murdermods
head of marketing
the bitchy mediator
NAME: Clarissa Chang (張晨曦).
DATE OF BIRTH: 19 April 1977; 30 years old.
APPEARANCE: The phrase 'porcelain doll' comes to mind, and with it the connotations of long dark hair and flawless skin; indeed, the description is more apt for these two attributes of Clarissa's appearance than for any other qualities. The delicately wrought features lend her small face an enduring sense of youth, the sharp chin a certain piquant vibrancy to her expressions, which generally tend toward the empathetic and understanding. Her best feature is absolutely her smile, bright and effortless without a hint of condescension or impatience (no matter her true feelings), like a friend inviting confidence. Her dark eyes are mobile and intelligent, her gaze steady but not necessarily piercing; nonetheless, one cannot help the impression that Clarissa does not miss much. The overall effect, therefore, is that of a woman (almost perpetually thought of by others as a 'young woman' though she is in fact in her early thirties, and this fact won't necessarily change, even when she's older) who is conscious of her charms, but does not ostentatiously showcase them. Stiletto heels, rarely adding anything less than two inches to her 5'6, are a fixture in her day to day wardrobe, which on the whole rather epitomizes 'boardroom chic': professional and feminine, though at times the neckline may venture a touch too low.
PLAYED BY: Lin Zhi Ling.
PERSONALITY: There is a certain quality of bygone politesse that Clarissa seems enveloped in, despite being a thoroughly ‘modern’ woman in every sense of the word - that is to say, she appears the very picture of a perfect hostess from a time when demure femininity was a norm in the living room (and absolutely not found in the boardroom, heaven forefend the thought!), the social butterfly who can maintain at the very least effortless cordiality with all her colleagues and clients, if she has not indeed already made inroads upon their affections. She knows by some preternatural force what to say and when to say it, is perfectly aware of how effective a well-timed small compliment or sympathetic gesture may be, and makes it her job to have connections of a friendly sort wherever she can - whether they concern her actual job or no. Clarissa is furthermore extremely aware of all her own assets and shortcomings, and an inherent lack of inhibition means that she at least always appears (even though the laws of probability dictate that she cannot always be) perfectly poised for whatever may arise.
For Clarissa, no inane chit-chat about weather and awkward long pauses: she seems at home with and will converse readily about mostly any topic that may appear in idle conversation, though always simultaneously with the same mild degree of modesty about her own knowledge in the matter and the most intent interest in what others have to say. Her attention is of the quiet undemonstrative sort, all intent dark eyes and pleasantly muted approbation; it is also, for its very lack of obsequious demonstration, subtly inviting. In part, this is a carefully honed skill, an exercise in getting what she wants from others by making a weapon of soft-spoken deference; in part, it is making the most of an uncanny percipience into what people want. (Of course, knowing what they want leads to knowing how to influence what they think they want.) In short, Clarissa’s capabilities and insights are not ostentatious, and appear to be so absolutely natural to her conduct that one is not often aware of having been ‘managed’ by her; needless to say, conflict does not thrive for long when they have passed into her realm of influence.
Yet it is not exactly in her nature to be a philanthropist, but it certainly is a beneficial façade to don; and a façade it absolutely is. The fact of the matter is that she is a proud woman who knows that Fortune has been kind to her, and instead of being thankful for having been fortunate, she has nothing but contempt for those who aren't so lucky, and in her eyes, that does account for at least 98% of the population. Clarissa off the record (not that you would often chance hear her) is entirely, utterly shocking to the unsuspecting; the sheer venom of that language-! Of course even in private she stops quite, quite short of actual profanities, thank you, but that only makes the vitriol all the more biting. Her most colourful mostly-private invectives are generally directed toward what in her opinion are the irremediably dull who have no excuse to be dull. For Clarissa, boredom is anaethema - and not only in her work, by any means.
HISTORY: The Taiwanese-American community, Clarissa is very tired of explaining (and has been, since elementary school, so she doesn't bother doing it anymore), is miles away from the (by now, thankfully fading) stereotypical mental image of working-class labourers and Chinatown restaurant owners. Quite the opposite, in fact. Take her own family, for example: her mother, the daughter of an Oxford-educated physician; her father, the second son of a politically exiled family that fled from mainland China with the retreating KMT shortly after 1949. Pursuing higher education overseas was not so much an innovative venture into western society, as it was essentially a norm. And so, as students at Berkeley (graduate and post-graduate, respectively), Clarissa's parents met, dated, married, and moved to NYC to teaching posts at NYU (father) and Barnard College (mother). It wasn't a passionate love affair, not by any means, but they were friends and intellectual equals, which may almost be more important. All in all, the match was by all accounts quite acceptable.
As the youngest of three, Clarissa was rather babied by overprotective parents and older siblings (brother and sister, six and five years older, respectively); there was some breath-holding when she began kindergarten, which lasted to the end of her first week.There was no hiding the fact that Clarissa was a smart little girl and rather quiet, but she was also in full possession of the sort of open-handedness that made making friends in elementary school so easy (cupcakes for everyone in the class on her birthday, such a never-fail trick), or there may have been some merciless teasing about how much of a teacher's pet she was. It wasn't that she tried, but teachers had a tendency to think her 'sweet' and 'well-behaved', without much of the riotous spontaneity of other children, and so assumed to a sort of complaisance in the girl. What they did not tend to recognize was the fact that this placid exterior, even in this school-aged child, came with a startling degree of calculation. Having had her childhood rather micromanaged by her parents, Clarissa tended to (not always consciously) balk at any display of authority that was not her own, though not in the way that would suggest rebellion but rather in the way where she would, somehow, through whatever means of flattery and seeming compromise and circumlocution, wind up with what she wanted. Her autocratic nature and impatience with those who can't pull their weight became increasingly well-disguised behind diplomatic words and understated displays of empathy, so that instead of receiving negative assessments, the family became accustomed to hearing: 'Clarissa is a born leader.'
She was always a good student, with plenty of flare to accentuate actual ability, and a sort of ruthless and methodic exploitation of every resource within her grasp. Academically, Clarissa had a bit of a revelation halfway through sophomore year at the competitive Hunter College High School: to gain attention of the good variety, it's not about saying what you know teachers want to hear, not about presenting your case in the most eye-grabbing way possible; flash and flattery only went so far. Rather, it's about taking full advantage of devil's advocacy and making it an art. Her college admission essay was unexpected, thorough, unimpeachably well-researched and well-phrased, and absolutely within the word limit (after about 20 edits); off to Princeton she went.
Those who knew her at Princeton would have known someone very different from who she is today, at least in terms of looks: bespectacled, long dark hair worn in two thick braids, clad in demurely coloured sweaters and pencil skirts, she was the perfect picture of disappearing-wallflower respectability - until you finally managed to remember her name, which comes well after she had managed to scoop two of the most high-profile summer internships in consecutive years; and by the time you finally recognised the girl as a veritable tour de force at slipping under the radar, whose discreet manner of striking first at desireable advantages posed legitimate threat to any and all of her peers, she was already graduating with her A.B. magna cum laude in a mere three years. As nice as Clarissa may seem in day-to-day life, it became clear (for most of her classmates, rather belatedly so) that all was fair in career advancement.
As her school years passed, the hemline, the heels, and the price tags attached to her clothing all rose by steady increments, such that when she emerged from Cornell University's S C Johnson Graduate School of Management (double masters, thank you, MBA & MA in Asian Studies), Clarissa would have absolutely looked the part of the marketing consultant she became had it not been the fact that, well, she also looked much too young. Never one to be discouraged, however, Clarissa slipped beneath the corporate radar again to gain some more experience to pad up that extensive resume, also networking extensively and working hard at being inconspicuously too good for this job, won't you offer me a better one now. In 2003, Vance Corporation did, as a marketing coordinator with promises of nowhere to go but up; so steadily upwards Clarissa went.
When the previous head of marketing was unceremoniously dismissed following some rather disastrous attempts two months ago at reinventing the company image, who better to take his place, despite her youth and indeed in some ways, because of her youth? A veritable 'makeover' was due, after all. Clarissa's credentials and track record with the company have both, of course, been exemplary. (Her understated good looks and background certainly do not hurt, either.)