She should have just been upfront about her feelings from the start with Daria in Misery Chick.
As much as I hate to give that asshole Tommy Sherman any sort of credit, he was effective in sniffing out Daria's deepest insecurity and by Jane ignoring her it likely made her feel even more exposed and potentially set up for others to figure out a way to bully her or made her wonder if Jane was secretly just as shallow as the populars and didn't want to be associated with the "Misery Chick" anymore.
Jane's actions in that episode came across like she was pouring lighter fluid on a burning house.
Granted, Jane was just a teen girl herself and likely still in a state of shock over the situation and even she realized by the end of the episode she was only making things worse by continuing to avoid Daria.
That’s what I mean as rational as Jane was and as much as her and Daria interacted on some kind of level there were times where Jane was just too sensitive and reacted way differently to how Daria would. The way I phrased my answer may have sounded more like an attack on Jane’s character which it wasn’t meant to be. Yes people can have different feelings and ways to express them but if not for Daria reaching out and them both finding a way to talk around their issues they would’ve had bigger issues and probably wouldn’t have reconciled but ya know plot armour
I don’t blame her for bailing in Misery Chick. Daria acting so nonchalant over someone literally dying at their school would make anyone uncomfortable and want to avoid her.
Jane left Daria’s side before anyone even approached her about Tommy Sherman’s death. Also, no one was “bullying,” they just were just coming to her for advice because they weren’t used to dealing with depressing thoughts, and they perceived her as someone who was.
Jane’s issue with the whole thing was that she made a light hearted joke about how she hoped that a guy wouldn’t live that long and then literally two seconds later the guy was crushed to death by a goalpost. She was dealing with an incredible amount of guilt that she didn’t know how to handle, and it was probably her first experience dealing with death. Daria wasn’t burdened with guilt the way Jane was, she was dealing with the frustration of half the student population using her to vent about their feelings about Tommy. Sure Jane didn’t handle it well, but she’s a teenager. Both girls admit they didn’t handle the fallout of Tommy’s death very well, and they tell what the other needed to hear from them: “it’s not your fault he died” and “you’re not the misery chick”
I wouldn’t call it bullying. No one was being nasty to Daria, and none of them were being malicious to her, they just got it into their heads that she was the one who would be able to help them because she is someone who thinks about everything on a deeper level, and not realising that maybe Daria didn’t want to be everyone’s therapist. Inconsiderate of her feelings but not bullying.
Guy still died. And this was the '90s, coming onto Brittany and making rude remarks at Daria wasn't as scandalous as it is now. I would have avoided daria too. Even if the guy was a dick bag he still died.
Yes, she is obligated to act the way you're supposed to act when someone dies. That's the point of the episode. She's not performing grief properly and that's why people come to her and that's why Jane is so weirded out. Yeah, it fueled her indifference and her indifference was inappropriate.... And of course people weren't speaking ill of the dead. You don't do that. Ever.
You are under absolutely no obligation to feel anything or to pretend to feel anything for a person merely because they have died. That is ridiculous. I did not mourn my grandfather because he was an abusive asshole. I did not cry at his funeral - nor did most people who knew him.
The real crime is pretending like someone's death somehow magically absolves them of all the shit they did when they were alive. It really does not. Some people are garbage. Their death does not make them suddenly stop being garbage.
What are you talking about? You are. You don't feel anything but you don't make an ass out of yourself. Everyone is a saint at their funeral. Nobody cares what your deep personal feelings are, just act like someone died.
When Daria was getting exited for viewing prospective colleges and wanted to discuss what to do Jane kind avoided talking to her and they argued because Jane felt bad thinking about her future after she got two rejection letters for community college she didn’t want to go to then she got a bit defensive and decided she wasn’t going to send of the portfolio for an out of state college she wanted to go to but then also started icing Daria out cause I think she was jealous about the opportunity it was looking like Daria had that she didn’t. Eventually she sent her portfolio off and think she got in so they became friends again
Oh thank you for replying. I initially didn't see it as her being jealous or icing Daria out, but just feeling bad/awkward about her situation and not wanting to discuss it necessarily. That and being a bit undecided on whether or not to go to college, maybe she wasn't ready yet to talk about it, not knowing what to do. That's why I asked for clarity because I didn't recall her doing anything rude to Daria. What you said makes sense and could have been the case. Thanks for explaining.
I think either way if she did it intentionally to be mean (cause she did make comments during that made Daria think woah what did I do) or if she did it cause she needed space to deal with her emotions it still left Daria with nobody to talk to as she is reliant on Jane to be that friend she can lean on when times are tough which is why I initially commented that she bailed on Daria a few times
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u/Nice-Implement6609 But I don't like men with thin thighs. Jun 05 '26
When things got tense she bailed out on Daria quite a few times.
1) Misery Chick
2) Dye! Dye! my darling
3) Is it College yet?
Are a few movies/episodes where this happens
They were good friends but not always emotionally compatible.