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Note: Moving to a new project – War of Joy, a nighttime soap! Check out the index for an overview.
Joy Lake (63)
Project: Nighttime soap (War of Joy)
Known as: No nicknames
Real name: Joy Josephine Lake
Group affiliation: Lake family, Dulac toys
Physical description: Joy is a woman in her 50ies and is lean and striking. She is in shape, but it is a result of her constantly-on-the-go lifestyle and many responsibilities (versus gym time). While she does have very nice clothing reserved for meeting with other companies, she usually dresses business casual (or just plain casual).
Personality: Joy is driven and does more in a day than most manage in a week. A commensurate multitasker, she also exudes a cool confidence. Family, friends, and employees often seek her out for advice, as not only is her advice good but she seems to be an emotion sponge that leaves the seeker calmer and more collected after talking to her. She is both intelligent and a creative business person (Dulac would have closed long ago if not for her). She feels a great sense of responsibility to employees, family, and friends.
In her effort to meet her responsibilities as a business leader and family leader, she does have the habit of bottling up some things. She sometimes wonders what she could have been if the toy company hadn’t been practically forced upon her. This can lead to the occasional frustration explosion but only those closest to her ever see it. In reality she loves her company and her work (oddly, probably more so when there are problems to solve). She just hasn’t realized that it would have been the best choice for her, had she been given a choice.
History: Joy was born into a middle-class lifestyle but with big expectations. Her father (Stephano) had founded Dulac toys after he was ousted from Spring Toys by his former partner, Gabriel Cooper. Stephano had been the idea man and had thought he could start his own company and quickly defeat his former company. In reality, Stephano did have enough ideas to be a middling success, but Spring Toys would often just make slightly altered versions of Dulac’s most popular offerings and beat Dulac in the market. Still, Dulac did manage to find a niche, mostly selling hand-crafted and low-production run toys to mom and pop toy stores.
Dulac has a reputation in town for treating its employees well (most townfolk try to get jobs there rather than the larger Spring Toys). This, combined with its relatively low profits, have kept it treading water for years. Yet the success of the company meant so much to the family, the community, and to the feud with the Coopers that Joy was groomed to take over the company from a young age (as the oldest of the siblings).
Fortunately, Joy was bright and motivated. A natural leader, she exceled at school. Throughout her life her main rival was Clive Cooper, who was the same age. On about any dimension they competed – class president, grades, etc. One difference, however, was Joy held herself to standards while Clive was more than willing to use whatever underhanded approach he needed to win.
This rivalry continues to this day. Clive has less skill, intelligence, and drive – but more money and resources, and fewer responsibilities (e.g., no family). In an unfair world, this gives him the overall advantage. Meanwhile, Melody, Joy’s daughter, also works for Dulac and is trying to move the company towards more socially responsible products. Joy is therefore caught between staying competitive and doing the right thing.
Complicating matters is her husband, Thomas. Tom is a sculptor who feels like his art has taken a backseat to his duties as a husband and father (Joy is the primary wage earner with a job with bigger time demands). Now that their children are older (the youngest will go to college soon), Tom wants to pursue his sculpting in earnest. Though they love each other and have always had a good, cooperative dynamic, this seems to be an unresolvable problem (Tom wants to invest substantial time and money in his art; Joy feels like they can’t afford it and that she needs him at home).
Joy soon has to bet the company on a new line of toys. Between outmaneuvering Clive, trying to satisfy Melody’s social standards, and dealing with Tom’s problems, Joy is stretched pretty thin. Can she keep all the plates spinning? And how will she react when Clive (who she thought she sincerely dislikes) suddenly discloses that he has always loved her?
Some secrets and points of drama we may or may not encounter with Joy:
- Joy has reason to believe that she may be the biological child of Gabriel Cooper (it would explain the falling out between Gabriel and Stephano, among other things). Should she get a paternity test to confirm or deny? What would it mean with her relationship with Clive?
- Joy is convinced that there is a mole giving Dulac secrets to Spring Toys. Could it be her best friend and assistant? Her daughter, in anger for social compromise? Tom, to undercut the company? Her mentor? Someone she doesn’t even suspect? How will she catch them and handle them?
- She suspects that one of her children and one of the Cooper children are seeing each other. Does this make them candidates to be the mole? Should the family feud keep the young apart, or is it time to move past it? How will she react when she discovers that the situation is more complex – that a Lake is in love with TWO of the Coopers?
- A large company has expressed interest in acquiring Spring Toys. How will she play this? Offer up Dulac instead? Torpedo the deal, or manipulate things to make sure Clive gets the worst of it? What will ruining Spring Toys mean for the town?
Role in the narrative: Joy is our protagonist (the name of the show has double meaning) and the straw that stirs the drink. She is the moral person who feels a great responsibility to succeed in an immoral world. She will have many decision to make, including how to prioritize family, company, and self.
Abilities: Joy is a sharp business woman and creative problem solver. She is good with people. She is a master archer as well – and we’ll see if that becomes important to the story.
Inspirations: I really enjoyed the docu-series “The Toys that Made Us” on Netflix. I was often struck by how while the toys themselves were designed to provide some fun to kids (and, let’s face it, some adults), the business was as ruthless as any. I also love Ed Catmul’s book “Creativity, Inc.” It really locked into my head that while most people think the idea is important, it is more about how you iteratively improve the idea and collaborate. I took a little darker take on that, which matches some of my business observations. I don’t want to generalize too much, but the idea people often don’t feel appreciated enough, but also fail to recognize that there wouldn’t be a business without the business people (not all idea people have the entrepreneurial skill, drive, etc.). Meanwhile the business people can indeed take the idea people for granted (although the best ones don’t).
This will sound odd, but for Joy herself I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer was an influence. Born into a responsibility that she didn’t ask for, it is understandable that she sometimes finds that burdensome. On the other hand, Buffy was the perfect Vampire Slayer not just by assignment, but by inclination and skill as well. She didn’t ponder whether she should protect people because it was her job, she just did it instinctively. It’s like characters like these need time to realize that their destiny is also their calling. I’d like Joy to be something of an older Buffy – competent, caring, protective.
I’m somewhat going for a “Dallas” vibe here – but I’ll need to soap it up in other character descriptions.
100 Characters Blog 