Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… averse to all authority. A strange child, Joey didn’t seem to follow rules like other kids. Odder still, Joey never even really cried. His mother once said, “I wish he cried. Crying would be normal.” Joey started selling watches to other kids while in elementary school. He was obviously destined for something very…unique.
Living… in St. Paul, Minn., with your average Midwestern family: father Walter, mother Patty, and sister Jessica. Joey constantly asserts his own self-entitlement. In his mother’s words, “We make him turn the lights out, but his position is that he shouldn’t have to go to sleep until we turn our own lights out, because he’s exactly the same as us.” Even as a youth, Joey thought he was his own boss.
Interests… money. Joey is a staunch conservative, fiscally and socially. When Joey lands a business opportunity, he’s ready to snap at it and reap the profits. If he can get it for cheap, he’ll be buying as much as he can ship. He quickly blossoms into a full-blown entrepreneur.
Relationship Status… he’s secretly dating his neighbor Connie. His mom continues to believe, or at least pretends she believes, that they are just friends. But even at the age of 12, they are sexually active and deeply involved. Their young love develops and Connie becomes almost impossible for Joey to shake from his mind.
Challenge… escaping too-sleepy St. Paul. Joey is a classic hard-driving East Coast type: savvy, sharp, a bit shifty. Joey doesn’t belong in the Midwest, and he definitely doesn’t belong in a house with crazy parents and a restricted bedtime schedule. Joey can’t wait to get out and go to college so he can become the man he thinks he has to be.
Personality… tough and unaffected on the surface, but emotive and sensitive down deep. The only person who really sees his emotional side is Connie. He doesn’t even let his parents into his inner life, where bitterness and self-deprecation and doubt have a deep-seated home.
