Storytelling: Three Kinds of Stupid

Except for a few other characters, most of the Daria cast can be summed up by one or two personality traits. Like it or not, you can't have sixteen main characters in a television show. (Only fanfiction can do that.)

Some of the very minor characters get exactly one character trait. That's it. Take the Three Js, who are characterized by "obsessed with Quinn and would do anything to please her". That's it. There is no other detail regarding the inner lives of the Js; the purpose of the Js in any Daria episode is to remind the audience that there are guys who really like Quinn. And to provide a few laughs while the audience watches them fight each other.

Jamie's sole purpose is to satisfy the "Rule of Three" in comedy, namely, "item, item, funny item". The joke is that Quinn (and maybe no one else, either) can remember Jamie's name and we get multiple variations on it. (When Jamie is actually identified properly, he is astounded.) The comedy writers were merciful beings however, and in exchange for this omnipresent humiliation Jamie was given a last name, "White", which the other two Js have not been able to earn.

There are three characters in Daria whose primary roles are to be idiotic foils. The best way to illustrate Daria's intelligence is to surround her with obviously stupid people. (See: Beavis, Butthead, and.) An even better way to support the storytelling engine is to give these three students positions of power in the Lawndale High School hierarchy, ensuring that Daria has no hope of avoiding any of them.

The first character is actually a minor character, Tiffany Blum-Deckler, one of the members of the Fashion Club. The Fashion Club are four girls who illustrate the perils of popularity; one of the main characters, Quinn, is included in their number. Not only is Tiffany Blum-Deckler the least interesting of our three dumb foils, she's also the least interesting member of the Fashion Club.

Tiffany's stupidity is the stupidity, of say, a potted plant. She's realllllly dumb, yet because she's good-looking and with the popular clique, she is carried along effortlessly on a floating cloud of popularity. She doesn't say anything that's very funny, and contributes almost nothing to any plot. Tiffany is just there, like Andrea, as background filler.

There's an insipid quality to Tiffany, one of the dullest characters on the show. Stupidity is not always pleasant, and the proof is Tiffany. Like Stacy, you'd probably want to put your head in a noose if you were stuck in an elevator with her. She gets a couple of quirks to flesh her out. One being...the wayyyy...she drawwwss...out....anyyyy...sentennnnce. The other being her perpetual inquiry as to whether or not she looks fat.

She's inevitably seen appling mascara to keep that perfect look perfect, suggesting that Tiffany is not so much weight-obsessed as narcissistic, which strips away any sympathy for her. Another characteristic that limits any sympathy for Tiffany is the fact that she's two-faced, willing to tell Sandi and Quinn whatever they need to hear about the other. Tiffany's only concern seems to be Tiffany, which makes her a rather unsympathetic character. Thankfully, we don't get to see much of her.

We then come to Brittany Taylor. Unlike Tiffany, Brittany was seen as important enough to supply with an entire family. (You know a character is catching on when the writers begin adding background.) Brittany is the head cheerleader and lives in a world almost opposite to that of Daria. Since Brittany and Daria are in the same classes, there is lots of room to have them spend time with each other, and the resulting clash in values should provide some humor.

Brittany (like Kevin, the third character in our triumvirate) provides Mr. DeMartino no end of trouble, and proves a comic foil to any teacher: Brittany is the ultimate "dumb blonde" with a big rack, twirling her hair in her fingers and trying to figure out to which century the Vietnam War belongs.

Brittany, however, provides a "useful" function at the sports-obsessed Lawndale High School, and Daria doesn't. In a society where sports is valued over smarts, Brittany rises to the top, ready to cheer on Kevin Thompson, quarterback of the Lawndale Lions and (naturally) Brittany's boyfriend.

Unlike Tiffany, however, Brittany is not nearly as annoying. Brittany is actually friendly to Daria, and when she says something horrible to Daria -- like, say, inviting her to her party because Daria isn't good-looking enough to make anyone jealous -- she doesn't mean to hurt anyone; she's just dumb. She's the stupid girl that everyone likes, because she has a good heart. Daria puts Brittany down -- and of course, Brittany doesn't get it -- but one doesn't sense hostility as much as exasperation, as in "how could someone this dumb rise to the top?"

Brittany is given some extra characteristics to flesh out her character. She's rather jealous regarding Kevin, to the point of striking him when he pays attention to other girls, but other episodes have shown that Brittany is willing to cheat on Kevin as well. One characteristic -- seen only one time -- was Brittany's mastery of martial arts and military tactics in "The Daria Hunter". Most likely, this characteristic was meant only to make the joke about the "genius ditz", the sort of dumbass character who is oddly a prodigy in one thing and one thing only. Even though the joke was dropped, fan fiction writers have taken this scrap and run with it.

Then we have Kevin Thompson, quarterback of the Lawndale Lions. The best word to describe Kevin Thompson is "clueless". Kevin is always pictured with a smile on his face...and why shouldn't he have one on? He's the high school quarterback, he's got the head cheerleader as a girlfriend, what could possibly be wrong with his life?

Daria finds Kevin's cluelessness as annoying as hell. One gets the sense that Brittany is at least trying to budge that hamster inside her head to do something, but Kevin is quite happy to let the world come to him and let others clean up any messes he might happen to make. He calls attention to himself as "the QB" as if it's a title of honor. Mack always gets called "Mack Daddy" and even though Mack hates that nickname, Kevin never stops using it.

Kevin's character gets fleshed out a little bit. A family is added and he even gets an episode devoted to him ("A Tree Grows in Lawndale"). There's something unattractive about Kevin however. The impression is that Kevin simply doesn't try at all, letting the system work for him and not putting any work in. Kevin will always be a friendly character, and it's out of character to write him as mean or ill-natured, because he isn't. However, he's not an admirable person or a confidante. He cheats on Brittany and doesn't seem to worry much about being found out. Hey, he's the QB...why should he worry?

A running joke through the series is that Kevin is an awful student (DUH!) but is floated through high school by an administration that looks the other way so that they can have a great quarterback for the football team. In the very last episode -- "Is It College Yet?" -- a hint of realism is introduced into the Daria universe. Like many other sports stars, both in high school and in college, the minute his usefulness ends he is cast aside. Kevin has flunked his classes and now that he can no longer serve as QB, Ms. Li and the system stop helping him. Kevin doesn't graduate, Brittany promises to stay with him (but has her fingers crossed), and he's forced to attend graduation ludicrously incognito. Believe it or not, I actually found Kevin's fate unsettling, but there's no argument that he somehow didn't deserve it.

So why bunch up these three stupid characters? To show that one character trait - stupidity -- can be applied in several different ways. If there was one word you could use to describe any of the three characters above, it would be "stupid"...but with the right background and right touches, none of the characters have to be alike.