Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - Review and MBTI

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SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
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I don't go to the movies any more - in fact, the last time I went and saw a film at the cinema in 2009 - but I felt compelled to go to an actual cinema and see Force Awakens (2015). I didn't regret the experience, but found some parts of cinema-going painful. The movie was scheduled to start at 10.00 am but didn't start until I had watched 25 minutes worth of advertisements and trailers. I found that annoying. On top of that, the trailers seemed  loud and assaulting. The trailer for Warcraft (2016) hit me on the head like a hammer, and seemed to design knock the audience unconscious...

So, how does Force- stack up against the other movies? Does it beat the much-derided prequels in terms of quality? Not really, in some ways (e.g., plot originality) it compares badly to the prequels. More on that in a moment.

I don't think that the prequels are all that bad. Certainly, casting the boy actor Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker in Phantom Menace (1999) seems like a huge error - the budding romance between the prepubescent Lloyd and the 18-year-old Portman just doesn't seem, ahem, right. As well as that, the overuse of CGI in the prequels dates them badly and makes them look like the (now) old and shopworn computer games of that period. As for the charges of bad acting - especially against Hayden Christiansen - well, these are Star Wars movies. Pauline Kael's remark - in her review of Star Wars (1977) - that Hamill, Ford, Fisher, et al., come from the 'Ricky Nelson' school of bad acting - reminds us that Star Wars actors shouldn't be held to the same standards as a Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep or Jack Nicholson. I can overlook any shortcomings in Christiansen's performance, and I'll say this in defence of the prequels: at least they were about something. You could argue that they were a religious or political allegory (or both, which I think they were). I'm not quite sure what the theme of Force- is. Is it: bad consequences follow when baby boomer parents abandon their children?

To return to the subject of plot originality. You find quite a lot of rehashing in the prequels in the little touches here and there: amputations by lightsaber; Jedis drawing lightsabers towards them by telekinesis; Jedis and Sith opening doors, or moving heavy objects around, by telekinesis; people falling into chutes; people landing safely in spacecraft at the end of said chute... Overall, though, we hadn't seen the story of the prequels - the fall of the Republic and how it came about - before. In Force-, however, we find a recycling of the plot of Star Wars to a comic degree.

That aside, all seven movies look just great and will endure. I remember being disappointed in Return of the Jedi (1983) when I was a kid, but seeing it now, I think it represents the cutting-edge of eighties production design and craftsmanship. While the acting and characterisation doesn't seem as good as in Empire- (1980), certain of the action sequences - such as the hoverbike chase on Endor - are executed superbly. Likewise, Force- is well done: I give it top marks for production (the monsters look wonderful), choreography (dog fights, lightsaber duels), cinematography (the scenery looks spectacular).

Let's move on to the MBTI. The ubiquitous Taylor has managed to do the MBTI for every major character in the first six movies, and you can find the list of all the MBTI profiles (including C3PO and Chewbacca!) here. In today's article, I'll give my initial typings for the new characters. Good guys first:

REY - ISFP



I don't think that there can be any argument against this one. Rey gives us another instance of 'warrior female good with melee weapons (swords, bows and arrows, staves)' trope (I should add here, graceful and elven warrior female). She shows great proficiency with machines and equipment - which makes us think, at first, that she's a Ti-dominant type (an ISTP or INTP). But she doesn't show us the amorality which can crop up in the ISTP or even the INTP type. In socionics, Fi enables strong moral judgements, evaluations, and gives rise to strong feelings of sympathy or alienation. She saves BB-8 from the Teedu scavenger out of pity and tells the Teedu - and uses force - to leave the BB-8 alone: Fi (morals) and Se (force together). She refuses to sell BB-8 to Unkar Plutt for 'sixty portions' out of a recognition of BB-8's potential worth. Likewise, she feels compelled to confront the First Order, and not flee (like Finn), out of moral reasons. Definitely an Fi dominant type.

POE DAMERON - ESTP

The suave, smooth, well-dressed, ultra-confident Poe seems like a princely character, and princes in movies and comic books are usually ESTPs. The stock character of the Evil Prince is usually an ESTP. Se serves as the dominant function in an ESTP, and Se can be defined as force, volition, will, all used to control the external world - whether it be people (and Poe is very commanding around people, and droids), a spaceship (like the X-wing fighter) or even one's appearance (Poe dresses well). 

FINN - ENFP

I found this one - Force's answer to Jar Jar Binks - to be a hard one to type. I initially thought ISFJ, as Finn is subservient, humble and self-effacing throughout most of the movie, but he doesn't possess the ISFJ's sense of duty. His constant lying made me think ESTP - after all, con men characters are usually ESTPs - but again, he doesn't seem as confident as ESTPs such as Poe Dameron. 

I think the answer lies in ENFP. One of the nicknames for the ENFP type is 'The Chameleon': ENFPs blend into their environments easily and change a lot (to accomodate others). Finn goes from stormtrooper to conscientious objector to refugee from the First Order (pretending to be a Resistance fighter) to actual Resistance fighter. He gets along with everyone - and this is an ENFP trait - every step of the way. ENFPs strike many as people as being promiscuous (not necessarily sexually promiscuous): they find it easy to give plenty of their time, and energy, to others. At one point Finn makes to leave Solo and Rey behind on the planet Takadona and sign up with a spaceship crew to hitch a ride to another galaxy; he really doesn't experience any difficulty in hopping from one group of friends (Solo, Rey) to another (the new spaceship crew). 

On top of all that, many find the zany antics and high energy of ENFPs to be annoying, if not exhausting, and certainly, Finn exhausts and annoys. 

MAZ KANATA - INFJ

Some critics have derided Maz as a yellow-faced version of Yoda. Certainly, the character evokes, to us, Yoda. The scene where Rey descends into the dark basement of Maz' house, experiences a vision and duels with a Vader-like phantom - and is counselled by Maz afterwards - reminds us of the famous 'Luke confronts the dark side' scene in Empire-. 

We know that Yoda is an INFJ, and there's nothing in Force- to show to us that Maz isn't the same. INFJs like to counsel and give advice. Because of their dominant function - Ni - they see the future better than others; because of their secondary function - Fe - INFJs experience strong fellow feeling and so proffer their insights and intuitions to others, so to keep them on the right path. We see that in Maz' interactions with both Rey and Finn. 

And now for the bad guys: 

KYLO REN - ESFP

Hard to get the measure of this man, and his impassive mask (which looks like that of Snake Eyes or Cobra Commander in GI Joe) didn't help. But it becomes clear, early on, that Ren has a terrible temper, and what's more, is unafraid to show it. At the showing I attended, he made the audience laugh when he wrecked a console with his lightsaber the second time and two stormtroopers looked each other, shrugged and walked away. 'Emo Vader' seems a highly theatrical individual, and straight away I started comparing him to the Hulk, Johnny Storm / Human Torch, Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad - all of them ESFPs. 

Unlike other mask-wearers in the series - such as Darth Vader and Boba Fett - Kylo Ren doesn't want to conceal himself and doesn't want others to know what he's feeling; unlike extraverted thinkers such as Princess Leia, Vader and the Emperor, Ren seems to be more dominated by highly subjective value judgements - that is, introverted feeling - more than anything else, just like his grandfather Luke (an INFP). You'd expect him, being a user of the Force,  to be an intuitive - like the Emperor or Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi - but he comes across more as a sensor from the outset, and a flashy and exhibitionistic sensor at that (especially when he stops that laser blast in mid-air). As stated before, extraverted sensing can be understood as control through one's will. Ren certainly uses plenty of it: in his love of forceful interrogation techniques and in his penchant for levitating and pinning people (which goes much further than Vader's standard Force choke). 

GENERAL HUX, ESTJ and CAPTAIN PHASM, ISTJ

With all the ballyhoo around Gwendoline Christie's Captain Phasm, I expected that the character would given plenty of screentime, but she hardly got any - and got as many lines as Boba Fett. The character blends into the background, and obediently serves the First Order without making any waves. Introverted sensing serves as the dominant function for ISTJs, and the way socionics describes Si, it's all about comfort - with oneself and one's environment. Si dominants go with the flow (unless their well being is impinged) and don't question what's there.

But the secondary function in the ISTJ - extraverted thinking - signifies efficiency and the organisation of the external world. At Sociotype.Com, we find this description of a type which has Te as a secondary, 'creative' function: 

It is manifested as a preference for factual accuracy over ideological consistency, and for objective, "harsh" communication over careful words that avoid a negative atmosphere. A view of the external environment being efficient, reasonable, and making sense is essential to their well-being and sense of inner peace, but they do not feel a pressing need for being proactive or productive themselves in that area. 

A perfect description of Hux and Phasm - and Darth Vader, for that matter (another ISTJ).

*** Update: I initially typed Hux as an ISTJ, but he appears more extraverted character than Phasm. Unlike Phasm - who skulks in the darkness a lot - Hux takes on a more public role; see, for instance, the scene where he addresses a large formation of Stormtroopers. This site types him as an ESTJ, and I agree.

Usually the ISTJ plays the role of The Loyal Lackey; he rarely ends up as the master villain. Which brings us to...

SUPREME COMMANDER SNOKE - INTJ

An Evil Schemer who Sits in Darkness - sounds a lot like Darth Sidious / Palpatine, or the mysterious Snoke, or your typical INTJ character. We haven't seen much of him so far, but we can safely conclude he's an INTJ. Put together the Ni (visionary and forecasting function) along with Te, and we have an INFJ minus the Fe - someone less intent on fellow-feeling than getting certain things done. 

The question is, is Snoke Darth Plagueius? 

Mark Hootsen signing off. 

MBTI: Bold and the Beautiful - current season

Around 27 million people a day watch the long-running US soap, Bold and the Beautiful, but hardly anyone I know admits to watching it. Actually, I run into people who tell me that 'they don't watch it' but can accurately summarise who's in the show and what it's about. I think most of us regard soaps like Bold- as a guilty pleasure and seriously uncool. And indeed, at first sight, US daytime soaps seem of inferior quality, marred by bad acting, bad storylines, and an emphasis on economy (only one to three sets at the most, and an avoidance of outdoor scenes). But, in the end, to fans (and I am one), none of this matters. You end up becoming intrigued by the storyline and the characters, and over time, you thrust all the deficiencies - the cheapness and the bad acting - out of your mind. You don't hold a TV soap to the standards of a Mad Men or Breaking Bad.

Bold- concerns two families: the Forresters, who are wealthy fashion designers living in LA, who are beautiful, well-heeled, stylish but miserable, and the Logans, a struggling, lower-middle class family from the Mid West (Illinois, to be exact) who move to LA and who are conservative, god-fearing, humble and happy. One may ask: do members of both families meet? Fall in love? Get married to one another? It's a soap: of course they do.

A third family - the Spencers - appears early on. They are headed by the manipulative, controlling and scheming Bill Spencer the First, who plays the traditional role of the bad guy or villain in the soap. He never does anything out and out evil, however. In Bold-, there are no good guys or bad guys, only differing points of view.

You can find a little animated film, 'Bold and the Beautiful in six minutes', which recaps twenty years of plotlines - in six minutes! - here. Amazing. Otherwise, you can jump on board by watching it straight away; you'll pick up the story very quickly. Like Chris Claremont's X-Men, Bold- relies a lot on flashbacks and recaps which bring the audience up to speed as to what happened in the previous episode.

It should be noted that the relationships between characters in Bold- are very confusing - and incestuous and promiscuous. Brooke Logan, the female lead, has been married and / or involved in relationships with: Ridge, his stepfather, his two half-brothers. Eew. She's had four children by three different men, and has been married or engaged to about four or five men on the show. Her rival in the show, Taylor Hayes, has been with all the men Brooke has been with. Double eew. (Despite this, Brooke has the reputation of being the more promiscuous of the two).

I'm going to give the MBTI types for each of the 25 or so the characters in the current season - and the last one, which features a few long-time characters who are not present in the current one. It will be a whirlwind tour, as I've got a lot to get through.



The Forresters

Eric Forrester. The head of the Forrester family, a brilliant designer, founder of the fashion house Forrester Creations and self-made man, a sensitive, quiet, thoughtful artiste. Father of Ridge, Thorne, Felicia, Kristen, Rick, Bridget. Often he plays the role of wise old man who gives counsel to others - and asks for nothing in return. Passive and withdrawn, and given to poetic flights of fantasy when rhapsodising about women's clothing. INFJ.

Stephanie Forrester (deceased). Eric's wife, and mother to Ridge, Thorne, Felicia, Kristen. She doesn't appear in this series - the character was killed off a few years ago - but her presence looms large. Often appears to be cold and shrewish, but very much concerned about her family and the welfare of others around her, and can seem to be manipulative and controlling. An ENFJ. In socionics, she and Eric (an INFJ) are 'mirrors'. The contrast of Eric and Stephanie illustrates one of the main differences between an INFJ and an ENFJ. The former doesn't really care that much if his advice is followed or not, the latter very much cares. Stephanie always seems nosy and pushy.

Ridge Forrester (as played by Thorsten Kaye) - the male lead of the show. CEO and star designer at Forrester Creations. Father of Steffy, Thomas, 'E.J.' and Phoebe (deceased). Thorsten Kaye replaced long-running actor Ronn Moss for this role in 2013 (Moss had been playing Ridge since 1987). As a result, the character - and his MBTI type - changed. Today's Ridge is a sensitive artiste who likes poetry, but is also entitled, spoiled, dishevelled, often grouchy and self-absorbed. He, to me, represents a bad INFP. Like many INFP characters - such as Luke Skywalker or Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle - Ridge has been raised by an adoptive parent or parents and his true parentage is mysterious. It's revealed that Ridge's true father is not Eric but the Italian shipping magnate Massimo Marone, who dated the 19 year old Stephanie in college (!).

Thorne Forrester. Ridge's jealous half-brother, son of Eric and Stephanie, father of Aly. Job role: executive at Forrester at the Paris branch. As played by Winsor Harmon, Thorne seems a nice fellow - he's very considerate of his employees at Forrester (he remembers all their birthdays, for example) - but, like his mother Stephanie, is pushy, nosey and controlling. ENFJ.

Steffy Forrester. Ridge's daughter by Dr Taylor Hayes (who doesn't appear in this season). Job role: executive at Forrester Creations. Spunky heroine type (like Lois Lane in Superman). Romantically pursues romantically unavailable men because of a) the challenge and b) more often than not, these men belong to one of the women from her hated rivals, the Logan family. ESTP.

Thomas Forrester. Ridge's son by Taylor, Steffy's brother. Job role: star designer at Forrester Creations. There's no nice way of saying it, but Thomas is a creepy young man. Also a moralist who continually lectures those around him (including his father) and upbraids them for their immoral behaviour. ISTJ. It should be noted that ISTJ characters, especially the males, always appear to be creepy or at least to be people who just don't fit in. Think of Judge Dredd, Darth Vader, Mr Spock, Watchmen's Rorschach. Thomas fits the bill. I rest my case.

Aly Forrester (deceased). Designer at Forrester Creations and daughter of Thorne and Darla, who was killed when hit by a car driven by Taylor - who went on to have an affair with Thorne (don't ask). An ultra-moralistic, ultra-puritanical young woman who idolises another moral paragon - Hope Logan (see below) -she also suffers from schizophrenia and communicates with the spirit of her dead mother on a regular basis. She likes medieval re-enactment societies - a sign of dominant introverted Si. ISTJ, without question. Sadly, she's killed off: she stalks Steffy, daughter of her mother's killer, and collects pictures of her, blacks out the eyes with markers and sticks pins in them; she then ambushes Steffy on the same lonely LA highway where her mother Darla was killed. Steffy defends herself and ends up killing Aly by accident.

Rick Forrester. Son of Eric Forrester (Ridge's stepfather) and the much younger Brooke Logan, executive at Forrester, his type at first seems to be ESTJ - he's certainly a
' captain' or 'lieutenant' type - but events reveal otherwise. At bottom, he sees himself as an exploited, hard done by character who has been used and manipulated by all the others. He holds a grudge - bordering on the psychopathic - against Ridge, who he feels has treated his mother Brooke badly. He tends to put the women he loves on a pedestal and will hold them as a moral exemplar. But woe betide those idols who have been shown to be only human and having feet of clay. Rick, to me, seems to me to be an ISFJ, but the worst ISFJ - the one who has 'woken up' and perceives that he's been exploited by others, including those he's placed on a pedestal. The ISFJ in this instance becomes spiteful and vindictive, and takes a terrible revenge - see De Palma's Carrie (1976).

Pamela Douglas. Stephanie's whacky sister who works as a receptionist at Forrester Creations. Renowned for her eccentricities, extremely annoying and a friend to all - even to those who don't want her friendship. ENFP.

Ivy Forrester. Daughter of Eric's little-seen brother John and an Australian, jewellery designer at Forrester Creations. Feminine, cares deeply for those around her and holds their welfare to be paramount (but not always) - ESFJ.

Zende Forrester Dominguez. Intern at Forrester Creations, adopted son of Kristen (Eric's daughter, not seen in this season) while in Africa. Can't figure this guy out, sorry.

The Logans

Brooke Logan: Executive at Forrester Creations, eldest sister of the Logan clan, lover and wife of many. Mother of Bridget, Hope, Rick, 'E.J'. I characterise Brooke as an ESFJ. Since the death of Stephanie from cancer, she puts herself across as the 'matriarch' of the Forrester clan - ESFJs are very maternal - and she has always shown herself to be concerned with the welfare of her family and those close and dear to her. Moreover, she often tries to interfere in and control her children's lives - particular their romantic lives. ENFJs, who are, like ESFJs, dominant extraverted feelers, get the all the rap of being manipulative and controlling, but ESFJs deserve some of it as well.

Katie Logan: Sister of Brooke, wife of Bill Spencer, sometime CEO at Forrester Creations and her husband's Spencer Publications. Self-assertive and a moralist who is forever criticising her husband's - and Steffy Forrester's - immoral conduct. This, to me, signifies a strong introverted feeling (Fi). I should explain that introverted feeling consists of emotional reactions and moral evaluations which are entirely subjective - ' I approve of that' ; ' I don't like that'; ' I emphasise with that'. When this moralism is combined with a strong self-assertion and assertion of one's will (extraverted sensing, Se), you have the ISFP type - which is what Katie is.

The two Logan sisters are all that are left of the once formidable Logan clan in the current season. I feel bound to mention two others, who are absent. (It's occurred to me, while writing this, that all of the Logans are female - males are conspicuous by their absence. The scion of the Logan family, Stephen Logan, is absent at the start of Bold-, having abandoned his family while his children were young; Storm, the brother of Brooke, Donna and Katie, committed suicide many years before the current season).

Hope Logan. Daughter of Brooke and con-man / grifter Deacon Sharpe, sometime model and spokeswoman for Forrester Creations. Like Aly, a moralistic, driven and highly confused young woman who launches a 'Hope for the Future' campaign which encourages young American women to save their virginity until marriage. Tends to set high expectations of the man in her life, who invariably end up disappointing her. She has a relationship - not consummated, as Hope prizes her virginity - with photographer Oliver Jones; Oliver has sex 'by accident' with Hope's own mother Brooke at a costume party in a rather off storyline. (Hope's rival Steffy finds about this incident and attempts to use it to blackmail the Oliver into having sex with her). Hope then meets Bill Spencer's illegitimate son Liam Spencer (see below). Unfortunately for Liam, Hope won't grant him any sexual favours - she must stay true to her 'Hope for the Future' campaign - before marriage. This gives the predatory Steffy an opening. She moves in, kisses Liam in his car, and is dumped by Hope who saw the scene. And thus the Steffy-Hope rivalry over Liam begins! I think it's clear from all this that Hope is an ISTJ. For their secondary function, ISTJs have extraverted thinking (Te) which is about enforcing rules. Extraverted thinking makes ISTJs the party of 'law and order', and its from this - and their introverted sensing (Si), which tends to be highly conservative - that the ISTJs famous moralising stems from. The moralising of an ISFP, on the other hand, comes from a different place - introverted feeling (Fi).

Stephanie Forrester sagely tells Brooke, 'Hope is a very disturbed young woman. And why not? She's the product of you and Deacon' . Right on the mark.

Donna Logan. Younger sister of Brooke, older sister to Katie, sometime receptionist at Forrester Creations. An individualist, dreamy and idealistic and someone who gives the appearance of being a hanger-on to the Logan clan. I don't know any other word to describe her except 'winsome'. INFP.

The Spencers

' Dollar' Bill Spencer the Second. CEO of Spencer Publications, bully, braggart, manipulator, ruler of men, son of Bill Spencer the First, husband of Katie Logan, father of Liam and Wyatt. The bearded and open-shirted Bill resembles Zeus, and we know that Zeus was an ENTJ. I don't see how there can be an argument on this one. Interestingly, like Brooke - an ESFJ - Bill is very much concerned with controlling his children's' lives, especially their love lives.

Caroline Spencer the Second. Niece of Bill Spencer the Second and the daughter of Ridge's first wife / fiancée Caroline Spencer the First, who died of leukemia. She's been retconned into existence - it's never explained who her father was. For all we know, it could have been Ridge. Works as a designer at Forrester Creations. A fun-lovin' gal who spends most of her time on Twitter and Facebook and who is a transplant from New York. Talks a lot (with a noxious Noo Yoik accent) and not very bright. Tends to gush on a lot. Not the sharpest tool in the shed... ESFP.

Liam Spencer (William Spencer the Third). Son of Bill Spencer and a woman who died of cancer, executive at both Forrester Creations and Spencer Publications. A surfer, vegan, animal rights activist, he wears a beard and a medallion like his father, but appears more of a hippie and less of a Zeus. He moralises a lot, and criticises his father's conduct - and why not, given Bill's extraordinary attempts to make or break Liam's marriages. ISFP.

Wyatt Fuller-Spencer. Son of Bill Spencer and the crazy Quinn Fuller (see below), half brother of Liam. Executive at Forrester Creations. The effeminate Wyatt lived with his mother for most of his life and didn't have a wife or girlfriend (what am I hinting at here?); then he meets Liam's on-again off-again wife / fiancée Hope and discovers heterosexuality. He seems to have a penchant for his brother's ex-girlfriends and wives. A trickster and something of a con man, he's also a malcontent who bears grudges against Liam, their father and the world in general. Calculating, opportunistic and a sceptic. ENTP.

Supporting Cast

Quinn Fuller. Mother of Wyatt. Jewellery designer. Like Brooke, sees herself as a mother above all with the right to control and manipulate the life (especially the romantic life) of her child. Goes to extraordinary lengths to get her son married to the 'right woman' and will stop at nothing! A paranoid and a stalker, sometimes out of control and violent, she should be considered the 'evil twin' or Jungian Shadow of Brooke. ESFJ.

Deacon Sharpe. Father of Hope. No job role, is supported by his current wife Quinn. An affable, sleazy, insincere man who is a (former) con man and alcoholic, Deacon has been on the show for decades, and has guest-starred in the sister show Young and the Restless. Pauline Kael once wrote of Bill Murray, 'He oozes insincerity from every pore'; that bon mot could apply to Deacon. A likeable rogue. ESTP.

Oliver Jones. Photographer at Forrester Creations, ex-boyfriend of Hope, Aly. A gangly, nerdy, skinny guy - obviously an intuitive and not a sensor - without much in the way of social graces or an understanding of people around him. Goes along to medieval jousting re-enactments with Aly and thoroughly enjoys them. INTP.

Charlie Webber. Incompetent security guard at Forrester Creations and full-time shlub. Whacky, eccentric, a friend to all, somewhat annoying, high energy, he's a male version of Pam, and it's no surprise that the pair become an item soon after meeting. In his first job for the Forresters - guarding a diamond display - he tells them he'll watch their diamond, not like a hawk, but like a goat - goats have especially good vision, don't you know. ENFP.

Maya Avant. Waitress, model, musician, singer, philanthropist. The pretty Maya meets Rick while working as a waitress in a café; she doesn't realise that he's a wealthy Forrester. He pretends to be a homeless bum (but an immaculately groomed homeless bum, with designer stubble and all) so he can get close to her. An artistic person who is pursuing a spiritual journey in life. INFP. But wait, there's more. In one of the stupidest plot twists in Bold- history - and believe me, there's been a few - her sister Nicole emerges from Maya's past and blackmails her over a 'secret'; what would that 'secret' be but - Maya is a transsexual! That's right, her name at birth was Myron, not Mya. This seemed rather implausible, given how womanly the actress playing Maya looks, but, as Bill Spencer's friend Justin says (looking at a photo of Maya), 'That's some mighty fine surgery'. In retrospect, the producers of Bold- timed this reveal brilliantly; it hit the screens at the same time as the contrived media storm over Bruce / Caitlyn Jenner.

Carter Walton. Lawyer working for Forrester Creations, ex-fiancé of Maya. Quiet, long-suffering Carter is loyal to the Forresters and to Ridge, works hard and asks for little in return. He meets the woman of his dreams - Maya - after she leaves Rick, gets engaged, and then is dumped by her after she decides to return to Rick. He then discovers, to his shock and amazement, that Maya is Myron. Instead of turning on her, however, he agrees to keep this a secret. Carter is a stoic or a doormat, depending on which you look at it. ISFJ.

Nicole Avant. Sister of Maya, sometime model, now intern at Forrester Creations. Comes to LA to do a university course, drops out, becomes homeless, sleeps in the university Internet café, lands on her sisters doorstep (at the Forrester Mansion), and blackmails her into giving her a place to stay. Definitely a 'perceiver' and not a 'judger' . Likes dancing and music a lot - and is not a very good dancer at all. Inadvertently reveals Maya's secret to Wyatt after he wines and dines her on the Spencer jet. Not the sharpest tool in the shed. ESFP.

Julius and Vivienne Avant. Parents of Maya and Nicole. Conservative, church-going truck driver Julius is outraged by his son Myron's sex change, and is looked down by his own colleagues and neighbours for it: Maya / Myron has brought shame upon the family. He attempts to rescue Nicole from LA and then, in a climactic moment, reveals what he really thinks of the whole transgender thing - on the day of Maya's wedding to Rick: 'A cat can't be a dog, a boy can't be a girl'. And that's that. Maya overhears, and has it out with her father - while she's right there on the altar, about to be married - in front of the shocked wedding guests. It's one of my favourite moments from Bold-. Through it all, the docile Vivienne puts up with it and accedes to her husband's wishes. Julius: ISTJ; Vivienne: ISFJ.

That's it for now, see you next time. Mark Hootsen signing off.
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

　

　

　


　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

　

MBTI: Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)

I can't emphasise enough how good this movie is - it has to be one of the best cartoon movies DC has made - and urge everyone to run, not walk, and go and see it.


One of the reasons why I love the Paul Dini and Bruce Timm cartoons is that they respect and love the 'old' DC - the DC universe that existed before 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths - as much as I do. Their work feels like home to me. While DC continues to upend the entire DC universe as part of the latest multi-part crossover marketing gimmick and change the fundamentals every other month, the Dini and Timm universe proceeds in its own way, unaffected by trends.


Having said that, the characters in Gods- depart - and depart a great deal - from the norm. They don't resemble the Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor that we all know: the MBTI types differ radically from those in the mainstream DC universe, where Superman is an ESFJ, Batman an INTJ, Wonder Woman an ENFJ, Lex Luthor an ENTJ... Gods- does a brilliant and skilful job of keeping the viewer off-balance and challenging (and thwarting) his expectations.


I think that this movie would make a great introduction to MBTI. Out the of 16 types, Gods- 13 (see below) and the characters can all be typed with minimal difficulty. They can all be understood using the basic Keirsey dichotomies (sensors versus intuitives, perceivers versus judgers, thinkers versus feelers).


Unlike many other superhero cartoon movies, Gods- relies on plot twists a great deal: except for the last quarter (which is a rather dull superhero slug fest) I was kept guessing the whole time. This is why I must give a

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Spoiler Alert! You have been warned!

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Now let's go through the characters.


Superman characters

Superman (Hernan Guerra):

In the Wiki entry, we find:



This universe's version of Superman is Hernan Guerra. He is the son of General Zod who was rocketed to Earth as a child and raised by a family of honorable and hardworking Mexican migrant farmers. Having to go through the troubles that illegal immigrants have in the United States leads him to become short tempered and withdrawn from humanity.


A bit political, don't you think? Our undocumented Kryptonian (undocumented superhero? unpapered Kryptonian?) should be typed as an ESTJ. The leader of the team, ruthless and undoubtedly a sensor, Superman-Guerra fits the ESTJ description. (He inherits the extraverted thinking characteristic from his father, General Zod).


Lois Lane:

I found her hard to type at first, but after a while realised I was overlooking the obvious. In the comic books, Lois Lane belongs in the ESTP category: here, she's an ENTP. She's critical of Superman and the Justice League, sceptical and as a reporter, bent on tearing their reputations down. ENTPs are often accused of wanting to dismantle ideals and replace them with - nothing.


General Zod: 

No question, the would-be dictator of Krypton (who inadverdently ends up destroying it) is an ENTJ.When he breaks into Jor-El's lab, he's accompanied by a posse of guards (who are loyal to him to the bitter end). As EJ Arendee says, an ENTJ never travels with his posse. 

Lex Luthor: 

In the comic books, he's an ENTJ; here he winds up becoming an INFJ (in one of the surprising twists). INFJs act as counsellors, and here Luthor acts as a mentor of sorts - to Hernan and then Bekka. Bald and confined to a wheelchair, he reminds us of Professor X in the X-Men - another INFJ. The withdrawn, solitary Luthor lives in a satellite orbiting the Earth; he spends his time pondering the cosmos. Most INFJs in the comics seem a little cosmic or mystical, and Luthor here is no exception.

I couldn't help notice the resemblance between him and Metron in Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Indeed, by the end, he turns into Metron.

Wonder Woman characters

Wonder Woman / Bekka

While Bekka in Jack Kirby is an ESFJ, here she displays ISFP characteristics: swordfighting (ISFP characters often like melee weapons), an elfin appearance and strongly-held convictions. You can find plenty of ISFP characters at Taylor's site here.

While at first I thought Wonder Woman would be an Amazon, the 'Kirbytech' circuitry on her sword gave her away.



Steve Trevor

Hard-nosed, authoritarian, by the book, an army man with a buzz haircut - obviously an ISTJ. Most ISTJ characters in pop culture strike us as being somewhat unpleasant and creepy, and Trevor is no exception. While they get the job done, you don't want to be friends with them.


Izaya the High Father

At first, Izaya appears to be what he is in the comic books: an INFJ. But, in a brilliant twist, he's revealed to be an evil, scheming mastermind - an INTJ - whose calculated coup against Darkseid succeeds perfectly. His granddaughter Bekka goes against his wishes, being an ISFP, because, being a perceiver (Keirsey categories again) she can't see the big picture, unlike Izaya, who's a judger.


Orion

In the comic books, an unstoppable juggernaut, a cold, relentless ISTJ; here, an ESFP who a) breaks with tradition; b) appreciates beautiful things; c) is none too bright. Not what you'd expect Orion to be, and not what you'd expect of a scion of Darkseid. This is why Bekka pleads with High Father to spare Orion's life, but to no avail. 

Batman characters

Batman / Kirk Langstrom

Created by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, Langstrom in the comic books turns himself by mistake into Man-Bat; as a classic mad scientist type, he's an INTP. Here he's an INTP also - only he turns himself into a vampire, not a bat.

We find, in Langstrom, an instance of an INTP subtype - here the Ne secondary function in the INTP makes itself just a little more than the dominant Ti function. This INTP subtype, being soft and dreamy, reminds us more of the Peter Parker INTP than the more hard-edged Reed Richards or Sherlock Holmes INTP (both of them Ti subtypes). But make no mistake, Lanstrom's scientific and analytical abilities, ineptitude and lack of social graces make him an INTP.

Vampirism, as a superpower, strikes me as being more an intuitive's power than a sensor's. Langstrom definitely seems to be an intuitive, not a sensor (Keirsey again).

Will Magnus

In the comic books, an INTP; here, an ENFJ. A crazy messianic type who wants to meld all of humanity into a uni-mind, he's definitely an ENFJ. Unlike the INFJ, who wants to redeem humanity through one-on-one counselling, the ENFJ wants to reach as wide an audience as possible and bring them together as one; Magnus' scheme - of showering billions of mind-controlling nanobots onto humanity dropped through boom tubes - serves to do just that. 

Tina 

The human Tina here gives a stock ESFJ who cares for just about everyone. She shows a lot of consideration for Magnus' friend Kirk Langstrom, which arouses Magnus' jealousy - even though it's a case of an ESFJ being an ESFJ. Whereas an ENFJ wants to convert and redeem as many people as possible, the ESFJ wants to take care of many as possible. 

Tin

The bumbling, self-effacing, adorable servant who performs useful tasks around the house - such as taking out the garbage - Tin is an ISFJ. He remains loyal to his master to the end, and loyalty defines an ISFJ.


Tina / Platinum

Deadly and efficient, smooth and graceful, doesn't talk a lot, good with weapons, tenacious and unyielding - how could robot Tina be anything other than an ISTP? Wheres the Platinum in the Metal Men comic books seems to be more of a zany, emotional, annoying type (ENFP?), Platinum here reminds us more of Elektra or Lashina in Jack Kirby's Fourth World (both ISTPs) - a slick and deadly female assassin.


That's the 13 characters - who did we leave out? The ESTPs, INFPs and ENFPs. Well, you can't fit all the types into one short movie... Gods- gives us thirteen, and what's more, we don't find any double-ups (more than one instance of a type).


Mark Hootsen signing off.