Santa Baby
Author: KA Byrnes
FRANK CROSS, THREE
Well, this is a portrayal for the ages. Every miserly instinct is here, and yet our Scrooge is sympathetic, too. It’s not easy to write, direct, and act such an update to a beloved story. Scrooged has become a classic in its own right.
Should we look at younger Frank, working diligently during the office Christmas party? What about Frank in the Frisbee costume? His ambition makes him surly to Claire, and he doesn’t even recognize she’s suggesting a separation. In the present day, he sends his only brother a towel rather than the VHS. He has no life, and never had one. Remember when Christmas Past teases him about the TV shows that Frank mistakes for real life moments?
A hard worker. An Envy person, judging by his reaction to Brice Cummings, the LA sleaze trying to replace him.
We’re looking at a dark Three. He’s always known where his interests and talents lie. He’s let his personal life become small and mean, which reflects into his business life, but no one doubts his competency. This is how, at the climax, he can step into a live broadcast without timidity and dominate an improvisational finale. He’s become the light Three, loved and admired by everyone.
CLAIRE PHILLIPS, TWO
This is the Isabelle, the lost fiancee, of Scrooged, played by the blindingly appealing Karen Allen. In this version, though, Scrooge gets the girl after all.
Claire is absolutely a Heart Type. Her work at the outreach shelter is very giving, very charitable. It’s more than a job for her. These are her core beliefs.
A Two, of course.
Her beauty is part of that. Claire is portrayed as the sweetest woman on the planet. This is a role that could’ve become only a stereotype or a Null. Allen, with her trusting expression, makes Claire a Two. In the Christmas Future nightmare, Claire is cold and cruel, the opposite of her character. When Allen closes off her openness and vulnerability, Claire becomes an anti-Two. It’s a consistent performance.
GRACE COOLEY, THREE
This is the Cratchit of Scrooged. She is a loyal employee; quitting is never suggested, even though her boss treats her terribly. A widow, she is the sole breadwinner of a large family. Her Tiny Tim isn’t physically endangered, but mentally. The trauma of his father’s death has turned him mute. And she is as cheerful and optimistic in the face of all this as the original Bob.
Efficient, uncomplaining, and caring. What Enneagram is Grace?
She’s shown doing nothing physical, so let’s assume she’s not a Body Type. I think we want to go with Heart. Although she performs her duty, she’s sympathetic to the firing of Eliot Loudermilk. She also ribs Cross a bit about his Christmas present list, towel vs. VCR. Her comfort with social skills suggests a Two, Three, or Four.
What about a Three? She’s liked by everyone, even her scrooge-y boss. She’s competent at work and manages a complicated family situation well. She’s indomitable, straightforward, and unintimidated. Yes.
Mickey’s Christmas Carol
When I wrote my own version of Dickens’ classic I also had this charming short film in mind. Believe it or not, it’s one of the better adaptations in terms of being true to the original while bringing a unique flavor.
ONE
Credits roll over sepia drawings. A page of Victorian London transitions into a moving shot that finds Scrooge walking along a snow-covered street. The Big Bad Wolf in a Santa suit rings a bell while the Three Little Pigs sing a carol. (Recognizing Disney characters is part of the fun.)
Scrooge (McDuck, of course) gives a “Bah!” when asked to donate to the poor. He arrives outside his Counting House and acknowledges that Marley is dead. He also establishes his miserliness (albeit, a cartoon take on it).
TWO
Entering, he catches Mickey Cratchit trying to place one coal into the cold stove. Denied the chance to heat the room, Mickey asks for a half day tomorrow as it’s Christmas.
(The film is so good at showing all the meanness while making it light for children. Scrooge is horrible and Cratchit is pitiable, as they should be, yet this version gets us to laugh, too.)
Continue reading “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”Gods and Monsters
The previous episode of Moon Knight picked up the pace. Let’s see if they close strong.
ONE
After the recap and Marvel credits, with “At the End of a Rainbow” playing, we return to Mark’s last moment when he lies, shot, in the tomb’s pool of water. Arthur supervises as two of his men drag the body up and out. Oh, they only want the Ammit statue he was holding.
TWO
A beat on Arthur, who has achieved his goal of the entire season. Placing the golden scarab on Mark’s chest, Arthur apologizes that it had to be this way.
Layla, hiding behind a pillar and listening, watches as Arthur holds up the Ammit icon so his followers can bow before it. His cane handle morphs into a glowing purple head. He and his people leave.
THREE
Checking on Mark, Layla cries. She kisses him goodbye, takes the scarab, and floats him back into the pool.
Continue reading “Gods and Monsters”The Little Peasant
I’m not quite sure what attracted me to this tale. It’s kind of obnoxious, lol. Something about the sheep looking like clouds in the river near the end of the story became evocative.
This piece began before the summer hiatus and transformed into a different image when I came back. Yes, I incorporated my cat’s furball into the art. The organic quality suited the sheep, I guess.
JUDE LAW’S DR. WATSON, NINE
He’s a caretaker of Holmes, a bridge between reality and Sherlock’s head. Of course, a medical doctor would indeed always evaluate the state of their patient (even when he’s a friend). Does Watson go beyond a professional involvement, though? He can’t seem to stop saving Holmes.
Tidy, brave, prepared — Sherlock himself names these traits for Watson. He’s also courteous. When Holmes insults his fiancee, Watson restrains himself in a public restaurant with a lady. He approves of her wine toss in Sherlock’s face, and he later, when alone with him, punches Holmes in the nose. This Watson has a physicality controlled by good manners.
The two of them are like an old married couple, sniping and circling, knowing everything the other is thinking. Holmes is so erratic (these days we would say he’s on-spectrum) that Watson initially seems grounded and normal.
He’s not, though! His co-dependency with Holmes is possible because they’re both strange men. Watson is just better at socially hiding it. What would he do if he couldn’t roll his eyes at Holmes? He’s able to pretend he’s a regular bloke by showing exasperation with Sherlock. This isn’t the traditional sidekick role. Law’s Watson is an actual character with separate motivations.
He’s a Nine. The competitive spirit between him and RDJ’s Holmes, a Seven, is appropriate for these numbers. And Watson is very much someone who thinks as a Body Type. He enjoys the intellectual pursuit with Sherlock, but he prefers his profession — tending to the physical — and clues that require him to interact with them. He is a Nine who pushes the edges of his Enneagram: a little bit daring and reckless, a little bit angry and injudicious. He hates himself for it, but luckily he can blame it all on Holmes.
Asylum
This episode of Moon Knight begins with a recap, followed by the credit roll. Let’s go!
ONE
The sound of screaming while a stream runs in a dark place. A woman, looking directly at the camera, tears up and forcefully says, “It’s all your fault!”
Cut to the hippo, Steven, and Mark, startling each other and screaming.
Cut to Mark screaming in Dr. Arthur’s office. His nose looks broken. Again, we hear Arthur speaking reason while Mark looks at the Egyptian artifacts placed around the office. He’s in a facility in Chicago and everything else is a fantasy he’s created. Mark says, “You’re not a doctor.”
Arthur seems briefly offended, and then defers to the patient. “Alright, retrace your steps. How did you come to be here?” (A question we would also like answered!) He mentions Mark’s last words about meeting a hippo. “Is that sense, or nonsense?” Mark looks shaken.
Continue reading “Asylum”ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.’S SHERLOCK HOLMES, SEVEN
One of my first character posts was a generic look at Sherlock Holmes. I’ve come a long way, lol. I assessed an unspecified Holmes as a Seven, and declared that RDJ would portray him well. Let’s dig in, though, and see what and who his Holmes is.
Downey’s Holmes really does dabble in it all. The drugs, the violin-plunking, the pugilism, the chaos — his Holmes tries everything. He even conducts, for research, a satanic ritual. Sometimes he envisions events many steps into the future, like his boxing technique, and sometimes he has to experience something to deduce it.
He’s brave. Indomitable and fearless, really. He’s either supremely confident or a lucky fool. He’s a mediocre friend to Watson. Loyal, yes, but selfish.
Not a One or Six. Rules are meaningless to him. Not a Two. All of that detective gear is too haphazard. Not a Five. He’s an intuitive thinker, not one to organize a problem. Not a Nine. He thrives on conflict.
So, we have Three, Four, Seven, or Eight remaining. Socially, he’s a fiasco. Not a Three or Four.
Seven. His fighting style comes from the head, not from the gut, as an Eight’s would. And I really like that Sherlock Holmes has an Enneagram type. I mean, we all knew he’d end up a Seven. The excessive edges of his personality and his success in that lifestyle are really only manageable by one number.