Reception
Carol A. Stabile and Mark Harrison, authors of Prime Time Animation: Television Animation and American Culture, said that "for the cerebral, writerly types who liked television Daria was the outcast she-hero who dared to say things they were too scared to say in their teenage years." Van Toffler, then the general manager of MTV, said in 1998 that Daria "has an attitude about parents, school, and siblings that is common to the experiences of our audience. She is a good spokesperson for MTV... intelligent but subversive." A 1997 The Nation article referred to Daria as "a 10th grade Dorothy Parker." Another critic praising the character said that she is like "a 50-year old deadpan Jewish comic in the body of a 16-year-old." Jennifer Vineyard, a writer of My Life as Liz, said "Daria made it cool to be a smart chick." Vineyard added, "Just the presence of people or characters like Daria help make it cool to be yourself. There's a tendency for young girls to play dumb. Characters like Daria show you that you don't have to."
Some commentators believed that the character's deadpan humor had too much morbidity for the teenage audience. A critic said that Daria uses her "omnivorous deadpan" contempt against other people, represented a variety of "living death", and was "a grim reaper in a dress" who was more dangerous than Marilyn Manson. Anita Gates of The New York Times said "And some people like her just because she says mean things. As far as I can tell, with her show well into its third season (new episodes start again on June 30, and there's a four-rerun marathon tonight at 7), Daria has never cracked a smile."
Read more about this topic: Daria Morgendorffer
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