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Post by drunkneildiamond on Dec 3, 2013 16:28:16 GMT -5
I really like this episode, but I’m not sure if I have much to say about it. For one, I’m not sure about production order, but it feels like it was produced pretty early on—the voicework, in particular, feels flatter in this episode than in the previous. That said, it was still enjoyable. Daria has to learn to navigate the bureaucracy of high school, and her parents’ desire to succeed while remaining true to her own morals and ethics. Mr. O’Neill, well-meaning, but perhaps too idealistic and naïve, ropes Daria into getting involved with the Lawndale Cyber Café reopening. Mr. O’Neill talks about the loss of the café as a loss of community, and while Daria doesn’t buy it, I don’t think he’s entirely wrong. Right around the time of the original airing, I was going online and finding people who were fans of the same stuff I was (MST3K, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.). Daria does seem to represent a more old-fashioned outlook (ie, put a Mr. Coffee in the computer lab and let the cafes and coffee shops remain the same). That said, she doesn’t really want to get involved, but with pressure from her mom, she’s in. Daria coerces Jane into candy-selling with her, telling Jane, “well, then do it for the opportunity to look inside people’s houses and find out what screwed up taste they have.” So they go, selling candy, while Britney and Kevin are left to deal with the likes of Mr. DeMartino and Quinn suckers men into buying phone cards they really don’t need. Jane and especially Daria are forced to defend themselves after refusing to sell candy to a terribly ill Mrs. Johansen. Ms. Li would rather the girls take the money from Mrs. Johansen than not take it out of concern out of the lady’s health. Ms. Li seems to represent the problem of high schools selling out (particularly to soda companies) in exchange for needed funding. Daria stands by her principles, while Quinn inadvertently saves the day with a load of cash. Notes • I would definitely read a Melody Powers short story or book. • I would also read “The Bleakness that Lies Ahead.” • Mr. O’Neill putting his face in his hands while listening to Daria’s story made me laugh ridiculously hard. • Song list: web.archive.org/web/20120306045652/http://www.outpost-daria.com/song_list_1.html#ep104 |
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Post by NewHereAgainoZach on Dec 3, 2013 17:53:02 GMT -5
I'LL TAKE ALL OF IT!
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Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Dec 3, 2013 18:52:06 GMT -5
I completely cracked up over the Ms. Johnson sequence. The obvious stupidity of the capital improvement (bulletproof skylights) was also pretty great.
The whole internet-vs-meatspace discussion was pretty interesting a couple decades on—I don’t recall cyber cafés like the one in the episode—the ones I’ve been to here in Europe and in East Asia were computers only, no coffee. Laptops didn’t have enough market penetration for them to really dominate coffee shops yet and I’m not sure when wifi really became a thing.
That said, when I was Daria’s age (roughly eight years later) internet socializing was much more normalized, but I wasn’t really doing much of it. I had a friends (one good friend in particular, who—when we take into account that I’m a sardonic brain and he’s a similarly-minded artsy type—was a bit like gender-switched Jane) with similar interests and we hung out in meatspace. I remember having fairly luddite thoughts about texting, which is something I do all the time now.
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Dec 3, 2013 21:54:25 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure this is the first episode with Andrea, the goth girl, in it. I felt like one of the reasons the series never used her much is because she's presumably too like Jane and Daria - those two against the rest of High School is an easier contrast when paired with the Fashion Club, than with someone equally as cynical, basically.
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Post by NewHereAgainoZach on Dec 3, 2013 22:01:28 GMT -5
I should take an opportunity to praise the work that went into creating Ms. Li. She was so delightfully... Mercenary.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2013 8:57:48 GMT -5
I think of all the relationships on this show, the one between Daria and her mother is probably my favorite (okay, next to Daria and Jane). The personality conflict as manifested by variations on "Daria, give a crap"/"why" never fails to amuse me.
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Post by NewHereAgainoZach on Dec 4, 2013 9:35:26 GMT -5
There's one company I have to order from every now and again, whose voicemail service I swear was recorded by the same artist that played Daria's mom.
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Morgendorffer
Shoutbox Elitist 
In the end I was the mean girl or somebody's in-between girl
Posts: 55 
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Post by Morgendorffer on Dec 12, 2013 19:19:20 GMT -5
Adios, Tonio.
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