Jodie Landon...I know all too well.

I love the show Daria. It just came out on DVD a little over a week ago. I finally own the show (they don't air it on tv at all).

I can relate to Daria in the sense that I am misanthropic, cynical, and have low expectations for just about everyone. I am also realistic just like Daria.

But there is another character I strongly relate to...Jodie Landon.

She is one of the few black students at the school. One thing I like about her is that she isn't the stereotype. Her black boyfriend is like the only smart guy on the football team and like the rationality to the irrationality that is dumb jock Kevin.

Jodie is smart, an over achiever, and a go-getter. She is also a people pleaser. In one episode I just watched called "Gifted" she and Daria talk about their "process". Jodie explains that at home she is just Jodie but because of the lack of diversity in Lawndale she feels she has been burdened with the responsibility of being the representative for black people.

This is basically the explanation as to why she is a perfectionist. She wants people to have a positive image of blacks. We all know how doing the slightest wrong thing can make a white person see all black people in a bad light. I have been the representative at times too and its stressful.

Jodie's character also highlights the annoyance of being a token and how it is racist itself. She and Mack are always chosen as homecoming king and queen. They know its because the town wants to "pride" itself on diversity even though it sorely lacks diversity.

That scene also takes note in how Jodie (and Mack) also do what many of us blacks do sometimes...and that is shirk the principles for the gains. In that case, it would look good on their college applications.

There is another example of this in Partner Complaints where a racist banker refuses to Jodie a loan or to even have her dad cosign but will let Daria. But when he finds out who Jodie's dad is, he starts kissing up. So on principle she leaves. But at the next banker she immediately name drops. This angers Daria, a strong principles person.

It was understandable as to why Jodie name dropped with the second banker. She didn't want to reward the first one, and at the same time, the race fight gets tiresome. She wanted to prevent the possibility of a repeat from happening.

Also, her method ensured they got their assignment done, which was to secure a loan.

Basically, Jodie is about dropping her principles for the greater good of winning or succeeding. I can relate to that myself. You got people like Daria who prefer the right thing over smart thing and people like Jodie who prefer the smart thing over the right thing but who hopes there is a case where they are both.

There was another episode, Mall of the Millenium, where she criticized the executives for using her and the other students as "research" and when the executives decided to give everyone a $20 coupon to be quiet, she shirked away her principles, in fact everyone but Daria did.