1st Year English Lit, resident Fyfield House chick magnet
Jose is “that guy.” You know, the one all the girls swoon over. He’s not a jock, he doesn’t have muscle definition, and to make it worse, he’s not even all that bright.
Yet what he lacks in intellectual brilliance he makes up for in hunkdom. Soulful eyes framed by thick eyelashes, just enough of a beard to keep him from being too pretty, a decent build he’s never had to work at, and he moves with the effortless grace of an athlete. We don’t know where he’s from, exactly, just that he’s not from here.
He is an English major, because he assumed it wouldn’t be much of a stretch. He likes the idea of being a writer; he figures it will beat working for a living. Jose is actually brighter than he seems, but because he speaks flawless English he loses “points” in the chauvinistic estimation of his fellows, because it never occurs to any of them that English is his second language. Every now and then he enunciates a word with a trace of accent, not enough to notice consciously, just enough to flavour his speech with a touch of the exotic. It adds to the mystique, along with the “strong silent type” vibe he has going.
All of those things contribute, but they aren’t the thing that attracts women en masse: Jose is a very sensual guy who oozes pheromones. When he talks to women he makes eye contact, and he listens. Well, he stares into their eyes and appears to listen, even if all he’s listening to is the unspoken subtext, as he thinks about having sex with them. He talks with his hands and his fingers touch a shoulder here, a hand there, sometimes brushing a cheek or a breast. It doesn’t matter if they’re little girls selling Girl Guide Cookies or their mothers and grandmothers working in the Christie cafeteria, they all respond to him.
Before coming to Christie he was never without a girlfriend. They didn’t stay long but that was aright, he never got bored. Mouse confuses him a little because she’s so aggressive, almost like a man. Since they are both foreign students studying English Lit they have a fair bit in common, so he puts up with Mouse, even though she is a bit too pushy for him. In many ways, Jose is a traditionalist; although he enjoys women, they should know their place.
When he first arrived on campus he fell in with Mouse and Quentin’s extra-curricular group who meet in a clearing in the woods to unwind and get high. The circle of friends includes Q’s photography friend Ethan and Q’s wife Tamara. But the one who knocked Jose’s socks off is Tamara’s friend Barbie.
One look at Barbie and it was game over, his world changed overnight. Suddenly no longer content with whatever woman is at hand, the only one he wants now is the blonde beauty. He doesn’t just want to have sex with her, he wants to possess her, make babies in her. Marriage, for sure. Everything. He knows it won’t be easy, even for him, given the different backgrounds and career paths. But Jose is nothing if not confident, especially when it comes to women.
In many ways Jose is a lot like Barbie; his good looks allowed him to coast through life. Although women all seem to want to bed him, he lacks the testosterone edge that would make other men feel threatened. He’s a lover, not a fighter. Because he’s so laid back he generally has his pick of friends.
Outside the stoners, Jose counts Eric as his best friend at Christie. They have adjacent rooms and similar schedules, so they eat and study together when both are at loose ends. Jose has been concerned ever since Eric’s redhaired girlfriend made a pass at him. Admittedly he was sorely tempted, but he could never dishonour a friend so. He considered mentioning the woman’s brazenness to his friend, but decided against it, hoping against hope the bitch wasn’t really such a puta, and that it was only an aberration brought on by too much frat party alcohol. He had had some to drink himself, so he isn’t entirely sure it wasn’t just exceptionally dirty dancing…
Jose’s Links
Cliff’s Notes: Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote
Spark Notes: Don Quixote ~ Themes, Motifs & Symbols
Raymond Chandler
IMDB: Raymond Chandler
Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway: Has his death eclipsed his work?
The Ross MacDonald Files
Cornell Woolrich
John D. MacDonald
Freeread: “The Thirty Nine Steps” by John Buchan
Image Credits
The “stunt pot” dates back to the Party Aftermath Shoot
Since he is the spitting image of Jose, I borrowed Henri-François Riesener’s Portrait of Maurice Quay from the Musée du Louvre, and settled him in Kitchener’s The Boathouse instead.
Léon François Comerre‘s luminous La Belle Liseuse makes a guest appearance as Barbie at U of T.
