Among
Daria's legion of fans is
Michelle Malkin, a conservative political blogger and columnist who is only slightly (.01 mm) to the left of Ann Coulter in her outlook. Today is Mrs. Malkin's 38th birthday, and it seemed appropriate to pause for a moment and ask:
how in the world did she become a Daria fan? I ask only because, in the TV series, Daria Morgendorffer generally espouses liberal views when she isn't being rude or sarcastic. Daria has never expressed a preference for any political party, but she is an agnostic and disrespects authority in every conceivable nonviolent way. (See
this entry in DariaWiki for details; feel free to add some details as well.)
Michelle Malkin isn't alone, of course. There are a number of political conservatives who like
Daria. They post their comments on PPMB and SFMB all the time.
Mrs. Malkin herself said, "I admit to being a fan of the [
MTV] network's dour cartoon comedy, 'Daria.' ...But the channel's main fare is a corrosive, constant, and instantly accessible mix of sex, drugs, violence, and vulgarity laced with hypocritical political correctness." Interestingly, you could say Daria doesn't like any of those things, either (unless maybe it's on
Sick, Sad World).
Think for a moment, though. What kind of people get parodied on
Daria? Tim O'Neill, the squishy New Age emotional teacher. Janet Barch, the man-hating feminist. Incompetent "butterfly" parent Amanda Lane. Helen and Jake Morgendorffer, the ex-hippie radicals who once marched on the Pentagon but now are wedded to The System in a bizarre manner. (Helen the corporate lawyer? Jake the corporate adviser?) Yes, true, there's right-wing autocrat Ms. Li, who gives a thumbs-up to George W. Bush and supports capital punishment, but most of the targets in the series, you could argue, are
liberals. Look back at
Beavis and Butt-head: wasn't Mr. Van Driessen singing "Lesbian Seagull" pretty silly, too? And there was the way Daria framed her question to President Clinton in the
Beavis and Butt-head episode,
"Citizen Butt-head." Not an automatic Friend of Bill, methinks.
It takes some thought, but you can understand why Daria's disdain for her world has such appeal for people across the political spectrum. In her own curious way, she's everyone's icon and no one's friend. Only someone like Daria could pull that off.
Comments? Post them either here or on DariaWiki at the link above.
Greystar's
"Preemptive Strike" was finished five years ago today. The first part of
"Mystik Spiral's Lonely Lawndale Band" begins seven years ago today. The freshest DariaWiki entry is one on
black sunlight (go, Jane!). Enjoy.
DO IT TO IT!
Among Daria's legion of fans is Michelle Malkin, a conservative political blogger and columnist who is only slightly (.01 mm) to the left of Ann Coulter in her outlook. Today is Mrs. Malkin's 38th birthday, and it seemed appropriate to pause for a moment and ask: how in the world did she become a Daria fan? I ask only because, in the TV series, Daria Morgendorffer generally espouses liberal views when she isn't being rude or sarcastic. Daria has never expressed a preference for any political party, but she is an agnostic and disrespects authority in every conceivable nonviolent way. (See this entry in DariaWiki for details; feel free to add some details as well.)
While surfing the 'net I found the poster at left, which was actually used in New Hampshire recently when a Republican named Jane Lane ran for office. Hmm, probably not the Jane Lane we know. Her being a Republican from New Hampshire would be a stretch, even for a cartoon.
