Daria: Too Cute (1997)

The politics of fashion, beauty, and popularity play an even bigger role than usual in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. Kevin (voice of Marc Thompson) becomes the first victim of these powerful social forces when Ms. Barch (voice of Ashley Albert) assigns him an experiment: disguise his good looks behind a Quasimodo-like getup and gauge the reactions of everyday people. As Lawndale's dim quarterback learns what it means to be ugly, Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes) discovers that being merely almost perfect can also prove problematic. The entire Fashion Club is abuzz with news of fellow student Brooke's new nose job, but Quinn fails to manufacture the appropriately hyperbolic praise. Sandi (voice of Lisa Collins) accuses rival Quinn of thinking she's better than the others, then browbeats her into thinking she's actually not cute enough herself. Soon Quinn is pleading with Helen (voice of Wendy Hoopes) and Jake (voice of Julian Rebolledo) for some surgical assistance. When they turn her down, she enlists the help of sister Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) in cutting class and making a cross-town trip to visit with cosmetic surgeon Dr. Shar. The gullible, insecure Quinn falls prey to the plastic-looking plastic surgeon's sales pitch, but Daria is strong enough to tear her away. Daria also has to contend with Dr. Shar's promises that she, too, can be transformed to match a grotesquely exaggerated computer simulation of beauty. In the end, Daria's atypically affirming assurances convince Quinn not to go under the knife -- or perhaps it's just because Brooke's extensive physical alterations don't turn out quite as advertised. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi