Season 1, Episode 1, "Esteemsters"
Nov 11, 2013 12:23:57 GMT -5
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Post by drunkneildiamond on Nov 11, 2013 12:23:57 GMT -5
Daria
Season 1, Episode 1
Esteemsters
Well-meaning, but kind of stupid seems to sum up the adults in Daria’s world. They’re intelligent, but they see what they think they should be seeing instead of what’s actually in front of them. This is most notable in the school counselor’s office, where Mrs. Manson (according to IMDB) praises Quinn for creating a scenario that indicates Quinn’s self-worth is dependent on attention from men. She fails to follow up on that, but instead sees Daria’s refusal to engage as an example of low self-esteem, but as Daria herself says, “I don’t have low self-esteem, I have low esteem for everyone else.”
The pattern established with Mrs. Manson continues with the rest of the episode: Helen thinks an idea of bonding time with her daughter is suit shopping, Mr. O’Neill thinks Jane and Daria are sincere when they’re clearly not, Mr. DeMartino thinks that Daria is either a slacker or a show off. I think this shows how isolated Daria feels in this world. She’s too smart to really connect with other students, but the adults see her as just another teenager, a teenager who can be molded into the person they want her to be, rather than the person she is (or the person she wants to be).
Still, that self-esteem course led Daria to meet Jane. Jane is enough like Daria (perceptive, sarcastic) that it’s believable that they would be friends, but there are already differences in how they approach life: Daria doesn’t have much patience for the self-esteem class, seeing it as pointless bullshit, but Jane enjoys the “freakshow” aspects and that it’s better than doing something else. I don’t want to say anything more, as I don’t want to accidentally spoil first time watchers, but I think the evolution of Jane and Daria’s friendship is fascinating and we can get a good look at Daria (flaws and all) though that friendship.
The basic components of the show are there: home and school, Mr. DeMartino and Ms. Li, and Kevin and Brittany. Some of the characters are a bit flat, but for a first episode, but I think that’s to be expected in a first episode, and the development of some of them is something to keep track of during the course of the series.
While Daria had been established in Beavis and Butt-Head, “Esteemsters” gave viewers a chance to set her up in a different place (where, presumably, there’s no uranium in the drinking water) and develop independently. I can’t speak for anyone else, but as a teenage girl when “Daria” first aired, it was nice to see a main character on tv who was more interested in books than fashion and dating. That feeling of being surrounded by idiots? I could definitely relate to that (hell, I can still relate to that). I think a lot of shows depicted teenage girls as people who could be both smart and popular and Daria gave us a protagonist who was very intelligent, but not popular. Quinn makes friends instantly (literally), but for Daria it wasn’t so easy…at least until Jane appears.
Notes
• This is my first time doing something like this, so please be gentle! (yeah, I just read that…and I’m leaving it like it is, perverts.)
• Daria Outpost has a list of songs that were used in the original episode: outpostdaria.info/song_list_1.html#ep101
• I don’t want to take up all the quotes so I’ll just leave with this: “Well, my history teacher hates me because I know all the answers. But there are some interesting idiots in my class.”
Season 1, Episode 1
Esteemsters
Well-meaning, but kind of stupid seems to sum up the adults in Daria’s world. They’re intelligent, but they see what they think they should be seeing instead of what’s actually in front of them. This is most notable in the school counselor’s office, where Mrs. Manson (according to IMDB) praises Quinn for creating a scenario that indicates Quinn’s self-worth is dependent on attention from men. She fails to follow up on that, but instead sees Daria’s refusal to engage as an example of low self-esteem, but as Daria herself says, “I don’t have low self-esteem, I have low esteem for everyone else.”
The pattern established with Mrs. Manson continues with the rest of the episode: Helen thinks an idea of bonding time with her daughter is suit shopping, Mr. O’Neill thinks Jane and Daria are sincere when they’re clearly not, Mr. DeMartino thinks that Daria is either a slacker or a show off. I think this shows how isolated Daria feels in this world. She’s too smart to really connect with other students, but the adults see her as just another teenager, a teenager who can be molded into the person they want her to be, rather than the person she is (or the person she wants to be).
Still, that self-esteem course led Daria to meet Jane. Jane is enough like Daria (perceptive, sarcastic) that it’s believable that they would be friends, but there are already differences in how they approach life: Daria doesn’t have much patience for the self-esteem class, seeing it as pointless bullshit, but Jane enjoys the “freakshow” aspects and that it’s better than doing something else. I don’t want to say anything more, as I don’t want to accidentally spoil first time watchers, but I think the evolution of Jane and Daria’s friendship is fascinating and we can get a good look at Daria (flaws and all) though that friendship.
The basic components of the show are there: home and school, Mr. DeMartino and Ms. Li, and Kevin and Brittany. Some of the characters are a bit flat, but for a first episode, but I think that’s to be expected in a first episode, and the development of some of them is something to keep track of during the course of the series.
While Daria had been established in Beavis and Butt-Head, “Esteemsters” gave viewers a chance to set her up in a different place (where, presumably, there’s no uranium in the drinking water) and develop independently. I can’t speak for anyone else, but as a teenage girl when “Daria” first aired, it was nice to see a main character on tv who was more interested in books than fashion and dating. That feeling of being surrounded by idiots? I could definitely relate to that (hell, I can still relate to that). I think a lot of shows depicted teenage girls as people who could be both smart and popular and Daria gave us a protagonist who was very intelligent, but not popular. Quinn makes friends instantly (literally), but for Daria it wasn’t so easy…at least until Jane appears.
Notes
• This is my first time doing something like this, so please be gentle! (yeah, I just read that…and I’m leaving it like it is, perverts.)
• Daria Outpost has a list of songs that were used in the original episode: outpostdaria.info/song_list_1.html#ep101
• I don’t want to take up all the quotes so I’ll just leave with this: “Well, my history teacher hates me because I know all the answers. But there are some interesting idiots in my class.”
