Grownkoski Blog: that 70s show donna

Sunday, October 16, 2011

that 70s show donna

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Donna resides in the fictional Wisconsin town of Point Place, where she lives with her parents, Midge and Bob Pinciotti. Early in the series, her younger sister, 14-year-old Tina (played by Amanda Fuller), appears in the episode "Eric's Burger Job" but is never seen again, nor do other characters mention her after the first season. At the end of the season 2 episode "Vanstock," this is made fun of when a narrator asks "Whatever happened to Midge's other daughter, Tina?" Donna also had an older sister, Valerie Pinciotti ("Eric's Birthday"). She apparently was in college as revealed by Midge. As Eric is turning 17, Midge shows Kitty a book of poems that helped her "when Valerie went off to school". These are examples of "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome" (see Happy Days). Donna also mentions having an uncle Carmine in Hoboken, New Jersey, who she hints is in the Mafia.

An intelligent, witty teenager with feminist ideals, Donna is outwardly confident and strong, at times to the point of coming across as arrogant, self-righteous, and over-confident. She calls upon these personal qualities to deal with her personal issues, such as her parents' shaky relationship, and the revelation that they conceived her while in high school. She believes that she's had it the hardest out of the gang until Hyde is revealed to have faced most of these problems and not once complained. The characteristics and physical appearance of Donna Pinciotti were actually based on a girl who grew up in the same neighborhood as one of the writers in Miami, Florida named Leigh.

Nonetheless, Donna still considers herself feminine, at times becoming insulted when people overlook it. When Kitty Forman needed two people with a "feminine touch" to decorate for Hyde's birthday party, she chose Jackie and Fez. An angry Donna wanted to "kick her ass" for that, insisting "What the hell? I'm feminine! Damnit, why can't anybody freakin see that?!" This suggests that while Donna takes pride in her feminist beliefs, she still considers herself feminine, and simply doesn't want to restrict herself to "girly" activities. In several episodes, she is flattered at being perceived as an object of desire, especially when she becomes "Hot Donna" at a radio station.

Despite many of the guys' obvious attraction to her, she only dated two of the main characters, with Jackie having the most boyfriends within the primary cast. Donna was with Eric for six seasons, and she was hoping they could been together, but as she says herself: "It was all Eric's fault for taking that stupid job".