I for one loved the latest episode of Daria.
"THROUGH A LENS, DARKLY." I've
detected some rumblings on this board
and on alt.tv.daria that various people
hated this episode. I don't know what
you'all expect? It was a great episode.
One of the things which always has
intrigued me about Daria is how much she
suffers at the hand of her own core
values. She is often misunderstood,
miserable, misconstrued and incorrectly
labeled as depressed-all because of her
core ideals. Interestingly enough, in this
episode, Daria discovers, that these core
values represent an ideal even *she* can't
(totally) uphold.
While I enjoyed DARIA! (the musical). It
represented an amusing and bold
diversion. "THROUGH A LENS
DARKLY" was a solid return to the
themes familiar to all Daria fans. Once
again we are introduced to the story of a
(shy) self-assured teenage girl who
rejects the superficial values of our
society in favor of her own higher ideals.
Many people were upset at the mere
pretext that Daria exhibited momentary
flashes of vanity and may have
contemplated selling out to society
altogether. To this I say BUNK. Daria is a
perfectly normal person. In most ways
Daria is a plain girl. (Although she's a lot
prettier than she gives herself credit). She
doesn't wear make-up. She disdains
what's fashionable for young ladies her
age. Neither her wardrobe nor her
glasses are particularly flattering to her
face or figure. *We knows this* Daria
does have a lot going for her. She has
pretty auburn hair. She has a pretty face
(once you get past those glasses) and a
cute figure as displayed in "QUINN THE
BRAIN".
Would Daria be prettier without her
glasses? YES.
Would Daria be Daria without her
glasses? NO.
I for one, find Daria almost disturbingly
good-looking with her hair slightly mussed
up and without her glasses. In those
scenes she manages to appear far more
worldly-wise and vulnerable. There's a
strong innocence factor at work. Although
musing about how attractive Daria is,
somehow misses the point of the show.
Daria would never want people
concentrating on something as superficial
and shallow as her looks?
Of course, next week, I'm lead to believe
that we have an episode "THE OLD AND
THE BEAUTIFUL" in which during
volunteer week, Daria manages to drive
old people into depression by the
resonance of her voice. Fist of all�(I
withhold all judgment on the episode until
I've seen the episode.) That having been said,
I go on record as a male who finds women
with voices in the lower register viz.
DARIA to be incredibly sexy, attractive and
desirable. I also have done charity
reading before (including "dog" visits), And
I can state unequivocally that the fact of
the matter is: People don't care what your
voice sounds like. It is the fact you're
reading to them at all, that matters most.More later.
-S. Mc Allister