Student+Body+-+Whitcomb,+Greta

GRETA WHITCOMB

DOUBLE MAJOR: Art and philosophy MINOR: poetry HOMETOWN: Toledo, Ohio INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES: Depeche Mode, Marilyn Manson, Siousxie and the Banshees, the art of H. R. Giger, Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, the poetry of Ernst Christopher Dowson, Aleister Crowley, vampire movies, Anne Rice, antique jewelry and lace.

MY IMPRESSIONS:

How does a lovely young woman who looks like a stereotypical "California Girl" become steeped in the gloom and doom of post-modern, post-industrial fin-de-siècle romanticism--especially if she hails from Toledo, Ohio?

At first I believed Greta's problem to be a too-fond attachment to the lovely fairy tales of childhood. I pegged Greta as a little girl, a perpetual Cinderella surrendering to a fantasy world of vampires--which are a perfect metaphor for the eternal, unchanging youth she seemed to be clinging to.

I was wrong.

Under that pretty face and those vampy, trampy clothes lies a strong and resourceful young woman. A woman on a quest.

Her parents, both of them typical middle-American, middle-income, middle-class, can't fathom their little girl--but I can.

It's apparent from her interests, her mode of dress, and her passions that Greta Whitcomb doesn't like the modern world. Coming from Toledo, I can understand that...But with Greta, there is something more there, something buried deep inside. A powerful imagination.

Her attachment to Josh Stewart is quite curious. She's gone from never having a boyfriend to dating a rebel.

I wonder if it's love? Greta certainly thinks so, but she's too young to know what love is--and much too naive.

Greta would never have fallen for the old Josh, who is still there, under the muscles and the body art. She's infatuated with the new and improved Josh, complete with weight training, martial arts skills, biker friends and lots and lots of tattoos.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">On the surface, at least, Josh is a bad boy. And yet, unbeknownst to her, Greta has wrapped him around her little finger.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">She's quite a remarkable woman...

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">At first I used Greta on little missions--assignments that didn't have much at stake. I'd have her lure someone here, say something to someone there...nothing vital or especially important.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">In return, I got her a job at Morgan Le Fey's Occult Book Shoppe, and introduced her to other students with her tastes in books, films, and music.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">In that sense, Greta came cheaply. All she wanted was a few friends to let her know she wasn't too much of an outsider. But in the end, it was Josh who brought the real Greta to the surface.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">I was so impressed by what I saw that I could think of no better operative to send to execute the Santa Monica operation than Greta Whitcomb.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">Though she was captured, she accomplished her mission. Even Enoch Collier and the threat of death couldn't ruffle her feathers.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">Greta has a strong survival instinct, and a stronger sense of self. Nothing really dents her passive, composed exterior.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">She's never perturbed by anything life throws at her. Greta is strong, and getting stronger.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">I shall have to keep an eye on her.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">If I can possibly make a true Faustian bargain with anyone, it is with her. As a fan of Goethe's poetry, she would no doubt appreciate the irony...