No show did dark humor like "Daria." Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for some of the best instances of black humor on “Daria.”
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00:00Melody walked calmly away toward the hotel.
00:03There'd be a message there from HQ, no doubt. She hoped she had time for a shower.
00:11Welcome to Ms Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for some of the best instances
00:18of black humour on Daria.
00:20You really feel strongly about this.
00:23What do you mean?
00:24Well, you're talking to us.
00:27This is specific to the title character's own twisted sense of humour,
00:32and won't include any sick sad world segments or comments from other characters.
00:38Number 10, one of the lucky ones, I don't.
00:41Aunt Amy proves that dark humour runs in the family.
00:45I don't mind if you dance, but change the radio station and you're a dead man.
00:49At the wedding of Daria's cousin Erin,
00:52Amy mistakes her sister's new boyfriend for an old one.
00:56When he asks what happened to the late Paul, Quinn claims he fell onto a cow,
01:02causing Daria to add,
01:04And he was one of the lucky ones.
01:06Girls!
01:07to the chagrin of her mother.
01:09Amy immediately defends Daria,
01:12suggesting that the joke added some much-needed levity to the senseless tragedy.
01:17Hey, what's the point of a senseless tragedy if you can't find a little humour in it?
01:21Following this interaction, Aunt Amy would become one of Daria's few adult confidants,
01:27giving the teen advice on everything from contact lenses to how to deal with her mother.
01:33Your mother hasn't had a stroke, has she?
01:36Well, I haven't checked her in the last half hour.
01:38Number 9, couldn't shoot my own mother, the Daria Hunter.
01:43Daria and her mother don't always see eye to eye,
01:46particularly in the show's early seasons.
01:50In The Daria Hunter, Helen even has an argument with Lawndale's principal,
01:55Ms. Lee, about whether it's her daughter's home or school environment
01:59that causes her to have such a perpetually bad attitude.
02:04With all due respect, I can't think of a prison
02:07that could create an attitude like your daughter's, much less a school.
02:10No, I always assumed that came from interaction with her parents.
02:14During the school's outdoor paintball competition, Helen comes across her daughter,
02:18who is on the opposing team.
02:21She points her paint gun at Daria, who immediately surrenders.
02:25Instead of shooting, Helen chastises her daughter for giving up so easily,
02:31causing Daria to claim her lack of action was an act of kindness, sort of.
02:38Daria, you could at least try.
02:40I can't shoot my own mother, not with paint anyway.
02:43Number 8, realistic fantasies, college bored.
02:47Although Daria may not be in a rush to map out her future,
02:51that doesn't mean she can't fantasise about it.
02:55In College Bored, a teacher asks Daria and her classmates
02:59to think about what they want out of higher education.
03:02Jane dreams about being able to afford a workspace in New York,
03:06where her art is praised by critics.
03:10Brilliant, just like your art.
03:13Daria is less idealistic.
03:16In her fantasy, the teen imagines a professor
03:20asking her to teach at a graduate school in Paris.
03:24I'm not really sure I want to be a professional student.
03:27But I don't want you to study, I want you to teach.
03:30Although she is initially interested in the offer,
03:34it's quickly tainted by the professor's admission that he only wants her out
03:39so he can use her vacant dorm room to have affairs with other students.
03:45Even her subconscious is a cynic.
03:48Now I can use your dorm room to carry on affairs
03:50with some of the more beautiful undergraduates.
03:54How come even in my fantasies everyone's a jerk?
03:57Number 7, campfire story, the teachings of Don Jake.
04:02While camping, the Morgendorfers take turns
04:05telling scary stories around the campfire, to varying degrees of success.
04:11Helen's story is a bit too erotically charged for her audience,
04:16while Quinn's lacks any fear factor.
04:19Daria's is naturally the most horrific of the bunch,
04:24being a graphic retelling of Hansel and Gretel.
04:27And within minutes had devoured the rest of his body,
04:30leaving only the lower intestine for fear of bacteria.
04:33It has her family shaking, but we think its delivery is as funny as it is scary.
04:40Gretel she decided to hold on to for a while,
04:42so she crammed her into the freezer as best she could.
04:45This isn't the first or last time Daria uses her writing talents to shock those around her.
04:52In Cafe Diseffecto, she reads a story about a communist killing spy
04:57to a crowd at a local coffee shop, inspiring a riot.
05:02I could have loved you if you weren't as red as the blood stain now spreading across the sand.
05:07And in The Old and the Beautiful,
05:10she shares a similarly violent tale with an elderly deaf woman.
05:14I hope he's the strong, silent type she thought flicking away one of Misha's molars.
05:19I've already had one man go to pieces on me today.
05:236. Passive-Aggressive Snark – Jane's Edition
05:28In its first three seasons, the kinds of romantic relationships that are so
05:33commonplace in other teen shows are largely absent in the world of Daria.
05:38Sure, Daria has a crush on her best friend's brother Trent, but that's all it is – a crush.
05:44It wasn't until the show's third season finale that an
05:47actual romantic interest was introduced for the show's misanthropic protagonists.
05:52Hey Daria, if you want me to leave, just say so.
05:55Okay, bye now.
05:56Tom first meets Jane at one of Trent's gigs and takes her for a ride, leaving Daria alone.
06:03Annoyed, Daria rings up her bestie the next morning and opens with this
06:08darkly comedic line, acknowledging the dangers of running off with a stranger.
06:14Oh gee, did I wake you? I guess that means you haven't been murdered. Well, that's good.
06:205. It's Enough to Turn Your Stomach – This Year's Model
06:25I can't take my glasses off. I need them to see scam artists.
06:30Modeling is a decidedly anti-Daria pursuit, a fact she makes clear in this early episode.
06:38Daria's school invites talent scouts to give modeling classes to select students
06:43in return for funding. The teen finds the whole situation hypocritical
06:48and cracks a dark joke about it making her nauseated.
06:52The whole thing's enough to turn your stomach,
06:54which I guess is good if you want to be a model, eases the transition to bulimia.
06:58Whether or not this joke is appropriate or even funny is up for debate.
07:04It is a sensitive topic after all.
07:07But Daria would later prove that her sympathies lie with those with disordered eating
07:13by working with Jane on a provocative art piece highlighting the issue.
07:194. Daria and Jane's Accidental Prediction – The Misery Chick
07:31For an animated comedy about teenagers, this episode is actually pretty profound.
07:37It also has one of the series' darkest jokes.
07:40You're on my locker.
07:42Do you know who I am? Tommy Sherman?
07:45After seeing celebrated Lawndale alumnus Tommy Sherman insult or harass everyone he comes across,
07:53Daria expresses her frustration with the fact that he'll be celebrated for the rest of his life.
08:00Jane jokes that he might not live that long, to which Daria replies,
08:05Come on, you know wishes don't come true.
08:08Immediately after the exchange, Tommy actually dies.
08:12Jane is shocked and ultimately regrets her joke.
08:17Well, I don't like it when I say people should die and then they do.
08:20But Daria doesn't feel the same.
08:23She acknowledges his death as sad, but if given the chance,
08:27it doesn't seem like she'd take back what she said.
08:31He shouldn't have died.
08:33No.
08:34But he wasn't a nice guy.
08:36No.
08:38Wisecracks in a crisis.
08:40Fire.
08:41Making quips about the world around her is second nature to Daria.
08:46So much so that she even finds time to joke when her life is in danger.
08:51When her dad's midnight snack turns into a fiery disaster,
08:56Daria is abruptly awoken by his panicked yelling.
09:00Instead of reacting with the urgency usually associated with these kinds of emergency situations,
09:09she just puts on her glasses and delivers a joke in her usual monotone.
09:21Thankfully, everyone makes it out of the house unscathed,
09:24and only the kitchen suffers major damage.
09:28But Daria's unrelenting dedication to sarcasm in the face of danger is still pretty impressive.
09:40No. 2 Career Aptitude Test
09:43It happened one nut.
09:45For students like Jane, yearly career aptitude tests are nothing but a welcome time waster.
09:52She answers C and gets the same results each year.
09:56An accountant.
09:57Daria, on the other hand, answers sincerely and is given the role of mortician.
10:09Though she seems uncomfortable with her result,
10:12that doesn't stop her from hilariously riffing off of her mother's questioning about her future.
10:19Have you given any thought to your career plans?
10:22I guess I'll just wait around for people to kick the bucket.
10:24Unfortunately for her, Helen doesn't find her quips quite as funny as we do.
10:31Daria ends up having to get a job at a nut counter in the mall to appease her mom.
10:37Welcome to It's a Nutty Nutty Nutty World. We're just nuts about nuts.
10:42Wearing a squirrel-themed outfit that we're sure makes her wish she was six feet under.
10:50Let's go cruise the mall in case there's
10:51someone I know who hasn't seen me in my nutty world uniform.
11:071. Praying for the End – Daria
11:15In the midst of a pet rally, the students of Lawndale High are informed that a hurricane
11:20is approaching and they'll need to go home. Some students fear for their lives,
11:29while others express concern about the cancellation of the night's big football game.
11:34Daria and Jane do neither. Hiding out on the roof,
11:39the two girls learn about the oncoming storm from a newspaper and are immediately celebratory.
11:46I always knew that I would die in Nowheresville, but I didn't think I'd die there quite so soon.
11:52Daria likes that the hurricane could inconvenience her sister Quinn,
11:57while Jane happily suggests that it could take out the mall.
12:00My sister would have nowhere to stay. The mall would be gone and that's okay.
12:08At one point, the girls even get on their knees and pray for their town to blow away.
12:15Oh, and did we mention they express all of these dark desires in song?
12:21You've got to be manly. Manly.
12:25My great aunt could do better and she's dead.
12:27Do you have a favorite darkly funny Daria moment? Let us know in the comments.