Daria, Alienation, and the Limits of Irony

I always liked Jane more than Daria to be honest. I agree with what you said about Jodie being a mirror to Daria and I think Jane is kinda similar in that she's like if Daria found a creative outlet for all of her rage and cynicism. Don't get me wrong she's still bitter and really cynical but she also believes in something as much as it is fleeting. I don't know how but I think that has to be the way to actually be counter culture now. Cynical nihilism is the new normal and because of that it's radical if you actually care about something. Not in a, "this will solve all of my problems" kind of way but more "nothing matters so I need to make it matter". That said, I hate an idea for a reboot. It may very well be the best thing ever but I honestly don't see it happening. If only because a reboot implies that they're all back in high school and if ANYTHING the last thing relevant to teens today is Daria's edgy 90's cynicism. Everybody who watched Daria back then has grown up from that time and everyone who's old enough to relate to a high school Daria would just see her cynicism as another edge lord that says they don't care about anything. How they expect any of that to work is beyond me. However, while a reboot sounds awful, I would absolutely LOVE a sequel movie or series where all the Daria characters are early to late 20 somethings and they all have weird internet jobs. Jane makes an obscene amount of money doing furry smut commissions on Patreon to fund her passion projects, Quin becomes a lifestyle blogger/podcaster/author, Jodie still attempts to fight the system from within so she probably works at that universe's equivalent of Buzzfeed trying to do hard hitting journalism but is instead making listicles, and Daria is a lefty video essayist! Daria and Jane are still friends and they co-found that universe's version of Clickhole. Is it bad that I actually kinda want that now that I think about it?

There is no need for a reboot. Just rerun the original series. It still holds up.

the best daria revival would be to simple re-air daria.

I loved the synchronicity between Jane and Daria. I always found Jodie to be an interesting contrast to Daria. Jodie couldn’t afford to be a pessimist because her race meant she had to succeed with a smile or not succeed at all. She was a great mental foil/mirror for Daria.

"...no pun intended..." "None taken." I love her.

So it came full circle. Irony and detachment are now mainstream and commercial. It's like Daria went to a liberal arts college and found out all the other students were also Darias. All this proves that irony and detachment are ways of coping and surviving but not ways of truly living or changing anything. They're not enough.

I agree. Daria had a time and place and it has past. Not everything needs a reboot.

every generation thinks their generation was "the good ol days"

Daria deserves to be left alone.

Being a black woman , I related to Jodie especially being seen as the “ token minority “. I also got a lot of pressure from my parents because I was the “ smart one “ so they expect me to have a highly successful career and break stereotypes. I graduated with my bachelors degree last year and it’s still not enough. I plan on going to law school next year and it’s still not good enough for my parents.

"Irony is no longer a way to cope with a hopeless world. It is now the primary way the world markets our own hopelessness back to us." Damn. Damn... Damn. Subscribed.

"Jody actively called out this kind of tokenism. So it's really, really uncomfortable to see that MTV is apparently doing exactly that." oop. someone said it.

I hate to be this direct to MTV but.... ...you're standing on our necks.

It's sad that Daria's outlook on life could be called "wildly optimistic" by 2018 standards.

It's actually really sad. A lot of artists just aren't artists anymore. These large corporations make reboots of our favorite childhood movies and shows for the sole purpose of profiting off them. Not because they want to use their imaginations to create something fresh and breathtaking. They're using nostalgia against us. And the sad thing is, we fall for it everytime.

You see, we live in a society.

"Wokewashing" I love it

The only way the Jodie and Daria show could be interesting if it was about transitioning into early middle age at this point and time. Being woke in your 20 is novel and cute but can you stand to be that bold in your early 40's which is usually when you have a sorta panic about your fleeting youth. It would be fun to watch because you rarely get a show about this stage in a women's life that isn't revolved around sitcom motherhood.

"no pun intended" "none taken" this fucking show is brilliant

I've said this once and I'll say it again. There will never be a show like Daria possibly ever again. It's lighthearted enough and dark enough to have an edge to it but it never crosses the line and being too much to handle. As much as I'd love a revival, I doubt it would ever work as well as it did. Incidentally, this is the show that I frequently watched over and over again. All five seasons of it. Sure, there are stinkers but "Boxing Daria" and "Is It College Yet?" is definitely something I appreciated more because the ending is more than satisfying. It really nailed the ending.