Daria is an animated TV sitcom that chronicles the adventures of Daria Morgendorffer, a cynical and sarcastic loner at Lawndale High School. Most episodes revolved mainly around how she dealt with the absurdities of life, her relationship with her family (lawyer mom Helen, business consultant father Jake, and ultra-popular younger sister Quinn), and her friendship with Jane Lane, a fellow outcast and an aspiring artist. - (Outpost Daria Reborn)
My history with Daria
I remember first watching Daria when I was around twelve to thirteen years old, currently experiencing middle school and all of the cynicism that comes with it and overall i felt quite ostracized from my peers. so of course, i saw clips from the show and thought "she's so me", and from there on out it has been a constant cycle of me wondering if i was actually like Daria to begin with and thats what ultimately drew me to the show, or did i just start watching the show and happened to adopt her characteristics because i thought she was cool. Regardless, we looked a bit alike, had a morbid sense of humor, and we were loner/bookish types, and so I immediately fell in love with her as well as the show. While at first i idolized her and Jane in a way that was completely antithetical to goal of the show, as I have gotten older and more mature, I have grown to see that at her core, she was navigating the world in a way that she thought was morally righteous, but that does not mean she is always right. And as someone who is similarly headstrong, the lesson of being true to yourself while also learning to admit to your mistakes when necessary is a lesson that I am still trying to internalize myself.
Either way, this show has shaped me into the person i am today and in many ways i live vicariously through the show, as for some reason i feel like i would have really thrived being a teenager in the late 90s (as i definitely did not thrive as a teenager in the late 2010s :/ ...) It has introduced me to some really great music, and has been a consistent form of bonding for me with strangers on the internet and for that I will always be grateful. But most importantly, was that it was a large reason as to why I got into the old web/web design. I remember being so desperate to find old content from the show, that I stumbled upon Outpost Daria, which further introduced me to the sense of community that had existed on the internet around a decade prior to when I began to use it.
I am always rewatching Daria and therefore I constantly have opinions/revelations regarding it. Especially when it comes to how we as the audience are supposed to interpret Daria's actions. As someone who grew up heavily relating to her, and in a way idolizing her, I now watch the show with a much more nuanced pov, and realize that while at first glance, the show seems to portray Daria as "holier than thou", its actually very critical of her at times in a way that I feel few give credit. She is an incredibly complex character within an overall very smart show, and seeing how her character, as witty as she is, is not perfect, and oftentimes cannot always stick to her very high morals is incredibly relatable. While she is constantly aware of the social pressures and hierarchies that come with being a teenager, she is not immune to giving in to them at times. She can be full of contradictions which is ultimately representative of young adulthood.
The Daria Restoration Project -
Since Daria was initially aired on MTV, that came with the benefit of being able to use contemporary music throughout each episode. When released on DVD, they could not possibly gain the rights to utilize all of the original music during the initial airings, so they ended up replacing it with generic stock music. However, dedicated fans took the time to add all thee original music back in for our enjoyment. This is absolutely the best way to watch the show, and I cannot overemphasize how much better it is to watch this way. Linked above is the torrent!
Daria: Is it Fall Yet? -
set between season 4 and 5, make sure you watch Dye Dye my Darling beforehand
Daria: Is it College Yet? -
The series finale film, set after Boxing Daria
Daria Diaries -
copy of the Daria Diaries book. Includes a lot of cool details and ultimately expands on the town of Lawndale and its inhibitants
Outpost Daria Reborn -
while the original fansite was taken down in 2013, this is not only a reupload of the last version, but also gets updated once in a blue moon. lots of really cool stuff on here :)
Also make sure to check out the band Wygalator! Which includes Janet Wygal, who was the lead singer of Splendora, who made the Daria theme as well as a few other songs for the show. I happened to contact her a while back and she is extremely nice :)
