Sandi's parents

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . SPOILERS FOR EPISODE #503 - FAT LIKE ME . . . . Among the season 1 and 2 episodes I've never seen are those that feature Sandi's parents, so I only know them from "The Daria Diary" and a few passing mentions of Linda Griffin from Helen.

Where WERE these two in "Fat Like Me"? Think about it.

Maybe they're so preoccupied with their own lives that they don't know about their daughter's position in the Fashion Club and what it means to her.

But surely they know that Sandi values two things in life: her slim figure and her stylish clothes.

So how is it that, even after having her cast off, she's still laying in bed, grossly overweight, wearing a muumuu, scarfing down chocolates? Only Quinn seemed to care, and even she required some prompting.

If this was your daughter, wouldn't you think she was having a major depressive episode that required treatment? Wouldn't you think she belonged back in school? Would you supply her with chocolate as she gets fatter and fatter?

M Man

MMan37 said:

depressive

I think that her parents totally don't give a damn about their kids. Note the extreme lack of manners and disciipline shown by Sandi's brothers in _every_ scene they've ever been in.

Sandi sees herself as being totally on her own and friendless in the world, which is why she was so honestly impressed by Quinn's display of friendship (to the point of embarassing Quinn). This may be the first time that anyone's actually done anything decent to her, without being manipulated into it.

Maybe they think they "care" if they spend a lot of money on their kids. Sandi obviously has plenty to spend at Cashman's, and the boys have plenty of toys.

Still, their obliviousness to Sandi's situation in FLM is mind-boggling.

I think Quinn was more touched than embarrassed. Quinn doesn't (or didn't) have any *real* friends, either, despite her vaunted "popularity".

In another thread recently, I pointed out how Daria's insistence on her status as an "outcast" doesn't hold up under scrutiny; specifically, about how Jodie, Mack, Kevin and Brittany all showed up to visit when Daria was in the hospital (in "Ill").

What a contrast with "popular" Sandi in FLM! Even her own parents don't seem to care, Stacy and Tiffany are almost singing "Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead!", and only some prompting by Daria (in order to win a bet) got Quinn into action. Otherwise, Sandi would have stayed in bed and turned into Mrs Johansen.

M Man

MMan37 said:

And very, very sad.

I'd say a little of both.

That's true. She may now, though.

And that was a first season episode, IIRC. She's much closer now to Jodie, in particular, than she was then.

Dead!",

action.

That's a very good point.

Sandi and the FC, for all their emphasis on "popularity", don't seem to really understand how to make people like them. Quinn is the only one whom we see having _any_ friends outside the FC, and in her case it's just various stupid guys (especially the three J's) who are obsessed with her. (This could of course be an artifact of the way the show focuses on the Morgendorffer family, though).

Note the 505 throwaway line about people "liking" the FC because they tell them what not to wear. Somehow I really doubt that the people they criticize really like them at all ...

Jordan S. Bassior wrote:

Actually, "Ill" was a second season episode, but it was still an early episode (which I have yet to see, like a lot of second season episodes and some first season ones).

I doubt the people they criticize really like them at all, either, and that's probably because they don't like to be told what they're doing wrong, or else because they're perceptive enough to realize that the FC is going the wrong way in trying to get people to like them. Or maybe it's both factors.

The FC can't make people like them because they're focusing on "popularity" instead of making genuine friendships -- quantity vs. quality, in other words. Daria at least has the value of one best friend (Jane Lane), plus the friendship of Trent and a genuine boyfriend (Tom, faults and all), so she's better off than just about all the members of the FC, despite Daria's own faults.

Belle Book

I thought TIffany's line (about why people supposedly like the FC) was mostly Tiffany-at-her-Tiffaniest. She just doesn't comprehend a whole lot that goes on outside of her mirror.

Both factors you mention are undoubtably true, plus a third one: most people at LHS really don't care what the FC club thinks of them, one way or another. Only a very small circle of people even notice their existence, except for Quinn.

Well, I don't think you can actually *make* people like you, in any case.

If Quinn couldn't do it with David ....

M Man

M Man wrote:

True. Very true.

Very good point. You can't actually "make" a person like you, especially if you behave like the FC members often do -- and have done in the past.

Belle Book

Belated afterthought on the original topic of this thread ("How could Sandi's parents allow her to get into such a state in the first place during FLM?")

Now, I'm not particularly interested in defending Sandi's parents, who are, after all, completely fictional characatures of basically unpleasant character types, but, just for the record ...

When somebody you love is severely depressed it is ...

a) surprisingly hard to convince yourself there's something wrong, rather than a simple series of "bad days."

b) remarkably hard, once you figure out something is wrong, to figure out exactly what the problem is.

c) incredibly hard, once you figure out what the problem is, to know what in the world YOU can possibly do about it.

Trust me, I really, truly know these things.

(But things are much better now, thank you.)