The Flick - Rose

Character Analysis

The Flick - Rose

In the play The Flick by Annie Baker, Rose is a vibrant young, carefree, Caucasian, “sexually magnetic” 24 year old who lives with her mother. What we know is that rose went to college but did not finish or graduate. She is also $20,000 in debt so working at the theater is a job she needs to survive. Rose does not like to be in relationships because as she says she, “gets bored” and at a certain point in her relationship, she only thinks about herself. What the audience can interpret is that she is afraid of commitment, which explains why she tends to stray away from relationships. Sam, a co-worker, loves Rose. He explains how he can't sleep at night because he cannot stop thinking about her. Rose knows this, but because Sam has never tried to talk to her, she avoids him at all costs. She would rather not talk to Sam and does not want to play his game of mixed signals. What I interpret is she wants him to be a man and take control but she knows that he won’t. Because of this she decides ignore him completely and this drives same crazy. This makes her a stronger person and makes Sam a smaller person.

When Sam introduces Avery to Rose, Sam makes sure to tell him that rose is gay.  He does this so Avery does not try to take away any shot Sam might have with Rose. Although Rose is not gay, she has slept with both men and woman. I think she has slept with women in hope to find a spark that she has not felt with any man. She is looking for that person who wants to love her and whom she can genuinely love back for a long period of time. Deep down Rose is scared of commitment and loving anyone more than she loves herself. Rose does not want to get hurt and be let down but she also wants to be entertained. I can interpret Rose is the way she is because she does not want to be let down so the personality such as care free and strong build a wall so no one can knock it down. The wall is put up to protect her true feelings and in order to keep her going because she has been through a lot considering she lives with her mom and is in debt.