Wednesday, April 23, 2008

When MTV Poked Fun at the Fans

Does the image at right look familiar? It's found in one of the little side corners of the current MTV Daria website: "Guy vs. Guy: The Trent/Tom Debate." This is the opening page to two others in sequence, in which two imaginary Daria fans debate which was Daria's true soulmate, Trent or Tom. It is reminiscent of the infamous rant by William Shatner on Saturday Night Live in which he said Star Trek fans should get a life. I think that's what MTV was doing here, too, giving us an unsubtle hint to get over it. In a funny way, I could see Daria doing that. It would be like her.

The two pages of "debate" do indeed skewer some of the long-ago screaming and shouting that went on in the fandom over T 'n T. Given some of the discussion that went on between fans on this issue (based on what I've seen of the rubble left over), perhaps this tongue-in-cheek debate is closer to the mark than some of us would like to recall. But hey, it was fun, wasn't it? It meant we really liked the show. It hit a chord with us, and it hit it hard enough that years after the show is over and gone, we're still hanging around waiting for it to come back. That's not especially pathetic, since that very tactic worked to bring back some shows like Family Guy. And Star Trek. We can always hope.

Ah, what the hell. If Daria doesn't come back, it doesn't come back. It was a hell of a show, though, wasn't it? A show about smart people who don't fit in, who don't go along with the rest of the herd. That couldn't possibly be the situation with any of the fans, now, could it? If MTV wants to make fun of us, it can do its worst. It had its bright and shining moment, and we saw it, recognized it for what it was, and cherished it when it was gone. We weren't the ones who let it die.

And, I have to say, Tom and Trent both completely sucked as soulmates to Daria. She should forget about getting married and just get some cats. It's a better move for her in the long run. 'Nuff said.

9 comments:

E. A. Smith said...

I think someone was definitely listening in on the fan boards. ;-P

The Angst Guy said...

I am forced to agree without reservation. Someone was.

Anonymous said...

Oh hands down, they were mocking Paperpusher - especially one thread in particular where people started citing their fanfics as answers to character development. I was embarrassed enough for our fandom when that happened, but when the people who actually DO create the canon see that? It makes me wonder how many Daria-fan happy treats got dropped because of the sheer arrogance of a few fan-ficters who developed the mistaken idea they owned Dariaverse.

Anonymous said...

That was just too damn funny. :)

E. A. Smith said...

people started citing their fanfics as answers to character development

That's one thread I would love to see.

Anonymous said...

Wow. I hate to phrase it this way, but . . . were the people back then really that pathetic?

The Angst Guy said...

Enthusiastic, not pathetic. There's a difference. Sort of.

Anonymous said...

Well, I have my opinion about it. Most of the ones who did it have moved on, more or less, but there's a couple of 'em still around. And really, it's a good thing that those threads are lost to the ages.

Greybird said...

Word, Medea.