With the new “Beavis and Butthead” reboot streaming on Paramount+, people have started to ask about the “Daria” reboot that was announced in 2018.
This is a controversial choice on MTV’s part. “Daria” was a product of its time. It was a show meant to relate to teens during the weird period of time between the end of the Cold War and before 9/11. This reboot has been compared to the “Beavis and Butthead” reboot, since they were originally from the same show, but I don’t think these shows can be compared.
“Beavis and Butthead” is a satire on the way media views slackers as “cool.” This message still stands for current children. This message will always connect to the current generation because kids aren’t always the smartest. Dumb trends plague every generation.
“Beavis and Butthead” isn’t just a good satire, it’s a good comedy. It has a purpose besides being a political statement. “Daria” is different. Daria is humanizing. While “Beavis and Butthead” had very few humanizing moments, they didn’t make up the show.
I think the online critic Michael Saba said it best: “The brilliant thing about ‘Daria’ is that it doesn’t just settle for satire and deconstruction, it went to great lengths to humanize its main characters and show that their all battling similar insecurities.”
“Daria” was a deeply caring, sensitive and principled person in a cold, popularity-driven, upper class world during a time where military praise was on the rise, and rebellion was nothing but that weird thing Kurt Cobain sang about on MTV that made the current generation weak. This show and its characters simply could not fit into the kind of show MTV is pushing for. This isn’t just because of the Marxist alienation “Daria” showed.
Daria and Jodie were never friends. They were two people who had a respect for each other. They butted heads much more than they got along. She was the opposite to Daria and Jane’s cynical world. She went with the flow to keep the peace. She was seen as a role model for upper-class black women. She said it herself: “I am the role model for the other African American teens at Lawndale.” She knew that the people around her were just average country club folks in the ‘90s, a time where the country club scene became more inclusive.
This reboot goes against what she stood for. She wasn’t like Daria. The reboot is using her for the one thing she was meant to critique. This show disrespects the original message these characters and the show as a whole held. Being cynical and ironic isn’t a fresh take anymore. Shows like “Rick and Morty,” “BoJack Horseman,” “The Midnight Gospel” and “Smiling Friends” all do a better job at acknowledging shortcomings in today’s world, even if each show has a different outlook on them.
MTV wants to cash in on current political comedies that resonate with younger viewers while still maintaining a show that can support Gen X and elder millennials who watched “Daria” while they were growing up. In theory this sounds like a good idea, but it’s really not. You can’t change the dynamics of a show and the relationships of its characters and still expect it to hold up to the same demographic like “Beavis and Butthead” did. The show doesn’t hold the same unique edge that it did in the ‘90s. It’s going to be nostalgic for a while, then fade into the obscurity of the other young adult comedies.
The reboot is flipping everything that drew in its original viewers. It’s not cool anymore, it’s normal. The pioneer of cynical attitudes deserves better than the cash grab reboot meant to expand Viacom’s library. She was meant to represent the weird girl subculture that grew during the ‘90s grunge era. She can’t keep her essence while still appealing to enough people to succeed. Daria is a character who can only work in a certain time that’s already passed. Nobody would hate this money hungry reboot more than the icon herself. They really are standing on her neck, milking every ounce of sarcasm they can.
