Donna Pinciotti
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| Donna Pinciotti | |
|---|---|
| File:606-58.jpg | |
| First appearance | That '70s Pilot |
| Last appearance | That '70s Finale |
| Created by | Mark Brazill |
| Portrayed by | Laura Prepon |
| In-universe information | |
| Family | Midge Pinciotti (mother) Bob Pinciotti (father) |
| Spouse | Eric Forman (boyfriend, ex-fiancee) Casey Kelso (ex-boyfriend) Randy Pearson (ex-boyfriend) |
Donna Pinciotti (born June 5, 1960) is a fictional character in the FOX sitcom, That '70s Show. Played by Laura Prepon, Donna is the longtime girlfriend of next-door neighbor Eric Forman.
Family, friends, and ideals
Donna resides in the fictional Wisconsin town of Point Place, where she lives with her parents, Midge and Bob Pinciotti. Early in the series, there is mention made of her younger sister, Tina, though she is only seen on screen once and not mentioned after the first season. An older sister, Valerie, was once referred to as being at college, but never mentioned again.
An intelligent, witty, red/blonde-haired, athletic teenager with feminist ideals, Donna is outwardly confident and strong, sometimes to the point of coming across as arrogant or self-righteous, though usually laid back and easy going. She calls upon these personal qualities to deal with her personal issues, such as the shaky relationship of her father and mother, who conceived her while in high school.
She has some difficulty expressing her feminine side, because she views traditional feminine traits as restraining and outdated. She dislikes skirts, makeup, and dresses, and insists on wearing jeans at all times, but she will dress nice for a special occasion and tried "being pretty" for her prom and for a trip to a nightclub, where the bouncer judged her "foxy". Jackie Burkhart repeatedly calls Donna a "lumberjack" due to her penchant for plaid shirts and her tall stature. Jackie once said of Donna, "She's nice and all, but she kinda dresses like a trucker." She also teases Donna for her gargantuan feet.
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, simply not wanting 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.
Jackie appoints herself as Donna's best friend early on, often giving her advice that sounds superficial and useless but often turns out to be unnervingly true (example: "Eric would never want Donna to be his girlfriend if she kept beating him at everything, especially sports" - from "Battle of the Sexists"). The haughty Jackie genuinely thinks that she's better looking than Donna and that Donna is generally not attractive, yet still thinks Donna could do better than Eric. When angry or annoyed at Donna, Jackie will often refer to her as "giant" or "Amazon". Despite their differences, Donna eventually accepts Jackie and decides to keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble, since Jackie doesn't always show the best common sense, and on more than one occasion Donna has ridiculed Jackie for stupidity and also for her small stature, calling her a "midget" or "mosquito".
Relationships
Donna's relationship with next-door neighbor Eric Forman was often the main focus of the series. However, it was tumultuous at times, having suffered two break ups during the show's run. Despite this, Eric and Donna often act as the "parents" of the group, being mature and responsible when their friends are not so, shown in episodes like "Dine and Dash". Eric was sometimes threatened by the fact that he feels inferior to her, especially during the third season when she gets a job as a radio personality named "Hot Donna."
Donna was a virgin at the start of the first season, and was very reluctant to consummate her relationship with Eric and wanted to wait for the right time. Donna and Eric finally lost their virginity in season 2. Their sexual activity was revealed in a very humiliating manner when a policeman caught them having sex in the back of Eric's car and took them back to his parents home, where Red forced Donna to tell her parents or else he would tell them. This further cemented Kitty's subconscious view of Donna as a rival for the role of being the primary woman in Eric's life.
Towards the end of season 3 Donna's job as a radio DJ was taking priority over her relationship with Eric, causing her to blow their dates off. While Donna genuinely felt that she was right to do this and was simply following her goals through to their logical conclusion with wanting to be a writer and a news woman, her actions provoked a bad response in the normally even-keeled Eric, who felt that Donna was not taking him and/or their relationship seriously. Unable to resolve the conflict, Eric broke up with her in the third season finale "The Promise Ring". Throughout season 4 much awkwardness ensued over rights to the basement and trying to find new relationships. Donna was a bit annoyed at just how many girls were interested in Eric and happily mocked him when his attempts at finding a new girlfriend backfired.
Her mother Midge leaving her father Bob and moving to California, followed by Bob's relationship with Joanne Stupak (Mo Gaffney), did not help matters.
During the fourth season, Donna began dating Casey Kelso (Luke Wilson), older brother of Michael Kelso. Even though he was flaky and a few years older than her, Donna thought Casey was the perfect boyfriend, for he seemed to be sensitive, good natured, laid back, and easy going. Eric saw Casey for what he was: an oversexed frat boy who just wanted to nail Donna and move on to the next girl. Eric tried to warn Donna but she ignored him, and he then threatened to hurt Casey if he hurt Donna.
After Kitty saw Donna drunk in the middle of a school day at the Hub with Casey, she rallied together with Red and Bob to bring the relationship to an end with Eric overseeing the proceedings while Hyde, Kelso, Jackie and Fez listened from the kitchen. Donna was more than ready and willing to fight for Casey, but Casey was not ready or willing to fight for her and he readily agreed to break up with her when Red put the pressure on. Casey lazily said that Donna was a great girl and fun to hang out with but he stated that a relationship with a younger girl had gotten to be too much of a hassle and dumped her in front of her friends and family. The realizations of her own over-confidence, poor judgement and being dumped in front of the people who meant the most to her came as a shock to Donna, who regarded herself as an ideal feminist, but who'd fallen for the type of man she always swore she'd never look twice at.
Hurt, humiliated and heartbroken, Donna turned to the one person she thought still truly cared for her - old boyfriend Eric Forman. Eric offered his sympathy, but when a shook up, crying Donna told him she wanted to be his girlfriend again, he refused, believing that she did not really want him for who he was but simply wanted a way to feel better about herself and would most likely dump him when someone better came along. A tearful Donna pleaded with him to take her back but he refused to be her "second choice". Eric was unwavering in his decision, until his father and mother pointed out to him that he was being an ass. As Red put it, "You're too proud to take her back? And what exactly do you have to be proud of? You're not an athlete, the only thing smart about you is your mouth. And just look at you." To which Kitty replied, "Red, he looks fine. He's just so darn stupid!" Even Kitty, who normally doted over him, called him a dumbass.
Unable to handle being rejected by her first love, an emotionally-wrecked Donna fled Point Place for California, where she crashed with her mother and tried to sort out her feelings. She decided she truly did love Eric and tried to call him but couldn't get hold of him; she suspected he no longer wanted her and had moved on to another girlfriend, leaving her rather depressed. But then, to her delight, Eric showed up in California looking for her, and the two reunited and returned to Point Place. When Donna came home from California, the normally easy-going Bob sent her to a Catholic school as punishment, an act that Donna deeply resented and hated for the remainder of the school year.
In season 5, Eric ignored the objections of their friends and proposed to her at the Water Tower and Donna accepted. Once Red and Kitty found out about the engagement, they were shocked. Kitty in particular, reacted badly, claiming that Donna was trying to snatch her "baby" away from her. Despite enduring a great deal of flak, Eric stayed loyal to Donna, and finally Red accepted his son had become a man and gave them his blessing.
Donna and Eric prepared to leave Point Place together and go to college in Madison. However, just as they were packing their stuff in the VistaCruiser, Fez and Laurie announced their marriage. Red was so shocked he had a heart attack, and as a result Eric had to stay in Point Place and help support the family. Donna also gave up going to college in Madison so that she could stay with Eric. Eventually though, their wedding fell through at the end of season 6 when Eric, worried that marrying Donna would hold her back, failed to show up for their rehearsal.
After Eric's departure from the show before season 8, it was assumed that they still kept the relationship intact. However, Donna told her friends that Eric had broken up with her in the eighth season episode "Long Away", when Fez and Jackie suspected that she was cheating on Eric with the new guy, Randy. Donna told them that Eric did this three weeks earlier. (This is often described as the show's Jumping the Shark moment.) There were hints leading up to the breakup when Eric called Kitty but not Donna, even though she was awake at 4 AM waiting for him to call her. Also, when Donna was at the Formans' for Red and Kitty's 25th anniversary, Eric called his parents and Kitty gave the phone to Donna, but Eric spoke to her only briefly before hanging up, claiming he had to "go teach".
In the final episode, Eric came back to Point Place for the New Year and got back together with Donna once again.
Trivia
In the first season, Donna had a 14 year sister by the name of Tina. Tina has not been referenced since.