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David Rose

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“ Like Beyoncé, I excel as a solo artist. And I was also dressed by my mother well into my teens. ”
— David[src]

David Rose is Johnny and Moira's flamboyant son, who later becomes the owner of a town shop called Rose Apothecary. He is a main character on Schitt's Creek.

Character Description

The art and fashion-obsessed pansexual son of Johnny and Moira yearning to return to his urban single life in New York City.

Overview

Born on July 2, 1982, David is introduced as the adult son of the formerly wealthy Johnny and Moira Rose. David has one younger sister, former socialite and current publicist, Alexis.

David is a former New York City gallerist who curated many avant-garde exhibitions and performance art pieces, albeit with little direction and a sheltered worldview. The tight quarters of their new home, the Schitt's Creek Motel, create friction and opportunities for David and his disconnected family as they slowly grow closer. He becomes best friends with Stevie Budd, the motel clerk who shares his dry sense of humour and a general distaste for other people, but he generally struggles to connect with others in his new surroundings. David eventually takes a job as a brand manager at a nearby clothing store before opening his own local goods business, Rose Apothecary with the help of business-savvy town newcomer, Patrick who David finds a connection with while the two become business partners.

After launching Rose Apothecary, David and Patrick begin dating. Despite having a rich dating history before moving to Schitt's Creek, David's courtship with Patrick quickly becomes the longest relationship he has ever had. Their relationship hits a brief rough patch when Patrick's previously unknown fiancée comes to town, but David and Patrick eventually reconcile. The couple continues to grow personally and professionally, and they ultimately become engaged at the end of the series' fifth season.

In season six, during the period of their engagement, David is initially very excited to move to New York City with Patrick until he learns that his fiancé has had his eye on their dream house — a cottage à la Kate Winslet's cozy residence in The Holiday. Further straining David's move, Stevie informs him that his New York City friends chose a music festival over his wedding.

During the penultimate episode, David announces that he'll forego his move to New York City, instead deciding to stay in Schitt's Creek with Patrick and continuing to work with him at Rose Apothecary. He also tells Patrick that he put in an offer on the cottage.

On the series finale, the day of their wedding, David and Patrick wake up to a storm outside and scramble to salvage their wedding day — as they didn't arrange a tent for the outdoor venue. While David stresses about the wedding, Patrick arranges for him to get a massage to calm down while he figures out a new venue. After changing the location to the town hall, the couple exchanges vows in an emotional ceremony officiated by Moira, who dons a dramatic, pope-inspired ensemble.

The morning after the wedding, David waves his parents goodbye from the Rosebud Motel driveway with Patrick, Alexis, and Stevie by his side — ready to start a new chapter of his life in Schitt's Creek.

Character

Personality and personal style

David is introduced as insecure, with a general distaste for other people. David is also highly phobic – fearing bugs, disorganisation, germs, nature, and heights. He sometimes downplays or denies these fears in an effort to defy his friends' and family's expectations, but his discomfort is still apparent. David further suffers from hypochondriasis, this being revealed early in the series when David convinces himself that he is having a heart attack, only to discover he is suffering from a panic attack. When downplaying his fears, or otherwise expressing himself, David often displays a dry, sarcastic sense of humor and a lack of social grace. He is particularly blunt when interacting with his sister, Alexis, and best friend, Stevie, although no one is seemingly immune to his remarks. In one episode, he tells his boss, Wendy Kurtz, that the blouses she sells are "skanky." David may not know anything about paperwork or taxes or inventory, but he is exceptionally good at retail, first transforming the Blouse Barn into an upscale boutique then opening his own successful shop that elegantly rebrands local products and crafts, selling them on consignment.

One of the few assets the Rose family is allowed to retain when they move to Schitt's Creek is their designer clothing. David’s wardrobe is rendered almost exclusively in black and white and contains a wide variety of sweaters. He also frequently wears drop crotch pants and designer sneakers. David accessorizes with four identical silver rings, which he wears in a variety of configurations on his left hand. David’s aesthetic is inspired by his mother, Moira, as he is his mother’s son. His style is also heavily influenced by designers Rick Owens and Ann Demeulemeester and often includes items from Givenchy, Neil Barrett, and Tisci.

Sexuality

David is pansexual. This is revealed in season one's “Honeymoon” during a conversation with motel clerk Stevie Budd in which he describes his sexual orientation using a wine analogy. When asked if he drinks red (men) or white (women) wine, David demurs saying that he "like(s) the wine, not the label.". According to Levy, David's initial relationship with a woman, Stevie, is meant to dispel the notion that the character is gay due to his effeminate nature and push the boundaries of what it means to be traditionally masculine or feminine.

Levy also chose to write the character’s sexuality in an environment without homophobia. He has cited several reasons for this creative decision, including his own lack of "patience" for homophobia. Levy also calls this decision a form of "quiet protest" against the LGBTQ tragedy tropes often seen on television and further stated that David's story is not written to explicitly educate the audience on LGBTQ issues. He says David's sexuality is presented "as it should be" to show the "transformational" impact of love without "the threat of intolerance or bigotry." This approach of acceptance and non-judgement has been widely noted by the press.

Appearances

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Trivia

  • David lost his virginity to Tilda Swinton; They met in a gastropub in Brussels and she complimented his vest. He believes the two to be emotionally intertwined.
  • David is pansexual.
  • It is currently unknown if David has a middle name; David himself doesn’t even know what his middle name is due to the absence of his parents during his youth.[1]
  • He is afraid of heights, bugs with milky exoskeletons, moths and butterflies and businesswomen in sneakers.
  • David is a Japanophile. He talks fondly of his visits to Japan, owns clothes by Japanese fashion house Commes des Garcons and once bought a Japanese cologne that smelled like a car crashing into a cedar tree. Johnny gifts him a thousand yen for Christmas, and Stevie invites him to see the cherry blossoms at the botanical gardens.
  • According to the season 3 episode "Rooms by the Hour," David was born over two months premature; Moira claims that she carried him for "nearly seven months."
  • David doesn’t subscribe to any social media.
  • For his bar mitzvah, David was gifted from Johnny a basketball court, however, after hitting the ball to his nose, David was gifted a nose job instead and the court was taken down the next day.[1] Alexis would later relay this story to Stevie to explain how horrible Johnny is at gift giving.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bad Parents
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