Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Krypto-Revisionism In Daria?
From the Wikipedia, and their amusing article on "Krypto-revisionism" :
"Krypto-revisionism is a concept created and named by writers Steven Grant and Mark Evanier, and describes the rejection by the audience of a storyline, concept, plot, or idea in an ongoing series....This concept is especially crucial in order to enjoy a fictitious universe with numerous authors. For example fans of the Star Trek shared universe may choose to reject any episode that does not fit in with their view of said universe. This is not to say that the viewer denies the episode's existence, but rather mentally sets aside any facts stated in the episode (emphasis mine - JB). A prime example is the Star Trek animated series, which many viewers chose to ignore (and in fact is not considered to be canon); another ignored chapter is Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
My question to writers (as this blog was inspired by the idea to have a blog for writers) is: are you a "Krypto-revisionist" when it comes to Daria? Are there episodes or incidents that you...uh...might ignore when it comes to your view of the Daria universe?
Here are my Top Two Instances of Krypto-Revisionism in Daria:
1. The Beavis and Butt-head Years . These episodes are considered "canon" in that no authority has said that they weren't canon. However, very little explanation or discussion of that time period takes place in Daria fan fiction or Daria discussion.
I believe the reason is that most fans haven't seen all of the B & B episodes with Daria. (I don't believe all the B & B eps have even been released yet.) In some instances, fan might not want to see the episodes, believing B & B to be execrable. Still, there are some questions which have never been satisfactorily answered, namely, why did Daria bother hanging around the little sociopathic butt-munches? Was she really that lonely?
2. Depth Takes A Holiday . In nowhere does it say that this episode is a dream, or a fantasy lark by the writers. As far as the viewer knows,
THESE EVENTS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!
If these events did happen, how come Daria isn't in a mental institution right now? If I were chased by the physical embodiments of holidays, I'd have to make some rapid adjustments in my worldview. And yet, the fans ignore this episode, in the hopes that no one will ever have to explain it. Face it, if you believe "Depth Takes a Holiday" is a dream, you're a Krypto-revisionist. (Of course, that might be a GOOD thing.)
# posted by James @ 2:34 PM 
