in defense of Through A Lens Darkly

... not that it needs defending but I noticed there's a thread defending some other episode so I thought I'd do one extolling TALD ...

TALD has become one of my favourite episodes, I don't know how many times I've watched it now. It makes a great season opener, and would be a great introduction to Daria for new viewers too.

I think the incidental music is great in this episode, the quiet reflective music between scenes, and when she's studying herself in the mirror, really enhance the atmosphere. Music was used to similar effect in Pierce Me, I think they're getting increasingly skilful in this area. What is the closing music for this ep. BTW? I like it.

Frames or no frames? With glasses, Daria looks intelligent. Without them I think she simply looks sad. It's almost as if her glasses are the physical manifestation of the sarcastic shell that is her defence against the world.

Is it my imagination or is Daria using her eyebrows more than she used to to express herself? Maybe she's been watching Clarissa, who was arguably the classic communication-via-eyebrow-movements character. Or maybe it's just that I'm noticing Daria's eyebrows more without the glasses.

One of the best things about TALD is Daria's voice. Her incidental sounds - the yelps, ughs, ows and sorries - are endearing, eg. when Jane offers to lend her her lipstick. Good use is also made of silence, like when Jane is asking why she's not wearing her glasses. I think it's always a sign of quality drama or literature when characters can use silence to express themselves instead of words. (That's one of the hallmarks of Dave Sim's Cerebus comic incidentally - whereas most comics seem to feel they should have speech balloons in every panel, in Cerebus several panels can go by in which the character merely look at one another or fidget with something, giving important pacing to the scenes. It's not just when telling jokes that timing is important, it's crucial to all dialogue I think.) I really like Daria's accent, which part of the States is it from?

Finally, Daria has a lot of funny quips and asides in this episode, although she seems to be the only character that does have such material in this script, apart from Quinn's classic "OK, when did your *friend* first begin to suspect that your outfit sucks?", which is such a classic Quinnism, showing her idiomatic vacancy.

-Shez.

I'm going to add a few spoiler lines, just in case.... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 29 29 29 29 Shez wrote:

Agreed. It's one of the best efforts they've made in the series thus far.

"I See" by Letters to Cleo. (It was one of the first questions I asked when it debuted in the States. <g>)

Interesting point. Perhaps that's why she likes them-- they're part of her "armor," IYW.

Actually, she usually is drawn so that her eyebrows don't show-- the glasses cover them up. It's a one-ep sort of thing.

Again, I agree-- it all adds even more depth to her character. As for her accent, well, I'm guessing that it's supposed to sound nondescript-- like a generic midwestern-style TV accent, or maybe that with a touch of Atlantic Coast in it-- but not too far North, and definitely not Southern at all. There really isn't any strong regional inflection that I can discern. Which makes sense, I guess. (Although it *would* be funny to hear the show done all in Southern accents-- but since most non-Southerners can't do the accent justice, I guess that's just as well. Besides, people always make fun of the way we talk, anyway. :-P )

Have you forgotten some of Jane's one-liners so quickly?

rich.

Jane: You're a twisted little cruller, ain't'cha?

In article , Shez wrote:

The other notable thing about SIm's spending so much panel time on people showing their emotions, is that takes the time to just *show* them ... most writers show a character pouting in one shot and then long, tortuous panels which explain what the characters are supposed to be feeling ...