Upamanyu Biswas
In Paramount+’s ‘Happy Face,‘ a daytime show makeup artist named Melissa Reed finds herself in a complicated situation when her father, Keith Jesperson, AKA the Happy Face Killer, calls her boss, Dr. Greg, to confess to a ninth murder. Subsequently, Melissa is faced with a moral dilemma that constitutes her abandoning her anonymity for the sake of probing deeper into the ninth murder and saving the life of a falsely accused murderer, Elijah. As Melissa investigates the case with help from Ivy, her work colleague, she eventually stumbles upon a conversation that leads her to her elder brother, Shane. With family estrangement and drama at its peak, Melissa must navigate the pitfalls of her relationship with her sibling to figure out what he knows about their father’s illicit activities and the ninth murder victim.
Shane is a Semi-Fictional Character With Some Connections to Reality
‘Happy Face’ blends truth with fiction in a complex manner that is sometimes hard to discern. As such, the show’s various elements often have some small basis in reality, even though they are largely fictional. This applies to Shane in the Paramount+ series. Although Shane plays a pivotal role in ‘Happy Face,’ he is a semi-fictional character conceived by the show’s creator, Jennifer Cacicio. In reality, Melissa Moore, who is the real-life counterpart to the show’s protagonist, has two siblings, namely Jason and Carrie. It is likely that Shane’s central inspiration is rooted in Moore’s real-life family life and her relationship with her siblings. It provides a more authentic picture of the drama, even though the actual events and details may be fabricated for a more engaging premise. For instance, Moore’s siblings are younger than her, but Shane is her older brother in the series.
Through the years, Melissa Moore has been forthcoming about her experiences growing up with Keith as her father and the trauma it left behind for the family once it was revealed that he was a serial killer. The psychological toll likely extended to every family member, as they felt the effects of Keith’s darker side. The show tries to explore these complicated emotions through a partially fictionalized story that takes cues from the actual events. However, the central premise of the narrative is primarily fictional, especially the one relating to Heather and Elijah’s case. To that end, Shane’s involvement in discussing the crime is also made up to lend more credence to the main objective of the plot. Still, in a roundabout way, it helps Melissa and Shane move on from their trauma as they finally talk about the ugliness of their past.
While there may be some real-life ties behind Shane’s character, he also plays a specific role in the narrative as Melissa tries to follow every lead in her book to get to the bottom of Heather and Elijah’s mystery. The creative team likely wanted to highlight the estrangement between each of Melissa’s family members, as they are all trying their best to move on from Keith. As such, Shane provides the perfect foil for Melissa because both brother and sister blame themselves for the heinous crimes committed by their dad. It paints a more complex picture of their fragile state of mind and how they have internalized the trauma. He ends up playing a vital role in the story, especially in providing Melissa with another viewpoint while sharing the same backstory as hers. Still, he is largely a fictional character with vague ties to reality.
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