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Daria's "Melody Powers" story... what a freak :')

posted 8 years ago by Caffeine-Free
5 replies | jump to latest

After all the years I have watched this show and rewatched the series, I still realize new things. Like how the story she tells at the cafe in season one, that starts an anti-communist rally, she mentions again in the episode where she has to read to the residents at a nursing home.

In the cafe episode, it is like she is just trying to be subversive and do the opposite of what Mr. O'Neil wanted by telling such a violent, political story. In the nursing home, WTF is her problem? This is where the "what a freak" comes into it.  Using a DEAF old woman to tell her story to? She even passes up hanging out with Jane to do so.

"Melody Powers sighed as she began picking what was left of Misha out of her hair. She'd look into less aggressive explosives back at H.Q. after her rendezvous with Team Algiers and the intriguing Edouard. 'I hope he's the strong, silent type,' she thought, flicking away one of Misha's molars. 'I've already had one man go to pieces on me today.'"

(Old woman smiles, Daria smiles back)

This episode makes me think she is pretty messed up. Not just her story, but the other disturbing poems she reads to the seniors beforehand too. I feel like this episode showed how dark she really is, but then they copped out that she was only disliked by the elderly because of her low, not cheerful voice.

Maybe they didn't like her because she actually was being kind of terrifying and awful. Then she is rewarded with a deaf person that will unknowingly nod in agreement with her weirdness. Yikes. 

[–] rosepetals334 8 years ago

I feel like it was a cruel (but honest) joker on Daria and how grating and unpleasant her voice sounds, like there is not life in her at all. Jane did a better job reading to people (or she would have, had she been there). But reading those books Daria had chosen herself didn't exactly help her sound any better. The deaf lady could probably read her lips, but she was probably more grateful just to have some company and someone to acknowledge her.

The more personalities you have the less boring you are!

[–] Daria_McCloud 8 years ago

Some of those "disturbing" poems are considered literary classics.

[–] rosepetals334 8 years ago

Yes, they may be, but those classics are too disturbing sounding (especially with daria's voice) to enjoy. All those old people acted like daria was the grim reaper or something.

The more personalities you have the less boring you are!

[–] Caffeine-Free 8 years ago

Even when she was reading the Aesop's Fables or whatever they gave her to read to them, and couldn't resist making snide remarks about the stories. Like mocking the tortoise and the hair and its moral, to name one.

She definitely has a personality disorder of some type, though I'm not sure they ever definitively say what it is. Because she would make herself come across so unappealing (like to the old people) and then get angry when they did not accept her.

'Boxing Daria' toward the end solves a lot, and she starts to grow and make some progress. But in some of the earlier episodes, she really doesn't get it.

[–] andromache3 8 years ago

I disagree about her having a personality disorder. I think Daria just liked to mess with people. She was a teenager, after all, angst ridden or not. It was all about getting a reaction.

"You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you." Mr Darcy