What did EL James mean by this line?
She's assuming all Hispanic people have the same smile.
Jose was a horribly written character and wasn't necessary in the books
Hi RiverterRose,
James had as much awareness of Hispanics as she did American college students, Seattle, Portland, American slang and culture, or anything else, that is none. I found her description quite ignorant and I agree with you about Jose, he was a badly written, extraneous character.
The "friend zone" is such BS. I get that the book is fiction but EL James uses every cliche in her series. Jose is supposed to be Jacob from Twilight because James can't come up with any original work of her own.
Girls don't owe you for being friendly and Jose takes adventage of her when she's drunk. Christian takes off her clothes without her permission before putting her in his bed. I would much rather have his housekeeper do it (forget her name) or call Ana's friend and he also shouldn't of slept in the same bed as her.
"You're supposed to be nice to people, you don't get a cookie for doing what you should be doing anyways".
Hi RiverterRose,
E.L. had no concept of American culture when she wrote Fifty Shades and didn't know how to create complete characters. Jose was as much a truncated character as the rest of the supporting characters.
That's what research is for.
shareJose is nice as a best friend for Anna at school along with Kate. IT's a nice dynamic for school.
But mostly he seems to be there to create situations in which Christian can react to him and show his care for Anna--like the first night, after graduation, etc. An excuse in the opening of FSD for Christian to contact Anna, etc.
What's the term? Deux ex machina?
What didn't work for me in the film was the casting choice for Jose. I know the director liked him from another film so she went to him for the role.
And I know anybody who doesn't "like" a casting choice on these boards has to get ready for major incoming...like "he's handsome" "I liked him!" So, fair enough.
But it seemed for Jose to work he needed to be more physically imposing--in the book he's rather tall. He's handsome too in the book.
I always pictured a kind of younger version of Antonio Banderas or something.
Then he makes his appearance in FSOG and he's this short, pip squeek guy with a completely forgettable face and big smile. Really? That's Jose? haha
It seemed important for Jose to actually be somebody Christian might see as a rival. This guy? Really? (Sure, I get it. Christian found any guy a threat, but at least Jose could have been good looking in a classic sense!)
haha
The term is "contrived." Deus Ex Machina also refers to a contrived plot device, but a more specific one that doesn't fit this situation.
Jose is barely even a character in the books or movie, so I don't really care who plays him.
I used it in the sense that it was used to drive the plot right off the bat in FSD in order to give Christian a reason to contact Ana after their break up-- due to the upcoming existence of Jose's exhibition.
We can agree to disagree, but Jose was the reason Christian could contact Ana after their miserable time apart. If Jose hadn't existed, another form of rapproachment would have been needed.
But as a character generally, he was not important.
I know what sense you meant. Deus Ex Machina refers to a contrived plot device in which a new character saves the hero from a situation that seems impossible to escape, as if God himself just showed up out of nowhere and saved the hero from the evil villain.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina