Marissa Cooper

Marissa Cooper
The O.C. character
Mischa Barton as Marissa Cooper
First appearance	"Premiere" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"The Graduates" (episode 3.25)
Created by	Josh Schwartz
Portrayed by	Mischa Barton
Information
Nickname(s)	Coop (by Summer) Mariss (by mother) Kiddo (by father)
Occupation	High school student (at the Harbor School; graduated)
Family	James "Jimmy" Cooper (father) Julie Cooper (mother) Caleb Nichol (stepfather; deceased) Kaitlin Cooper (younger sister) Cooper Atwood (maternal half-brother)
Significant other(s)	Luke Ward (ex-boyfriend) Ryan Atwood (ex-boyfriend) D.J. (ex-boyfriend) Alex Kelly (ex-girlfriend) Kevin Volchok (ex-boyfriend)
Relatives	Cindy (maternal aunt)
Residence	Newport Beach, California

Marissa Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Mischa Barton. Marissa was among the original "core four" characters on The O.C. until her death in the season three finale, "The Graduates." Marissa plays a privileged, California native born into a wealthy family, residing next to the Cohen's family house. Throughout The O.C.'s storyline, Marissa is introduced to new character types who influence both her perspective on life and her personality.

Characterization

Personality

Marissa Cooper is characterized as the privileged yet troubled girl next door. Marissa’s designer-label-packed wardrobe masks her turbulent mood swings and hard-partying ways. Although Marissa is tall, thin and pretty she is not much else. She is afforded all the privileges of a Newport lifestyle, yet she fails to show any interest or engagement with the world around her. Throughout the series Marissa is rarely shown participating in any clubs and organizations. The only interests Marissa demonstrates with any regularity are romance and risky behavior, which in her case often go together. Overall Marissa represents a stereotypical notion of femininity. Her primary value is based on her appearance and her main focus is romance.

Storyline

Marissa Cooper is introduced as a rich, beautiful socialite in Newport Beach, California whose family (mother Julie, father Jimmy, and younger sister Kaitlin) go through some dramatic changes over the course of the seasons. She is a troubled person before the series begins, with a history of substance abuse and rebellious behavior. This is even evident from a scene in the pilot where she is left on her front door by her friends, passed out from drinking. From there, she is detailed to have private emotions due to the number of lost loved ones in her life and lack of understanding from her family and friends. The backstory on her friendship with Summer Roberts showcases it as a powerful bond, forged during the second grade. One of her deepest connections, and having continued and strengthened throughout the years, the friendship is a central element on the show for three seasons. The show significantly focuses on Marissa's on-and-off again relationship with Ryan Atwood as well, which remains a main focus even after her death in Season 3.

Sexuality

Marissa's sexuality has been debated by viewers of the series. When she hooked up with bad girl Alex Kelly, the two entering into a romantic relationship, her heterosexual identity became the source of speculation. Fans questioned whether Marissa was actually bisexual or just bi-curious. The question became one of the top queries viewers wanted The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz to answer.^[1]

Others cited Marissa's relationship with Alex as a cynical sweeps attempt, noting the timing at which Marissa "just happened" to be romantically attracted to a woman. Critic L. Brent Bozell III especially elaborated on this.^[2] The New York Post attributed the relationship to a ratings ploy as well, stating that the ratings for the show that year were "solid" but had not "exactly been through the roof and a lesbian storyline — or at least a main character experimenting sexually with someone of the same sex — could help matters".^[3]

Schwartz insisted that the relationship between Marissa and Alex was not a ratings stunt, and that Marissa developed real feelings for Alex.^[4] Sarah Warn of AfterEllen.com said that despite Schwartz's statements, "Marissa's predominantly heterosexual past, the huge fan support for the Marissa and Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) pairing, and the controversy The O.C. would court by making one of its principal characters bisexual, it's likely that her 'real feelings' for Alex will only last a few episodes."^[4] Within the series, Marissa refers casually to Alex as her ex-girlfriend.

Marissa's sexual orientation, other than her known heterosexual identity, was never confirmed by the series, and was reported to be "Marissa just experimenting with the fairer sex and not committing to a full-on romantic, sapphic relationship."^[3] The executives did, however, cite her relationship with Alex as an important one, and one that was successful with viewers.

Schwartz said that the network was "nervous" about the storyline and wanted it "wrapped up as fast as humanly possible and Alex moving on out of the OC."^[5]

Character's exit

The decision to kill Barton's character came from the producers.^[6] Josh Shwartz relays that it was entirely a creative decision: "It had as much to do with creatively feeling like this was always in the cards for this character and she was an inherently tragic heroine, and part of the Ryan/Marissa story was him trying to save her from a fate that she couldn't be rescued from."^[7] Commenting on her character's death, Barton said: "My character has been through so, so much and there's really nothing more left for her to do."^[8] She added, "I was really excited that I get to die, to be honest. [...] It was better than one of those lame farewells."^[6]

Character arc

Season 1

Marissa's father is caught committing fraud and eventually files for bankruptcy. The first episode sees the sparks begin to form between Marissa and Ryan Atwood - "Who are you?" asks Marissa, "Whoever you want me to be," replies Ryan. Luke Ward Marissa's long-term boyfriend at the time begins to grow animosity towards Ryan Atwood from the moment he stepped foot into Orange County. Soon after, on a vacation to Tijuana with Ryan, Seth Cohen and best friend Summer Roberts, she discovers that her parents are separating. In the aftermath of this, Marissa catches her long-term boyfriend Luke Ward cheating on her with one of her best friends, Holly Fischer. She then separates from her friends, and she overdoses on pain killers. Ryan finds her unconscious in an alleyway in Tijuana and summons help just in time. After this, Marissa battles with her mother, who wants to send her to rehab. She eventually gets through to Julie, but has to agree to see a therapist in Newport after she is caught shoplifting. She meets Oliver Trask during one of the sessions and they soon become good friends, much to Ryan's displeasure.

Throughout the first season, Marissa is involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Ryan, with the relationship being jeopardized by Luke and Oliver. Oliver is eventually discovered to be mentally unstable and harboring an unhealthy obsession for Marissa. Ryan and Marissa break up because of his interference. Oliver is eventually arrested after he keeps Marissa as a hostage and threatens to kill himself if she does not leave Ryan for good. After Oliver's arrest, Marissa tries to get back together with Ryan, but he refuses to resume their relationship. They remain friends instead.

During this time, her mother is romantically involved with Kirsten Cohen's father, Caleb Nichol. During a brief breakup with Caleb, Marissa's mother has a fling with Marissa's ex-boyfriend, Luke, which causes Marissa to run away — strangely enough — to Chino, California and, more specifically, to Ryan's ex-girlfriend Theresa Diaz's house. This leads to Ryan and Marissa once again becoming romantically involved. Marissa is able to use the affair between Julie Cooper and Luke Ward as blackmail to get out of counseling or living with her mother, since Julie Cooper doesn't want anyone to find out.

Their relationship is strained once more when Theresa comes to Newport towards the end of the season after suffering domestic abuse from her boyfriend Eddie. Theresa reveals to Marissa that she is pregnant, and does not know whether the father is Ryan or Eddie. In the season finale, Ryan leaves Marissa to move back to Chino and help Theresa raise the baby. Marissa moves into Caleb Nichol's home after he and her mother marry in the season finale. Marissa's grief over Ryan's departure makes her turn back to alcohol again.

Season 2

During the second season, Marissa struggles with alcohol and depression, caused largely by Ryan's departure from her life. When Ryan returns, it looks as though they may have rekindled their relationship, but after finding out about her relationship with D.J., the yard guy, Ryan decides that they should just be friends, which they remain throughout most of the season. Marissa's relationships in the interim period seem somewhat specifically chosen to take stabs at her mother — first with D.J. and then a same-sex relationship with Alex Kelly.

Towards the end of the season, Marissa gets back together with Ryan, and becomes friends with his brother, Trey, who was recently let out of jail. After Trey takes cocaine, he tries to rape Marissa. Marissa does not want to tell Ryan because she does not want him to worry, and Trey does not want her to tell him because he and Ryan were getting along again. Marissa breaks down and finally tells Summer, who tells Seth, who then tells Ryan. When Ryan finds out, he and Trey get into an extremely violent fist fight at Trey's apartment. The scene ends with Marissa shooting Trey in order to save Ryan's life.

Season 3

As the series' third season opens, Marissa is under investigation regarding the shooting of Trey Atwood who is in a coma as a result of the wound. When he awakens, Julie threatens to smother Trey if he does not tell the authority that his brother, Ryan, shot him, in order to keep Marissa out of trouble. Marissa finds out and convinces Trey to tell the truth. Ryan is let free, and Marissa faces no legal liability as she was defending another person's life using proportional force in the circumstances.

Despite a lack of legal repercussions, the event results in Marissa's expulsion from the prestigious Harbor School, as it is cited along with her past of flagrant shoplifting and substance abuse. During her expulsion, she attends Newport Union, where she befriends a local surfer named Johnny Harper. Johnny causes rifts in her relationship with Ryan, initially because she feels she cannot talk to Ryan about what happened with Trey and later because Johnny falls in love with her. She is eventually readmitted to Harbor after a campaign led by Ryan, Seth, Summer, and Marissa's former rival for power at Harbor, Taylor Townsend. Marissa confirms her commitment to Ryan, and writes Johnny a letter saying that while he is her friend and she cares for him, she will never love him. This results in Johnny falling to his death from a cliff after a drinking binge, and the tragedy results in Ryan and Marissa's final, tragic breakup.

In the wake of Johnny's death, Marissa struggles to find closure, as well as her own place and purpose in Newport. She develops a relationship with Kevin Volchok after she and Ryan break up, which causes her to go back to her rebellious ways. She begins to abuse alcohol again and tries cocaine. Marissa begins to distance herself from Ryan, Summer, and Seth and becomes argumentative once again with her mother. After some time, she comes to her senses and decides to leave Kevin. But when she finds him watching The Sound of Music, she realizes he has a sensitive side and decides she may be able to have a relationship with him. During their Senior Prom, she catches him cheating on her, and breaks things off.

In the season finale, Marissa receives a letter from her father inviting her to live for a year on a boat with him in Greece, and she accepts. The day she graduates from Harbor along with her friends Summer, Ryan, Seth, and Taylor, Kevin begins calling her and asks to see her, but she declines. Marissa pays Kevin to get out of town and to leave her and Ryan alone. She says her goodbyes to her family and friends and prepares to leave for Greece. After their time together, Ryan drives her to the airport. On the route to the airport, a drunken Kevin begins hitting their car, causing them to go off the road.The car flips over several times and lands upside down on another street. Marissa is unconscious, but Ryan pulls her out of the car, which then begins to drip gasoline. Ryan takes Marissa into his arms and far enough away from the car as it explodes. He tells her that he will need to go get help, but knowing that nothing can be done, she asks him to stay. After a few moments of looking into each other's eyes, she dies while in Ryan's arms.

Season 4

In "The Avengers," Summer believes she sees Marissa - as a ghost - when she returns to the adjoining bedrooms they shared together for the first time since Marissa's death. This causes Summer to fast track her trip back to Brown and leave Newport. Moreover, many characters throughout Season 4 catch glimpses of Marissa, whether they be similar looking girls in passing, or a ghost imagination of Marissa while reminiscing about her in a familiar place.

Marissa's death has a significant impact on the entire fourth season which is most explicitly examined in the episode "The Chrismukk-huh?" where Ryan and Taylor Townsend, both in comas, enter into an alternate universe where he has never moved to Newport Beach, and the lives of most major characters are completely changed.

While trying to find out what is happening in this reality, Taylor stumbles into Marissa's bedroom. She surprises Julie's maid, who tells Taylor that "Miss Cooper's" plane arrives at 3 o'clock from Berkeley. Taylor then sees a photograph of Marissa and Julie on her desk, which leads her to believe that Marissa is still alive in this alternate universe.

After Taylor tells Ryan the news, he immediately wants to go to the airport to see Marissa. Taylor does not want him to in fear that Ryan, who is still recovering from Marissa's death, would be willing to spend the rest of his life in a coma if he could be with Marissa. At the airport Ryan catches a glimpse of a girl with a pink Berkeley sweatshirt tied around her waist. The sweatshirt resembles the one worn by Marissa in "The Day After Tomorrow." Ryan grabs her shoulder and realizes that it was not Marissa, but her sister, Kaitlin. Kaitlin then explains to Ryan that her sister died three years ago in an overdose in Tijuana (a parallel of her non-fatal overdose in the episode "The Escape").

Ryan then returns to Newport Beach, realizing that he can never be with Marissa again, alternate universe or not. At first, Ryan and Taylor believe they need to restore the relationships that existed before Marissa's death in order to wake up. However, it becomes apparent that both Ryan and Taylor need to battle their internal demons instead. For Taylor, her demon is her mother (whom she confronts along with her alternate male self at the Christmas party), for Ryan, it is getting over Marissa.

Back in the real world, Kirsten finds a letter from Marissa addressed to Ryan, but does not read it, and hands it over to Julie, who subsequently reads the letter. In the letter, Marissa wrote that she still loved Ryan, but would be leaving Newport because she knew that it was the best thing to do, so that they could both move on. She stated that when she got back, they might try again, as they would both be older and wiser. The letter is eventually placed right beside Ryan, which allows the letter to be "delivered" to Ryan in the alternate universe.

Ryan then goes to the beach, and upon discovering the letter, reads it. He finally says goodbye to Marissa and exits the alternate universe.

In the final episode, Marissa appears as Ryan's final flashback as he reflects on his life in Newport. As he backs out of the driveway, Ryan remembers seeing Marissa standing on the corner watching as he and Sandy drive away when Ryan thought he was not coming back to Newport (as seen in "The Premiere").

Relationships

Ryan Atwood

Ryan Atwood is Marissa’s first boyfriend on The O.C. Although extremely on-and-off-again throughout the show’s course - their relationship originated as a platonic friendship in the pilot episode, which later escalated into romantic feelings. By the 10th episode of the first season, the couple officially began their romantic relationship. The beginning of this relationship sees it’s first end when Marissa feels that Ryan overreacts about Marissa and Oliver Trask’s unhealthy and obsessive “friendship”. The second course of Marissa and Ryan’s relationship falls because of Theresa Diaz and Ryan’s illegitimate child together, whom Ryan agrees to help raise – returning to Theresa’s arms and leaving Marissa to return to her alcoholic behavior. The third attempt of Marissa and Ryan’s relationship terminated after the suicide of Johnny Harper where both cast members were struggling in his mourning and deemed the two needed a break in their time of hardship. The couple’s last stint of a relationship ends when Marissa is killed by a drunken Kevin Volchok who drives Ryan and Marissa off a cliff, sending her to her death.^[9]

Julie Cooper

The overall relationship between Marissa and her mother, Julie Cooper, is full of angst, rebellion, misunderstanding and miscommunication. Beginning with the unwarranted fling between Julie and Marissa's ex-boyfriend Luke Ward, the strain in the two's relationship increases throughout the course of the show. After Marissa’s father Jimmy Cooper and Julie Cooper divorce, Julie treats Marissa second tier to her many wealthy, successful boyfriends and fiancées in an attempt to save her own social and monetary status. The troubled Marissa is then left to deal with her friendship, alcoholic, and depression issue alone, without the help of Julie by her side. Together, the mother-daughter duo move from their home neighboring The Cohens, to Caleb Nichol's home, to a mobile home during their time of tough financial hardship.^[9]

Summer Roberts

Summer Roberts Marissa’s best friend in The O.C.- she was a girl that Marissa often leaned on in both happy and sad times. Marissa’s endearing nickname for Summer, “Sum,” emphasizes the two’s everlasting bond. Together, Marissa and Summer are the popular girls at school: Summer the socialite, and Marissa the over-achieving, beautiful girl many long to be. The friendship between Summer and Marissa is further strengthened by the boyfriends they often have: best friends, and “brothers,” Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood, as many group hang-outs and double dates occur.^[9] After every fight between Marissa’s on-and-off-again boyfriend, Ryan, Summer is the first by Marissa’s side – a supportive and comforting friend asking what went wrong. Summer becomes a positive force in Marissa's life. For instance, Summer helps Marissa out of the hospital in episode 8, is open to Marissa's fluid sexuality in episode 24, and has enough faith in Marissa despite her problematic behavior, that she buys her a Berkeley sweatshirt in episode 71. Their friendship really offers strong signs of female solidarity. Their friendship is unique in that it is not only shown as a source of support, but also a catalyst for empowerment.

Luke Ward

Marissa’s first romantic relationship on the show was with water polo player Luke Ward. Their relationship begins prior to the Premiere. In fact Marissa and Luke’s long-term relationship stems back to the fifth grade on a class trip to the Museum of Tolerance. After much hesitation, Marissa decides to lose her virginity to Luke. Issues in Marissa and Luke’s relationship constantly arise, making the viewer question if they really are in love. On a trip to Tijuana, Marissa discovers Luke cheating on her with one of her friends, Holly Fischer, on the dance floor in a club.^[9] Marissa breaks up with Luke after finding out that he has been cheating and It is not until later in the series that Luke develops an affair with Marissa’s mother, Julie Cooper.^[10] Luke and Marissa’s tumultuous relationship evolves into a mature friendship by the Second Season. The two grew to realize that they may not be the most compatible couple, but could benefit from the friendship and support of one another.

Reception

Behavior

There is controversy surrounding Marissa Cooper’s character and how she is perceived. Some viewers perceived Marissa’s behavior negatively, viewing her as a poor role model at times. Specifically, her behavior had a negative influence on unhealthy consumption of alcohol. Marissa’s use of drugs and alcohol to cope with her mental issues and emotional stress provides a poor influence for the show’s viewers. Marissa is depicted several times drinking alcohol alone behind locked doors. Some viewers did not want to follow in Marissa’s footsteps due to her constant destructive behavior. She became entertaining to watch on television but not someone that viewers wanted to mirror.^[11]

Lifestyle

While viewers did not emulate Marissa’s erratic behavior, her style and luxurious lifestyle were widely admired. Various styles that Marissa debuted on the show developed into trends in the fashion world. From Chanel, to polo’s, and new hairstyles Marissa made her mark on the fashion-forward viewer. It was Marissa’s seal of approval on the famous Chanel carryall that introduced the brand to young fashion-forward girls. Marissa’s tall figure lured her towards wearing flats for every occasion. This was well received by the viewers in that she never depicted it as a necessity; it was more of a fashion choice. Through all of Marissa’s fashion and beauty choices, she was always perceived as “cool” to the viewer. In this aspect of Marissa’s life every viewer wanted to be just like her. Marissa had the ability to make any garment look stylish, even if it was a college hoodie.^[12]

The contradicting feelings that viewers held about Marissa’s character lured them into the show, they loved her and loved to hate her when her morals went awry. Nonetheless, Marissa Cooper drew in the attention of her loyal viewers, keeping them invested in her character.

References

• Bindig, Laurie (2007), The O.C.: A Critical Understanding (1 ed.), Lexington Books, ISBN 978-0-7391-3317-0 

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Marissa Cooper

• Marissa Cooper at the Internet Movie Database

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