msstock87

Hyde did support Donna a lot and it seemed like Jackie supported Donna a lot. I sometimes wish we saw Donna being supportive more.

MistyMountainHop

Donna does support Jackie quite a bit, and Eric, and even Kelso. And she pretends to be Fez's girlfriend so Caroline will leave him alone. But most of her "support" of Hyde came by pointing out to him and Jackie in the later seasons how much they love each other or are right for each other.

In season 1, she does tell Hyde she'll always be his friend -- and then Hyde uses that as an opening to invade her boundaries and ignore her no. But after Hyde's character is, thankfully, overhauled in late season 1, I don't think Donna expresses concern for his homelife or has any reaction about Bud coming back to town, etc. She isn't involved in the more intense moments of Hyde's life.

But that's a fault in the writing. If she and Hyde were as close as they seem to be when he supports her, and we've seen how supportive she can be of Jackie and Eric, then she would've been there for Hyde -- had some kind of thoughts about his life -- when he was experiencing heavy stuff.

msstock87

I guess what bothers me a bit about Donna, and Eric too is when Jackie and Hyde first started dating, they seemed more concerned about Kelso who cheated on Jackie multiple times, and left her than they were concerned about Jackie. I sometimes wish that was rewritten.

MistyMountainHop

Yes, that's terrible. The show's POV seemed to be that Kelso was a victim in this situation, and the writers used Eric and Donna to be the representatives of that POV. It's so backward. Especially when Jackie pursues Hyde in season 3, and no one says anything about how that might hurt Kelso's feelings. Donna worries that Jackie will get hurt because Hyde doesn't reciprocate her feelings and that Hyde is being hurt by Jackie's relentless pursuit. But she never says, "What about Kelso? You're going after his best friend!" etc.

msstock87

Right! It's like in season five they were only worried about Kelso's feelings and not how Jackie had a right to find happiness.

MistyMountainHop

Even Hyde doesn't say anything about this early on. He's apologetic toward Kelso when he should've said, "Hey, you cheated on Jackie a zillion times, and she forgave you while you stalked her and treated her like crap when she kissed one guy who wasn't you one time. Then you ran off on her and cheated on her again, and you expect her not to move on? Man, who gives a crap if it's with me? You got no say in what Jackie does with her life or who she does it with. Iif you actually cared about her, you'd want her to be happy, no matter who it's with."

Donna, in the background, says, "You tell him!"

msstock87

Hyde should have stood up for them as well, it was a difficult situation to be in.

MistyMountainHop

It's very frustrating. :pout;

Anyway, how do you think Jackie and Donna's friendship would've been different if they'd grown up being friends instead of becoming friends in high school?

msstock87

It might have been. They might have understood each other's living situations more.

MistyMountainHop

They might've not been so insulting of each other, too. Had each other's backs even more, defending the other to people who didn't see past their surface.

msstock87

Totally. I think we could have done with less insults and more having each other's back.

MistyMountainHop

The show, like many sitcoms, relied on insult humor a lot. Fortunately, it wasn't just that, but in the later seasons, insult humor often replaced actual characterization.

I wonder what kind of birthday and/or Christmas presents Jackie and Donna bought -- or made -- each other over the years.

msstock87

I have often wondered that myself. I can see Jackie giving Donna makeup, but also maybe an album she really liked.

MistyMountainHop

Maybe makeup lessons to go with the makeup? Donna might not appreciate that Jackie doesn't think she knows how to apply makeup well.

msstock87

She might not, but Donna may end up loving how she looks!