Sunday, February 14, 2016

Disney's Pocahontas- Pocahontas (ISFP)


Introverted Feeling (Fi): Pocahontas feels strongly about most things, but rarely shares these feelings with anyone but a select few she is very close to. She is deeply offended by John's calling her people (and by extension, her) "savages", but instead of talking it out with him, she silently leaves in a huff. Pocahontas hates conflict and will usually go out of her way to avoid it. She wants peace between her tribe and the white explorers more than anything and is willing to throw herself in harm's way if it means achieving it, because she's so steadfast in her values. She feels a need to stay true to herself and find her own way in life, even if it's not what anyone in her tribe does.



Extroverted Sensing (Se): Pocahontas is free-spirited, loves a thrill, and new sensations- diving off a towering waterfall, running through the woods, spying on the strange settlers. She's deeply in tuned with her environment ("But I know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name"), and shows John how to experience the most out of it ("Colors of the Wind" is a great example of Se, really). She is excited to hear about how different London is from the home she's always known.  She can be impulsive and quick to take chances when she sees them. She doesn't want to take the path everyone else has taken but instead chooses the rocky, more dangerous stream in "Just Around the Riverbend".


Introverted Intuition (Ni): Pocahontas knows her dream about the spinning arrow means something- she just doesn't know what (and this is probably the biggest piece of evidence of how she is not in fact an INFJ as she's regularly typed is; a Ni-dom would probably have figured out the meaning behind the symbolism a long time ago. It takes her the whole movie to get it!). She wants to know what her destiny is, and won't settle for taking the "smoothest course" because it may be the wrong choice for her.

Extroverted Thinking (Te): Pocahontas is pretty passive, but she can stand up and take charge when pushed to it, like calmly explaining to Powhatan how she thinks she's meant to take another path, and going to save John herself through the most direct way (ie literally standing in the way of Powhatan!).

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Pan's Labyrinth- Ofelia (INFP)



Introverted Feeling (Fi): Ofelia is an independent, compassionate girl. She can come off as disobedient to her mother at times, but she cares strongly about Carmen thinks. She warms up quickly to Mercedes the servant, who humors her love of fantasy, while everyone else just sees Ofelia as a child or a nuisance. She can lack empathy- she can't understand how her mother could have felt lonely with Ofelia around and married an awful man like Vidal. She can't make herself care enough about showing up to the dinner in the dress Carmen worked on like she and the captain want to make the family look good, because helping the Faun is more important to her. She never directly says she dislikes Vidal, but she clearly is happy to "disappoint" by not going to the dinner. She eventually cannot bring herself to hand her brother over, even though he's caused much of her grief, because she feels it's wrong to harm an innocent in any way, nor can she tell Vidal that Mercedes is a rebel because she cares about her. She usually acts on her emotions, such as breaking away briefly from her mission to ask the Faun to help her sick mother.


Extroverted Intuition (Ne): Ofelia lives in her own fantasy world, sparked by the many fairy tales she reads. She's always got a story in her head, as implied by her mother requesting her to tell her unborn brother a story to settle him down. The Faun is shady, and she's never certain if he's lying or not. She is given a key to use in the Pale Man's lair, but guesses correctly that it actually opens a different door than the one she was told to use. She sees Mercedes outside and connects her with the rebels (again, correctly). In general, she's a creative problem solver: when she's about to be killed by the Pale Man, she quickly sees another escape out through the ceiling with her magic chalk, and when she needs the toad to swallow the stones, she sneaks a fat bug in with them, knowing he'll eat it that way, and slipping Carmen's sleeping medicine into Vidal's drink so she can grab her brother. The Faun tells her the only way to return home is to draw a little blood from her brother- which she senses is a lie, and refuses to.


Introverted Sensing (Si): Ofelia misses her life with just her mother and no captain back in the city. She has trouble adjusting to her country life living with a cold-hearted stepfather. She isn't shocked by seeing a real fairy, faun, and mandrake because she's familiar with such creatures from all her reading. She has initial trouble believing the Faun when he tells her she's Princess Moanna, because her father, an ordinary tailor, died years ago. She takes comfort from her books, the only bit of her old life she has, as well as hearing a reassuring child's lullaby from Mercedes when Carmen dies and Ofelia's childhood is well and truly gone now, without the only source of protection from the captain's cruelty.  Once she understands what kind of magical world she's dealing with, she works within it well and without question.


Extroverted Thinking (Te): Ofelia is able to believe the Faun when he presents proof (the moon birthmark on her shoulder). He lays out the plan to get her home, and she works at following through efficiently and in secret from everyone at the mill. She eventually comes to take responsibility for her infant brother and gets them both out. But most of the time, Ofelia has rather weak Te, and isn't usually prepared to consider or face possible consequences for her actions.

Note: Vidal is a classic ESTJ villain (his repression of his Ne really comes to bite him when he underestimates Mercedes), Mercedes is an INFJ, Carmen is an ISFJ, and the Faun is an xNTJ. Guillermo del Toro was obviously not thinking of MBTI when he made this movie, but it's a classic one of a dreamer vs. reality, so the character types are a bit stereotypical- the evil TJ villain, the maternal ISFJ, and the heroic NF.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Disney's Tangled- Rapunzel [ESFJ]

I know she's always typed as an Intuitive, especially an ENFP, and it's understandable why; I had once typed her as an ENFJ myself. She does, after all, just "know" the lights are "meant for me!" But is that really indicative of someone with strong intuitive preference?

I had also mistyped Carmen Lowell from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as an ENFJ for similar reasons- she sees signs in everything and believes in fate, much like Rapunzel. But both girls are ESFJs! They hold onto their own routines and traditions that are important to them, and fear change. More on this later.

Also, there's this annoying tendency to type nerdy/quirky/silly ESFJs as ENFPs, not only Rapunzel but characters like Steven Universe. Why? Their Fe is very obvious. Why must Intuitives get the credit for being imaginative when Sensors are,well, often called called creators for a reason?

Anyway, to the typing:


Extroverted Feeling (Fe): Rapunzel is very warm to everyone she meets. She's a people-person and likes to create a happy environment at home for Gothel. She is charismatic and easily inspires others- she gets everyone at the Snuggly Duckling to open up their feelings to her. She's very friendly and you'd be hard-pressed to find a single person in the movie who dislikes her at all (even Gothel goes out of her way to make her happy for her birthday). Due to the fact that she's something of a people-pleaser, this leads Rapunzel to need validation from others, and feel insecure if she doesn't have it. She can also be over-emotional, panicking when she thinks she may hurt Gothel. (Really, where do people see an ENFP's Fi in her at all?)


Introverted Sensing (Si): Rapunzel likes routine, and keeps to it everyday: chores, crafts, exercise, re-reading her books, and so on-and does these without fail, even though it all starts to bore her. She never misses the lights that appear every year on her birthday, which becomes a special tradition for her. She pays attention to details and remembers them well, like the sun symbol she's painted so much since childhood, and where exactly she's seen it before. She can be passive, doing as Gothel says and sometimes letting Flynn lead for her. She's always been taught that the outside is dangerous and believes it without questioning, because that's how Gothel has always taught her to believe.


Extroverted Intuition (Ne): Rapunzel has stayed in her tower for 18 years, only leaving when Flynn arrives and presents the possibility of leaving safely. She channels her imagination through her preexisting skills as an artist (Si). She eventually pieces together her backstory just from seeing the sun symbol. She enjoys new ideas, as shown in the "I've Got a Dream" sequence. Her lower Ne makes her very paranoid of bad outcomes, though- will Gothel be hurt? What about all the dangers in the world? Will Flynn really leave her as Gothel warns?



Introverted Thinking (Ti): Rapunzel is curious and wants to figure out who, or what, is behind the lanterns that mysteriously appear every year on her birthday. She is shown to enjoy the logical game of chess and solving puzzles at home. Once she pieces together the truth of her heritage, she is able to objectively look at her "mother" for the first time. She sometimes over-analyzes her own feelings, and can sometimes find creative solutions to problems, like using her hair as a lasso or underwater light. She rationalizes her desire to leave the tower, even while admitting it would be immoral to defy and deceive Gothel, so she won't feel guilty about it. However, she primarily prefers to make decisions based on how she feels.

Gravity Falls- Stan Pines (ESFP)



Extroverted Sensing (Se): Stan has made his living off conning people as he's a good liar and a quick thinker. He recognizes opportunities when they present themselves and isn't afraid to exploit them for his own gain (out of money and brother missing? Pretend to be Ford and charge people to see his house full of weird stuff!). He adapts well to any new lifestyle he has (and he's had a lot!). He works well in his environment, which helps him to be an excellent fighter despite his age (relying on the gravitational anomaly to get rid of the guards and free himself, or using objects at hand in his home to fight the zombies). He spends his time in Gravity Falls secretly sizing up the place to use to his advantage (conning people or preparing for the apocalypse). While it may not be obvious, Stan has a truly creative side; he came up with many of the Shack's fake monsters and created a whole new persona for himself to attract customers as Mr. Mystery with his fez and dapper suit. When Halloween comes around, he likes to go all-out in trying to having fun scaring kids. He has a liking for junk food, TV fights, and is a ladies' man.


Introverted Feeling (Fi): Stan isn't above cheating and lying, but he's extremely protective of his family and has shown he's willing to do anything to save them when they're in trouble. He frequently went out of his way to make Mabel in particular happy (like getting Waddles back from the pterodactyl) because her happiness is so important. He doesn't care if people approve of him, but growing up, he resented being considered the "dumber, sweatier version" of his twin. There's some conflict between him and Ford, as Stan has a certain moral code he believes family should have, and he can't wrap his head around why Ford doesn't follow it too. He's deeply hurt by Ford rejecting him twice, because Ford is one of the few people whose opinion he cares about. He's very tough on Dipper, because his own father was to him, and that's what Stan believes to be the right way to act.


Extroverted Thinking (Te): Stan isn't one to sit and question things; he is decisive and just acts. He takes it upon himself to rescue his brother from the other dimension. He works tirelessly for decades at rebuilding the portal, all the while making a living by turning Ford's house into an anomaly museum. He's got a criminal past because he's able to disconnect emotionally to do what he thinks he needs to do to survive. He's very blunt and bosses his employees and niece and nephew around, expecting them to follow his rules. He's a competent conman and knows how to run his shop efficiently. Despite all this, Stan doesn't really care to be responsible, often letting the kids in his care do risky or stuff (giving them illegal fireworks to play with or forcing them to make counterfeit money).

Introverted Intuition (Ni): Stan isn't dumb, but didn't do well in school due to a lack of motivation. However, he's the one who comes up with the idea to sail the world with Ford, and doesn't let anything get in the way of that. As an adult, he spends his life trying to bring his brother back to their dimension as well as never live in poverty again, though he can't always foresee setbacks to his plans. He's good at reading motivations (such as how he sees right through Gideon's act) and despite his total lack of scientific experience, he is able to figure out how to fix the portal using only his own skills and the journal.