- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I kinda missed out on the big post IICY chat... I quite enjoyed it except for the whole resolution of the Daria-Tom thing... I mean, after Daria said that they should brake up, then said 'Because you're going one place, and I'm going another', I was totally on board, in the perfectly literal sense. College is to do new things and meet new people. Dragging on a long distance connections (that was dragging down anyway, really) seems eminently counterproductive...
but when she started it in on this her 'going one place' and him 'going another' metaphorically speaking it started to bug me... was this just more of the 'his family is well off, mine isn't as well of, it'll never work' mentality? I mean, this came up before (IIFY) and I thought we resolved it... personally I have friends from the "lower-lower-middle class" braket right up to the "richer then jesus" catagory and it's never really bugged me. Maybe if they constantly made note of the fact that they were wearing armani to my walmart clothing it would slightly get on my nerves... but did Tom ever do this? Ever?
The way Daria broke up with Tom totally bugged me and still does every time I watch IICY. More or less breaking up right before they went to college did make sense, as they were going to different schools. But just weeks before high school graduation, with the whole summer ahead of them? That was just plain cold.
Tom was so into Daria, in spite of herself. His only "fault" - that he was born into a family with money and connections. Other than wanting to go to Bromwell, he was so not into his family's world. And excuse me, but the Morgendorffers are quite a bit better off financially than my family was - so I guess that makes Daria an upper-class snob from where I'm standing.
But what are the odds that Daria would have been able to stay home and ever see Tom during the summer anyways? breaking up when she did was really no different than if she had done it at the end of the summer.
The money annoyed Daria, you must agree there. They may have made a decent couple, but it was going nowhere. Almost how it was when Tom went out with Jane.
I'll admit I wouldn't call Daria poor, but I wouldnt call her a snob either.
Daria is a snob ... an intellectual snob. Look at the way she treats Kevin and Brittany. Both of them are much stupider than Daria, but they are also basically good-hearted people and Daria treats them like dirt. This is despite the fact that Brittany in particular has occasionally gone out of her way to help Daria, for instance in "Through a Lens Darkly".
Neither Kevin nor Brittany have ever treated Daria badly. Both of them have displayed concern and caring for her when she had (or they thought she had) problems. Brittany, several times, has been nice to Daria (for instance, when she invited Daria to her parties), and this despite the fact that Daria's often been extremely snippy back to her.
I suspect that Daria's taking revenge on _other_ idiots -- ones she knew from Highland.
Actually, they have. But casually rather than with cold deliberation, which may actually be worse (from Daria's perspective). From "The Invitation": ----- Brittany - I mean, you're not popular, but you're not so unpopular that you couldn't come to my party Saturday night.
Daria - Is that an invitation?
Brittany - Yes! Just this once, though.
Daria - Gee, Brittany. I'm overcome with emotion.
Brittany - You need a napkin? Anyway, I promised the other cheerleaders that I wouldn't invite any more really attractive girls.
Daria - Now I'm especially flattered.
Brittany - Don't mention it. ------- "Not *so* unpopular"? "Just this once"? "Wouldn't invite any more really attractive girls"?
In "The Misery Chick," when Kevin (mistakenly) thought Daria believed in ghosts, Daria said "I hope this doesn't lower your opinion of me," and Kevin replied "How much lower can it get?"
Not to mention having to be practically clubbed over the head before it sunk in that Daria had a boyfriend in IIFY.
Which isn't to say that Daria couldn't handle the situation in a better way than she did. But any insults she put on Kevin and Brittany were not entirely gratuitous.
Oh, I'll agree the money annoyed her... but I think that was really pretty lame on her part... hypocritical considering her attitudes about fair treatment. Of course, season 5 got steadily into the 'being more human' thing insofar as daria is concerned... but for her to claim that they're heading in exorably different directions due to 'social class' seems really.... dumb. I'm not an ethical absolutist... I think this would be a valid practical consideration for the future of prince charming and the scullery maid... but even there, I personally have an overwhealming urge to say screw what other people think. Daria and Tom on the other hand... the difference isn't that big. We saw no indication that it really bugged Jane, for instance.
Don't get me wrong, I support the break up... If they were getting tired of it, it was the best thing to do. Responding to another poster about not waiting to the end of summer, the problem with that would be that it would always be hanging in their heads (is today the day?).. doesn't sound like much fun to me. Of course this could all be averted by taking a much less by-the-books approach to dating... but increasingly we seem to see that contrary to Daria's assertion, she is very much 'like them'. Cheap shot, but I'm sticking by it.
No, the switch from Jane to Daria was because, Daria could fullfill better Tom's intellectual needs.
No, not money the whole upper class/ high society attitude of the Sloan dynasty alluded her.
No, Tom is a social animal, look for example, how he gets into his favourite college. The reason why he hangs around with the outcasts Jane and then Daria is because he needs to switch off from all the pseudo friends he has got in prepschool/ golfclub/ yachtclub etc.
Yes, Tom is not Daria's perfect partner. Daria's fantasy of her future partner are not like in the end from episode 308 Lane Miserables. It is more like in episode 213 Write Where it Hurts, in which she lives together with Marcello guy, who is part of a college faculty. While she makes a living of writing columns and winning awards for saying the same things that made her an outcast in high school. So her dream of the future is a relationship, where she can afford to be an outcast. (Hey, that is the Daria, we all love) Now Tom actually could join her. But that would mean giving up NOT the privileges of money but of the privileges of SOCIAL STRINGS.
I can't imagine a Daria accompanying Tom in twenty years to a High Society fund raising event for some exotic disease, in which the cocktails cost more than a medicament treatment programme for 500 persons... Nor can't I imagine Tom hanging around at home on a Saturday evening waiting for Daria to finish her columns about cocktails prices on such occasions�
Thinking of it. It is not Tom's social status, which bugs Daria. It is Tom's social interaction cravings.
Tom is an extrovert person, now if he would be more introvert like Jane. Then a Tom/Daria relationship would hold.
But I hope not due� I HATE TOM! I HATE HIM! I HATE HIM! I HATE HIM! :-)
Ace Trax
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There he goes: One of God's own prototypes. A high powered mutant of
some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to
live and too rare to die.
I agree that episode 213 Write Where It Hurts gives us a good idea about what Daria wants for her future.
Looking ahead to life with Tom, she could see that it would be nothing like her wishes. Tom's future was to follow his father to Grace, Sloan & Page. To succeed, Tom would need his wife to fill the functions of Kay. Daria would not fit in. She would hold Tom back and would be treated like dirt by Tom's family and colleagues.
So, when Daria said she and Tom were going in different directions, she was talking about their plans for the future. Tom would attend Bromwell and be inducted into his father's firm whereas Daria's would graduate from Raft College and attempt some kind of literary career.
Daria did the right thing.
However, I wish Jane had murdered Tom in episode 403 A Tree Grows in Lawndale. It would be especially good if Jane could blame the murder on Mrs. Manson. Kevin's broken knee would be a subplot.
I agree (kinda), but I wasn't talking about the switch. I was talking about the fact that both relationships seemed destined towards a conclusion based on common disinterests (hence 'going nowhere')... You could say, intellectual interests with Jane, and sociability issues with Daria.
(On an aside, though, I'm not about the whole idea of Jane as a non-intellectual... there's been periods of the show in which she name-dropped as much as Daria (although much less so in S4-5)... This is just based on vague memory rather then anything else though. (oops, and by name dropping I'm reffering to the kind of conversations we saw daria and tom having... i.e. the "morgue chat" in 'Fire!' would, it as I remember, be right up Jane's alley in terms of style AND content, at least pre season 4.)
Name one occassion in which Tom exhibited this. Tom's family (well mother anyway) seemed to sincerely like Daria. Sure, it was obvious that the sloans were rich, but I never saw any rubbing (with the highly debatable exception of the $1000 invitation). Take the college trip in IICY for example... note the fairly average looking car, and Tom's mother in fairly average looking clothes. No chauffer, no red carpet rolled out upon arrival. Sure, she did inconvience Daria by being aquainted with the asshole proffessor... but you can't hold HIS attitude against the Sloan's.
I agree that Tom is more sociable then daria. He wants to get along with people... I good example would be his behaviour constrasted to Daria's in 'Life in the Past Lane'... Tom is more of a diplomat. I can see how this might cause friction between them (and would take it as a good hypothesis as to why they were 'getting bored with each other')... BUT I don't buy tying it to the whole money thing. You'd find just as many diplomats in Daria's economic bracket as Tom's... they just have more work cut out for them.
So basically I totally agree with you but I interpreted the reason they were breaking up to be the "whole upper class/ high society" thing as opposed to the "social interaction cravings" thing. If you agree with me that these are seperate, then I agree with you. But if you want to argue that they are one in the same then I'd appreciate further arguement.
It's odd, I think that Jane got "dumbed down" during S4 and S5. Although perhaps the absence of Susie Lewis, the real-life inspiration for Jane, might be the true culprit here. With Susie gone, a bit of Jane left too.
You guys are right there. Blame it to EVIL Glenn Eichner :-) He wanted the switch from Tom-Jane to Tom-Daria. So he and the other writers made Jane less intellectual so the match up between Tom and Daria would be more plausible and even "excusable". The result was that poor Tom Sloan became the most despised person in cartoon history �well IMHO anyway.
Ace Trax -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There he goes: One of God's own prototypes. A high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live and too rare to die.
Hw�t! We have heard of the glory of [email] (Michelle Klein-Hass) that wrote news:[email], on the day of 02 Nov 2002:
How would you say she was 'dumbed down'? It was established fairly early in the series that Jane's intelligence was more visual and less verbal than Daria's - as early as "The Invitation," when Daria bailed them out after the security guard tricked Jane into using a phony name. In "College Bored" Jane fantasized about using her college fund to set up a studio in New York; in "Arts 'N Crass," she couldn't verbalize the meaning of the collaborative painting; in "Gifted," she mentioned her straight C average in math, which in "See Jane Run" was "in serious danger of becoming a D." Daria is frequently shown reading in her leisure time, but I don't remember Jane doing that.
Jane is clearly intelligent, but it's equally clear that her intelligence is focused on art. Daria, on the other hand, doesn't know much about art -- she has to consult Jane about Goya in "The New Kid." This adds an extra dimension to "Dye! Dye! My Darling" -- Jane, jealous of Daria, bullies her into doing something visually oriented, knowing (at least unconsciously) that she'll botch it up. It can be seen as Jane's way of saying "You think you're so damn smart, and you can't even do a simple thing like this!"
--Mark Steese a/k/a Corvus Marinus still spending way too much time thinking about "Daria"
Actually, early in the series, Daria is shown as having reasonable skill at art. In "Esteemsters" she draws a clever freehand cartoon of O'Neill. In "The Invitation" she shows Brittany the ins and outs of perspective.
Apparently her interest doesn't extend to art history - hence her lack of knowledge about Goya..
(I also seem to recall in several episodes that a book on Goya is seen in Jane's locker when she opens it. Maybe Goya is a favorite of Jane's?)
In fact, Daria and Jane represent the two main divisions of human intelligence. Daria is a skilled speaker and writer; Jane is a skilled visual and plastic artist. Daria's intelligence is also more generalized -- she knows a little about a lot of things, with her main focus being literature. Jane's intelligence is very specialized towards art -- but she's a master of pretty much any non-performance art. (Trent, of course, is good at performance art -- he's a musician and singer).
Both Daria and Jane are of roughly equivalent levels of intelligence -- the reasons: why Daria does better in school are (1) she comes from a more competitive family background, and (2) her verbal/written skills are more directly applicable to school. Both of them, though, display genius or better levels of capability at their skills, and both of them have good shots at achieving considerable success in their college and adult careers, based upon their displayed capabilities.
Have made a lot of snipping, I hope I didn't took anything out of the context. If I did, then please inform me, so I can live in shame.
[email] (andrew b) wrote in message news:...
The Sloans don't need any rubbing. I should be more specific. There is new money and old money. New money are rich snobs with goldchains, furcoats and expensive cars. Old money are modest like the Sloans. They don't have to show off because they are rich since generations, and got already a reputation, which you cannot buy with money. So they don't show off with luxury, but they show off with good old boy networking. Remember the Sloan - Landon connections and the way how Tom paved his way into his favriot college.
Okay Tom is a diplomat___ WITH money. Which make some social persuasion more easy for him. Remember how he was buying off disturbing people in the cinema? (told by Jane in episode 401 Partner's Complaint). Okay that was only 10$, but it is the thought that counts. Now this attitude IMHO would freak Daria out because Tom (although he is a sickenedly nice guy) COULD one day in the DISTANT future tend to use financial resources then reasonable arguments to convince his opponents.
I think the social interaction and class (any kind of class) are linked together. Imagine Tom would be working class. He would then do some old-boy networking with the unions. So every class has got a network which tend to exclude other people, and build up the own people.
But of course good old boy networking in upper classes are far more effective. How then you could explain that certain peoples with the intellectual capabilities of a <insert low brained lifeform here > can become President of the United States of America?
So it will always gloom at the horizon that Tom would use his cash and influence, than his mind to convince people, and that freaks our poor sensible Daria out.
Ace Trax -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There he goes: One of God's own prototypes. A high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live and too rare to die.
There is one more thing to cosider here: The way in which Daria is brought into Tom's world. Tom didn't tell his family about her, and didn't seem all that interested in having Daria along with him to the various family functions that came up early in their relationship. Tom explained that he never tells his family about the girls he dates, and he wasn't hiding his relationship with her at all.
I think that Daria felt as if Tom didn't think she was good enough for his family at first, whether this was true or not. This laid the foundation for Daria feeling out classed by Tom's family. And we never see Daria meeting any of Tom's friends. Ever.
Look at Tom's actions through Daria's eyes for a moment (and remember that she's just a teenaged girl, she's intellegent, but has not had enough experience to have much wisdom): Tom shows up at some dive of a club with a crapped out old car and nice clothes and hits up on Jane, a girl with a lot less money that he has. In Daria's eyes Tom could be seen as "slumming". He breaks up with Jane and dates Daria, though he doesn't bother to let his family know about her. In Daria's eyes Tom could still be slumming. Doesn't matter if this is what Tom is really doing. What matters is if Daria thinks this is what he's doing.
It was never the money that was the problem between Daria and Tom. It was Tom and the way he handled the class differences between them.
Um, why couldn't she have seen him during the summer? She might have had to go away during _part_ of the summer, but that's not the same thing.
Furthermore, if there's real love present, you don't _have_ to break up just because you aren't going to be seeing each other as often. You only do that when it isn't really love, but rather a relationship of mutual convenience.
It was "going nowhere" at least partially by Daria's choice.
Mmm, she seems to only be really comfortable with people of her own class, which is at least semi-snobbery.
I'd argue, if this was real life, that Daria was basically so afraid that she'd be rejected by Tom (or by Tom's family leading to Tom rejecting her) that she felt she needed to be the one doing the rejecting -- which is part of why she broke up with Tom. This, if true, is a fundamentally immature (and unfair) attitude.
It's also possible that she never really loved Tom anyway -- that she only liked him because he was the first guy whom she could really enjoy being with and relate to as an equal who had taken an interest in her. If that was the case, I can easily see why she'd want to break it off before college.
(though, in that case, her behavior relating to both Tom and Jane becomes a lot less excusable).
As much as I don't want to, I can see this being true... Daria put up a lot of bullshit in season 5 (her treatment of Tom in Story of D for example) and I really did think a bit less of her.
Does anyone really remember the Daria in Esteemsters? (and in the pilot, for those who have seen it). The one who manipulates people into situations for her own amusement then gives that fantastic Daria smirk? The Daria who isn't alienated, or afraid of rejection, but is simply "Not Like Them"? That's who I liked.
Maybe the Daria the writers created as the show progressed was more three dimensional, and even necessary to produce new plot material, but the increasing emphasis on the whole 'being human routine' seemed to me like it lost the essential message that you CAN be 'not like them'... something which I seem to believe.
Don't get me wrong, I think the 'new' Daria said and did some great things... but she seemed to become so much more reactive then strategic, to use Kissenger parlance. And speaking of Kissenger, that's what I saw Daria becoming... some kind of high-level very,very smart political insider. Although unlike Kissenger, I saw her as still relying on that 'Daria moral core' and making sure that her 'smirk-worthy' fun didn't extent to (admittedly debatable) Kissenger-esqe war crimes.
I guess I'm saying that unlike Ace Trax (who posted above)... I don't see her ending up as a middle-class writer with a 'marcello'. But I guess that's probably just me.
Huh, what do you mean with this Kissinger stuff? Do you mean: Daria acting with the political cunningness of Kissinger to understand how the world works, but still relying to her unique moral code when it comes up to the question of influencing this world? Well, I see Henry Kissinger as one of the greatest statesman of the 20th century, but comparing him with Daria?
Okay, Kissinger made some war crimes, but what is the big deal: <*Eric Cartman mode on*> Now, if these countries don't want their governments to be toppled by the CIA, they shouldn't have voted for communists in the first place. <*Eric Cartman mode off*> :-)
Hmm, how do you would see Daria ending up? I mean a middle class writer/columnist/critic� isn't that bad, look at Jay Leno: He makes millions each year and still defines himself as an middle class citizen.
Ace Trax -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There he goes: One of God's own prototypes. A high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live and too rare to die.
How will she end up? It all depends on how she survives college. Looking
at all of the Daria clones that I met when I was in high school and college,
the odds are that she will have a couple of VERY rough years.
There will probably be some heavy isolation, as her refusal to join the
human race (even though she did make progress by the end of the show, she
was still a severe solipsist) will force a lot of people away from her. She
will make some friends, but will also lose them, and probably change circles
of aquaintances every few months.
So, we have an alone, young woman who considers the world beneath her. As
I mentioned, the track record of all those that I have known like this
usually isn't good...I've seen a lot of brilliant people crushed by booze
and drugs, all taken in an attempt to be somewhat "normal," or to shut their
minds up, so they can lower themselves to the level of us mere mortals.
Daria the X-head? For some odd reason, I can see this.
Could she recover if this happened? Maybe. She still might get the degree
or the good job...or she might end up at 28, living with her parents,
thinking up manuscripts in her head while she drives to her job as a bank
teller.
Of course, I'm just a dstyopian-I could be wrong.
miccal99
How will she end up? It all depends on how she survives college. Looking
Depends. She may find more people like herself in college, and may begin to open up to them, moreso than the kids at Lawndale. She may become a little more social.
Then again, in college it really doesn't matter. Sure, you have your cliques in college, but they don't really matter as much as high school. I think Daria would be just fine, plus Jane would be going to school nearby.
Daria on drugs? No, I don't see it. She would probably laugh at all the druggies, and consider THEM beneath her.
LOL! This could happen. But I've known people who were Daria-like in high schools that ended up being more Quinn-like ten years later. It all depends!
I do have a bit of a problem with the way Tom and Daria broke up over the class issues. For one, Daria wasn't exactly poor. It seemed to me that Daria & Quinn grew up in a pretty affluent household. Daria associates with Jodie, who also grew up in an affluent household. Brittany and Kevin appear to have grown up in affluent household. Sandi Griffin looks like she grew up in an affluent household. I don't recall Daria having a problem with any of these individuals because of their families' incomes.
In fact, it seems that the character that should be bothered by her friends' incomes would be Jane Lane. She lives in a ramshackle house, with paint chipping off the side and her parents don't have lucrative jobs. She's the youngest of five siblings, so any college money would have been spent on the older children. If Jane and Tom were still going out by the time of IICY, them breaking up b/c of money/class issues would have made more sense than Daria & Tom's breaking up.
The reality is that Tom will have his way paid at Bromwell, and Daria's parents can pay tuition for her at Rust in addition to any scholarships she may have received, and Brittany & Jodie's parents will pay their way as well. But Jane? She will either have to get loans, work her way through school, or scramble up some scholarships. Jane will have a much different college experience than Tom, Daria or the others. It would be interesting to explore the money issue between Daria and Jane.
But Daria and Tom breaking up because of money? Unrealistic, totally.
You are confusing "income" with "class". While this is often tightly bound together in America, it is not always. Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine, is very rich. But would anyone say he is Upper Class? No.
Also of note is that while Daria's family does have a lot of money, they are of the Upper-Middle Class, not the Upper Class of the Sloanes. Daria is not offended by the amount of money that the Sloanes have. She's offended by the priviledges and old-boy networking that the Sloanes participate in.
Tom makes light of the fact that he got into Bromwell becuase his uncle bought them a new wing. He thinks it's funny. Daria is not amused as she had to *work* her way into Raft. Tom would have gotten into Bromwell if he had a 3.0 GPA.
It is Daria's rigid and inflexible standards that are at issue, not anyone's money.
The Lane family, while lacking in money, is not "poor". The Lane's exist outside of the traditional class system in the USA (as did my family). She doesn't care about anyone's money. Jane has shown many times that she doesn't have the same rigid standards as Daria.
Tom's parents will pay for Bromwell. Tom won't pay for squat.
Exactly -- and here I would argue that Daria is being exceedingly unreasonable: holding Tom to a standard which virtually no one would pass. Tom is simply trying to take advantage of the opportunities offered him; it is wrong to condemn him for doing so.
Tom, in general, does _not_ flaunt his privilege of birth. IMO, he really hasn't deserved his treatment by Daria -- both in IICY and in the 5th season in general. If Daria thinks that _Tom_ is shallow or exploitative of privilege, she has a nasty shock coming to her in college.
The only person Tom behaved badly to was _Jane_, and even then he didn't behave _that_ badly to her. If Tom was real, I'd consider him a nice guy.
Jane is not intimidated or morally offended by other people's money or influence. She likes people for who they are. This was probably one of the things which attracted Tom, who was probably used to having people suck up to him for who his _family_ was.
(Incidentally, with the completion of IICY, Jane's words to Tom when they were breaking up about how difficult Daria is to get along with have proved prophetic, mm?)
I don't think that the "class" issue is the real driving force for Daria to break up with Tom. I think the class issue was the straw that broke the camles back, and the "nice" way to put it to Tom. The truth is that Daria never felt at ease with The Sloanes or within their circles, not that Tom ever gave her the chance to get comfortable.
It's not just the silver spoon in his mouth that is the problem. Daria is very inexperienced in these kinds of relationships and is scared to get hurt. To minimize the risk she keeps Tom at a distance. Add to that Helen's almost psychotic fear that Daria, of all people, might be having sex, and you get a better picture of what's going on.
It used to confuse me that Helen didn't seem as afraid of Quinn having sex as she was of Daria until I thought about the differences in Daria and Quinn's dating style: Quinn dates often but never gets very involved. She's just looking to have fun and probably knows how to handle herself. Daria, on the other hand, is looking for Mr. Right. When she had a crush on Trent she didn't fantasize about sneaking off to some dark and comfy place to jump his bones, she fantasized about being married (or not, as he overslept) to Trent. I think that Helen could pick up on this and when Daria got involved with Tom, Helen reacted accordingly.
Not really. He dumped Jane for Daria. Not my idea of being very nice. And I think that this is the crux of the matter. I don't think Daria ever really trusted Tom. That's why she checkened out when she told him she wanted to go to bed with him. And I think it's the fundamental reason she broke up with Tom. If he would leave Jane for her, why wouldn't he leave Daria for someone at Bromwell that better suited him? I'm not saying that he would, just that she might be afraid that he would.
True. And Jane wouldn't have any problem with Tom using his family's influence for anything and everything. She'd expect it of him, actually.
They sure did. But the fault is not all on Daria. Tom was at much at fault as Daria was. But the basic fact of the mattter is that they were two 17-18 year old kids. Relationships in this age range often go to hell in a handbasket for reasons that don't make any sense to outsiders.
I never saw Daria and Tom as being compatible in the first place. I don't think Daria ever did, either. He wasn't a total loser like Upchuck, but I doubt she ever gave much thought to spending the rest of her life with him.
I'm not confusing "income" with "class." You say that Larry Flynt is very rich but has no class. The same could be said about the Sloanes. The fact of the matter is Daria's family is very affluent, as are Jodie's, Brittany's and Kevin's families. Could she skate into Bromwell like Tom did? If her parents had gone there, yes, she could have been admitted as a legacy --- as Tom was. Furthermore, the only family advantage Tom used was to get into Bromwell --- everything else he rejected, and certainly Kay Sloane never looked down her nose at Daria or her family because of their "lack of status." If all the Sloanes cared about was "status," Tom never would have brought Daria or Jane around his family to begin with.
Well, then, why didn't Daria stop associating with Jodie? Jodie used her family connections to get that loan in one episode. Although Daria didn't like it, she accepted it. She didn't stop talking to Jodie. So why break up with Tom because he used his family connections to get into Bromwell? And, she couldn't have been SO upset at Tom's connections, because she agreed to have The Sloanes write a letter on her behalf for her to get into Bromwell.
Yet, Daria agreed to have the Sloanes write her a letter to try to get her into Bromwell.
The same standards that allowed her to let the Sloanes write a letter to try to get her into Bromwell. Would she have been so upset at Tom's getting into Bromwell on his family if a) she had gotten accepted in the first place or b) the Sloanes' letter had gotten her into Bromwell?
The Lane family is not as well off as Daria's, Jodie's, Kevin's or Brittany's. Period. Both of the parents are starving artists, Trent doesn't even have a job. And Jane certainly doesn't have a job. Jane may not have the same rigid standards as Daria, but she also knows that Daria has it a bit easier than she will. Jane will have to scratch and fight to get what she wants. Daria may work hard, but Helen & scholarships will pay Daria's way through college. Who's paying Jane's way?
And Helen & Jake will pay for Rust. Daria won't pay for squat.
Daria never had a problem with Kay Sloane, other than being a bit overwhelmed by her (not Kay's fault, mind you). Daria's "class" issue with Tom was never because of his mother.
She accepted it very grudgingly.
Because she worked hard to get into Raft. And Tom would have gotten into Bromwell no matter what. Getting into college from the sweat of her own labor is VERY important to Daria. And there are things that you will put up with from a friend that you will not put up with from a lover.
She agreed to the letter in order to get Jane to try to get into BFAC. That is the ONLY reason she let the Sloanes write the letter. If Jane had not needed an arm-twisting the letter would never have been written.
Yes, to force Jane into trying to get into BFAC.
The "letter" is a moot point as pointed out before. If she had gotten into Bromwell on her own, I think she still would have been annoyed at Tom. I don't think she would have accepted Bromwell if the letter had done the trick. By that time she was already going to break up with Tom.
Although I can't disagree that Daria thinks this way, I kinda wish I could. This value system has always seemed pretty hypocritical to me... the line between getting in on 'merit' or 'own attributes' always seemed pretty thin to me... Tom might be born into his family's connections, but Daria was 'born into' the mental abilities (be it 'intelligence' or 'motivation') that will likely allow her to achieve a greater degree of success then many.
Forming a distinction between these two types of innnate 'gifts' seems at least somewhat arbitrary.
Take me, for example... I'm dangerously apathetic and have little motivation to speak of, but I was able to get into a very good school with substantial 'merit-based' financial support just because I happen to be good at writing tests.
I wouldn't really draw a distinction between me and someone who didn't have that test-writing ability and got in based on having the right family connections.
Someone who got in based on hard work and innate ambition I could respect more, maybe... but only because I know that ambition will ultimately serve a person much better then 'intelligence' or 'social status' will. But ultimately, ambition is still just another characteristic some people happen to have...
And even if you don't buy that logic, look at it this way: If most of those going to Bromwell are getting in based on family, then that's what the school will ultimately become known for... and the 'Bromwell' name on a resume will eventually become meaningless. Plus, you could say it serves the function of isolating the rich and snotty from the rest of the youth population, who they'd probably just piss off, anyway.
If most of those who go to Bromwell ARE getting in based on traditional 'merit' (ie academics), well, then, Daria just becomes a borderline case who, if she wanted to get in badly enough, should have tried harder. If the percentage of the incoming class based on patronage is low, then the whole thing about Tom getting in and Daria not becomes noise, essentially meaningless. After all, Tom is a smart and ambitious person who I would assume is more motivated and involved then Daria anyway. Don't forget Daria's high school experience was characterized by a high degree of apathy.
Whatever 'merit' really means, maybe Tom did deserve to get in more than Daria. There's too many hypotheticals and it doesn't really seem to mean anything.
These are all trenchant observations. Although social class is not determined solely by income and net worth (education, profession, elocution, and mastery of the social graces are also factors), the notion that Daria was too far beneath Tom was patently absurd. Her mother is an attorney, a vocation that may not garner the respect it once did, but is still a prestigious occupation. Her father files Schedule C every year with his consulting firm, and the office he rents looked spacious if not luxurious in "Arts 'n Crass". An individual would get the impression that one was a custodian and the other was a chambermaid after absorbing what was clearly the least supportable storyline the writers came up with in 5 years.
Daria acted like she was on welfare while Tom had it made, and that's simply not the case. Also, Daria is being a hypocrite for being upset about Tom's family connections when she would have been suspended had it not been for Helen's threat to sue Ms. Li in "Arts N Crass."
Bottom line, Daria was jealous that Tom could get into Bromwell, on the basis of who his family was, while she had to be like everyone else and apply and risk getting turned down (as she was). Has nothing to do with her being upset at Tom's social class or family income.
Hold the phone, Sparky. She didn't ask her mother to bail her out. Helen acted on her own accord with NO input from Daria at all. Daria would have willingly taken the heat in order to protect her and Jane's work.
Jealous? No. Offended is more like it. Daria takes offence to people who get a free ride (or an easy ride) due to their money, social standing or good looks. She realized that she had no intention of spending her life with someone who would resort to the glad-handing that Tom expected in his life.
But Daria gladly accepted the perks and benefits of Helen's threatening to sue Ms. Li. If Daria wanted to "take the heat" so badly, why didn't she? Daria doesn't want to "take the heat" for anything unless she has to. Daria regularly complains about the situations of the world, and only "takes the heat" when confronted. Furthermore, when Jodie got the loan on her father's name, Daria could have easily stated in the class that the main reason they got the loan was because Jodie told the bank manager who her father was. Daria didn't do that, why is that?
Free ride due to money? I don't see Daria working at WalMart after school. I don't see Daria as this ethical person, as she regularly bribes Helen, Jake & Quinn. The Morgendorffers may not have as much money as the Sloanes, but they aren't hurting for cash. Social standing? That's all Daria's fault for being standoffish. If she were a little friendlier, would she be friends with Brittany and the Fashion Club? Probably not, but she probably could have been friends with Upchuck, Andrea, Ted, Jodie, Mack etc. A lot of times kids think they have to be in the "in group" in order to have friends, or they are nothing. Quite frankly, Daria associated with all the A-list kids in the school: she is Quinn's sister, Kevin & Brittany regularly come to her for advice or giving her advice, Jodie and Mack are "the most likely to be successful" kids etc. As far as good looks, from the Alter Egos at the end of every episode, I've seen some Alter Egos of Daria where she looked great. The only people that had a problem with Daria's appearance were Helen, Quinn & the Fashion Club, Ms. Li and Mr. O'Neill. I didn't see Trent or Tom complaining about her appearance.
Tom was confident and personable at the Bromwell interview. Daria, on the other hand, gave a very poor interview. If you're the Bromwell admissions director, you're going to admit the kid with good grades, good extracurriculars and a great personality vs the kid with good grades and that's it. The fact that Tom was a Sloane was just icing on the cake. I believe Tom would have been admitted to Bromwell without being a Sloane, just as Jodie was admitted to Crestmore without being from a upper class family.
Daria is upset because she puts no effort into life, and accordingly gets nothing, but she sees other people seemingly putting no effort into life, and getting everything. Somehow I don't think Daria would have been as upset about Tom's "glad-handing" if she had also gotten into Bromwell.
Will Tom have an "easier" time in life because he's a Sloane? Yes! He's a Bromwell legacy, so admission was pretty much assured, and he knows he'll have a job at Grace, Sloane & Page after he graduates. He'll marry a Kay Sloane clone and his kids will go to Fielding Prep., Bromwell etc., etc. I don't believe that's the real reason Daria broke up with him, though.
I believe, in addition to being jealous that Tom got into Bromwell and she didn't, that deep down Daria knew that she didnt' have what it takes to be in a relationship with Tom. Has nothing to do with social status, income or glad-handing. Daria has limited social skills, and if Tom is away at Bromwell, he is likely to meet someone just as smart and witty as Daria without the social withdrawal. She was merely breaking up with Tom before he broke up with her (so she thought). Has nothing to do with Tom's family income or status.
Helen acted like that on her own behalf, and I'm pretty sure most people would question the sanity of Ms. Li upon recieving that phone call.
Daria WAS NOT jealous of Tom getting into Bromwell. She has very strict morals and standards. He standards don't really agree with getting a free ride. Tom would have gotten into Bromwell regardless of his academic history while Daria actually had to work for a place at Bromwell.
If anything you may want to watch Arts 'n Crass a few more times and truely pay attention to it.