Further analysis of the Lane clan [Spoiler alert]

evil spoilers! evil! evil!

p s y c h i c

r e f u g e e

p s y c h i c

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and thus we enter the spoiler zone!

After the second or so viewing of Lane Miserables, I've decided to turn back to "The Daria Diaries" to read up on those postcards that the Lane family sent each other to see if the storyline was consistent with the book.

Now is it just me, or are Adrian and Courtney rather too young to be galivanting across the country? Well, perhaps that's because of their rather inept mother, but from the postcards, it looks like those two have become as adventurous as the rest of their family. From one of the postcards, they wrote that they were "careful out among the English" and it was an Amish country postcard. Unless Lawndale is especially close to Amish country, this sounds like a rather remote place for those kids to be. Yet another postcard by them stated that they've got "jobs chipping off pieces for the souvenier shop." Doesn't that constitute child labor? I could've sworn that the kids they showed on "Lane Miserables" were below 12 at most.

I figure when "The Daria Diaries" was written, Adrian and Courtney were made out to be teenagers by the writers, thus making it much easier for them to travel and get jobs. Then later on, the writers changed their minds.

Of course, it is entirely possible that the kids could've went to Amish country and gotten jobs at a souvenier shop at the "Petrified Forest," I just find it highly implausible. But well, that's just me.

Yet another overly obsessed fan, Nicole Lee known as LadyKender on IRC and ICQ.

On Sun, 18 Jul 1999 16:25:00 GMT, [email] (Nicole Lee) wrote:

Yes, that's sort of the idea. Summer herself is apparently 30 at most, so how old *could* they be?. I'd always gotten the distinct impression that they were younger than Jane by a substantial amount, from they way she spoke of them.

I always assumed that the whole point of those characters was that they were pre-teens. I think it was even stated at one point that one of them was only 8 (I don't think it was one of the ones that were in LM, tho', as there are only two of the four present - at least I only saw two in that little part I caught).

Look at the bit about the job again. It sounds like child labor because it *is* : it's the kind of under-the-counter work that a little kid can talk some ethically-challenged adult into paying them for, like collecting seashells. Similarly, In one of my stories, I have Courtney show up as a bicycle messenger in SF, a business which is imfamous for illegal hiring practices.

Keep in mind, even if they were older, they couldn't get a legitimate job without the police finding out where they were and dragging them home. Besides, with four of them, at least two would have to be under 16 (unless there was a pair of twins, which doesn't seem to be the case). If any of them were 18 or older, those ones would be independent, and no longer considered runaways.

The point is that they are better at taking care of themselve than Summer is, and that even at that age they refuse to stay put. That's the *joke*, you see, and their age is the punchline.