Daria S1 E2

Daria S1 E2

The Invitation

We get a better look at the character of Brittany. She sees like the stereotypical wealthy, blonde cheerleader with little more than air between her ears, but she’s a surprisingly genuine person. When someone does something for her, she wants to balance the scales, and she can put her foot down when her actually moronic boyfriend Kevin gets on her nerves. SHe’s also surprisingly socially conscious, highly aware of what people think of her. Another character we meet for the first time is Charles ‘Upchuck’ Ruttheimer, the school’s resident creep, a mainstay of shows of this time period. He makes sporadic appearances during the series, but thankfully he’s given some depth so the joke doesn’t wear thin like other characters of his ilk would eventually be.

Daria’s one-liners are in full force and fine form, first messing with the guys who approach her and Jane, then embarrassing Quinn by exposing her secrets to her admirers. As someone with a limited social battery, I can understand their desire to leave as soon as they are sick of the entire situation. So they have some fun messing around with people driving up to the entry gate, thanks to the previous guard leaving his hat behind.

This is a really fun second outing for the series, focusing more on the girl’s social lives, putting them in a classic Highschool situation and watching how things can go wrong and right. There’s an interesting commentary to be made on popularity and social status. There’s scenes where members of the fashion club talk about the various attendees and what has made them popular or not, almost immediately noticing how Jane and Daria don’t fit in amongst the others. On the other hand, Brittany is extremely popular given her wealth and position as a cheerleader yet she opens her home to everyone. Daria and Jane pretend to have authority over arriving drivers because they have a specific hat. All in all, popularity is really nothing more than how much or little your peers think of you rather than anything actually quantifiable. Simply put, you should aim to be your most genuine self, rather than trying to please everyone.