtime, which decreases my chances of moving out of my family’s home.
As far as the Jodie arc goes, please do! I would love to hear your analysis on it.
Otherwise, hey, I’m all for a live action “Daria” show. I don’t see why it can’t be possible.
More “Daria”, please!
You nail this. I'm a straight white male and, for such reasons, never felt inclined to watch Daria during its original run, but ran into enough good clips on CZcams many years later to prompt me to binge watch it, and its gold for all the reasons you say.
Would be super down for more Daria content!
great video
Love this show and loved this video ❤
daria is the best show ever made
thanks for this. i felt it with you
hey just found you. love the content. so much!
One of the best shows in t.v. history🥰
I wholeheartedly agree!
Really good job! 👍 It won't stay at 3.4k for you. Your channel is really cool 👌 💜
Very much appreciated! Working on another video hopefully in August after the comic con craziness we got coming up in 2 weeks :)
Really great video!
I've binged through the show a few times, but somehow the detail about the ink blot test in the last episode referencing the pilot completely slipped by me. I'd certainly enjoy seeing you talk more about the show/Jodie episodes if you haven't already.
I did not watch Daria when it first aired. Not sure how it came to my attention but I was in my 40s watching it for the first time. I really related to Daria using sarcastic humor as a defense to throw others off balance in uncomfortable situations.
Daria was on when I was in high school. I loved the show because it was my life. I was just like Daria, my little sister was Quinn and I had a friend just like Jane.
God do I wish they would bring Daria back! I grew up with it and I adore her and the show! It made me feel like I wasn’t alone then. ❤
Still in my 30's it makes me feel like I'm not alone
@@GeekscapeTV ditto on that! And so am I 😂. But at least we have a good sense of humor and healthy dose of sarcasm 😆
How about "as told by ginger" you did a good job on this one. Look forward to going through your videos.
freaks and geeks it’s probably the best and most realistic high school tv show i’ve ever watched that wasn’t animated
Dude at @5:10 i never thought about that. it's a common protagonist trait to be bottom of the totem pole, a subdefective, sit in a bathroom at lunch level of unpopular. Daria isnt put into her social hierarchy by other kids- she hovers there because of her actions. that is a really cool point.
I watched this show as a 27 year old, from its debut. I loved it from the start.