The Other Daria

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the premier of the Beavis and Butt-head episode "Tainted Meat," in which extremely gross things were witnessed by Daria Morgendorffer. All of these gross things had to go with Beavis, of course.

Today is the 62nd birthday of actress Daria Halprin, for whom many fans thought Daria the cartoon character was named. (She wasn't. Wish we had more information about the namesake.) Daria Halprin is best known for her starring role in Zabriskie Point, a 1970 counterculture movie (with its own fandom) that has something to do with this Daria fanfic. (Details here.) Daria Halprin in real life eventually became an expressive arts therapist.

If you want to explore the Daria Morgendorffer/Daria Halprin connection further, you should check out Inaria's long-ago remark that Daria M. might have been named for the actress because her parents liked the movie Zabriskie Point. (Maybe Helen and Jake made out at the real Zabriskie Point in college.) This thought was followed by Scissors MacGillicutty's ficlet in which two Highland movie critics discuss Zabriskie Point, and finally UU's announcement of the passing of Michelangelo Antonioni, who directed the movie and thus had something in common with Glenn Eichler.

Exploring the origins of Daria M.'s name led to the discovery of the real reason why Daria hung out with B&B, and the origins of the "Diarrhea, Cha Cha Cha" song of which B&B were so fond. (Indeed, the "origins song" has its own blog! It's even in the Urban Dictionary! Is the Internet wonderful or what?) And we've come back around to the duo who gave us "Tainted Meat": the perfect circular blog post. Enjoy your day!

A Question of Altitude

Not to press the point too much about Daria being stumpy or anything, but this is another shot from Tainted Meat, part of the B&W class photo taken with Daria in the front row. Beavis is off-screen scratching himself. We have a nice shot of the two Kimberlys, Butt-head, and even part of Cassandra at left. Punk Kimberly is a head taller than Daria, who was probably about 5'1" here (she grew an inch in Lawndale, I assume). The Kimberly in back, and Butt-head too, are standing on risers so we can't tell how tall they are compared to Daria, exactly.

Anyway, just an interesting thought. Wonder what Daria thought about being shorter than everyone else. She looks like such a little thing. I don't recall much being said about this in fanfic.

You Probably Shouldn't Read This If You Have a Weak Stomach

The Beavis and Butt-head episode "Tainted Meat" premiered today 14 years ago on MTV. Daria appeared in two segments, not saying a word in either one. However, in this scene, she was working on a timed test in Mr. Van Dreissen's class when she heard something and turned around to see Beavis with his hand inside his pants, furiously scratching his crotch. Beavis's intimate hygiene issues are the focus of the episode, which can be in full on the MTV site at the above link. Be warned that it might be just a teeny weeny bit of a gross out. Srsly. You might never eat at a restaurant again.

Daria also appears in the front row of a class photo in the same episode, Beavis off to one side still scratching himself. Daria stands next to the punk girl Kimberly, who is far taller than stubby li'l Daria.

I honestly don't think that Daria ate at any Highland restaurant at which she knew either of these two worked. I just can't see it. It's incredible that the experience didn't turn her off to hamburgers, but you wonder if she used her knowledge of this episode's events to good effect later on in the Daria episode "Fat Like Me," when she tricks her father out of his hamburger (see the very end of the script). Clever little minx, isn't she?

Latest entry in DariaWiki is . . . oh, ha ha, very funny. Insult my true love, see if I care.


FF.net

• Falling Into College 64: Arrivals and Returns, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!)

PPMB

• Arrival, by Legendeld (Part 6): “Shouldn’t we be cheering for the girls?” Jane asked. “No," said Quinn, "I want to see how he kills this one.”
• Fundamental Daria: Indefinite Leave to Remain, by Disco316 (COMPLETE!): Daria heard a knock on her door. Crossing the living room to her front door, she narrowly avoided tripping over the ottoman. She opened the door and found her visitor smiling. “Hi Ja…Trent?”
• Heartless (IC: Evil Jane), by NightGoblyn (COMPLETE!): Won't spoil it. Read it and marvel.
• Invading, by Lorenzo Sauchelli (preview of Part 3): Donatello has done a very dumb thing....
• Order and Chaos, by Legendeld (Part 17): Talk about your one-man armies!
• Two Halves, by Dark Kuno (continued): “No,” yelled Jane. “I’m completely naked and helpless in here!”