Daria's only flirtation with religion appeared on MTV just 11 years ago today with the episode "Groped by an Angel." The episode sparks a lot of fanfiction ideas, but a big one it fires on is this: could there be guardian angels in Daria? Given all the disasters that the characters experience in the series, the answer leans toward "yes." Seriously, how else could Daria have survived the collapse of the school library roof, her near accident in the family SUV, the sinking of the Princess Fairy, the hurricane, and everything else?
Does Quinn have a guardian angel? Fanfiction says yes. Does Daria have a guardian angel? Fanfiction says yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Does Jane? Apparently not, dammit, but as she says in "Speedtrapped," she's a survivor and probably doesn't need one. So, maybe "Groped by an Angel" was on to something. (I know the images with this blog post come from "Daria! The Musical," "Lucky Strike," and "Sarcastathon 3000," but they fit so I am using them.)The Morgendorffers appear to be some liberal flavor of Christian, most likely Protestant, because they have a Christmas tree and are at (very rare) times shown in church. Plus, the outdoor wedding in "I Don't" looked very Protestant to me. Religion doesn't seem to enter much into their lives, except for cursing and weddings. And minor religious bits in certain Sick, Sad World episodes. Oh, right, there's the big Cupid in "Depth Takes a Holiday," but he's a Greek demigod and not really an angel. Upchuck is shown as Cupid in an alter-ego, but he's no angel, either.
Here's what I am pondering: what would a guardian angel from Daria properly look like? Creatively speaking, I mean. I have a mental image of Sandi Griffin's alleged guardian angel as having the form of a heraldic griffon (eagle's head and wings and foreclaws, with a lion's body, rear feet, and tail). A griffon for a Griffin. Works for me.Any other ideas? Might a guardian angel look at all like a spirit animal from "The Teachings of Don Jake," or like a small animal like the bulldog in "Through a Lens, Darkly," or like a cat? Could Jeffy, Joey, and Jamie actually be Quinn's guardian angels? Why would she have three? Toss out some ideas here. Spread them around like manure and let's see what grows in it.
Angels. Why do they all have harps in Daria? I don't think any of the characters depicted with them know how to play them. Oh, and here are some fan artworks of Daria cast angels:
- "Fallen Angels" (SRA)
- "The Archangel Daria" (Geoffrey Roberts)
- "Quinn as Claire Danes' Juliet, from the movie Romeo+Juliet" (Liliane Grenier)
8 comments:
Quinn's guardian angel was said to be male, so he probably has the features of the Colossus of Rhodes, and has an entire department of minor angels devoted to just his hair.
He probably idly plays the harp while listening to Quinn prattle about low-fat yogurt flavors while reminding her where her taser is the second Upchuck comes around.
This is the kind of can-do thinking that makes this fandom much more excellent than the Twilight fandom. Let's have more of this!
For the record, I have to point out that having a Christmas tree itself doesn't necessarily mean one is a christian, or even religious--I'm a third generation heathen myself, and we always had a tree (I'm a devout believer in the holy trinity of Santa, Rudolph, and the Elves. They get results).
Come to think of it, I think I've only ever been in a church four times in my life. Two of those were for wedding rehearsals.
What was that one ficlet where Daria and Jane discovered Quinn was the Second Coming?
What was that one ficlet where Daria and Jane discovered Quinn was the Second Coming?
Probably this one.
Question: what is "Daria! The Musical"? I know there's an episode called "Daria!", but what is this other one? Is it a sequel?
"Daria! The Musical" is the same as "Daria!" Sorry, shouldn't have invented a new name for it. My bad.
No love for Charlie?
Post a Comment