KA Byrnes – Page 23 – Enneagram and Encaustic

Summon the Suit

LEFTOVER NINE

A black screen with sounds of snarling and fighting, over. Coming into focus is sand, and then the camera races up the foot of Steven’s bed to him as he flies awake. It seems that in his mind he’s still in the fight. He dashes forward, stumbling out of bed, and is yanked short by the connected ankle brace. Crash, face plant.

ONE

That wakes him entirely. Realizing everything, he slumps back to the floor.

At his bathroom mirror, Steven tries to talk to Mark. No response.

Steven crosses the street, a red double decker bus passing in front of him, and walks toward the museum. As he approaches the front entrance, the overhead shot flips upside down to follow him in.

Repair tools. Cordoning tape. Steven slows and looks around. The security man says he’s just about to review the video footage. He takes Steven into the “arena”, a desk with multiple feed displays. Steven admits he might have information about what happened, and he warns the man: What you’re about to see will melt your brain.

ANNA, ONE

She’s so efficient that we never get a plotline about her job at Downton. All of Anna’s troubles are personal. I’m immediately thinking about a One. She feels like a small, cheerful dynamo. And she has that moral comfort a One or a Six possesses. She’s not a worrier, though (beyond regular human emotion) as a Six would be. It doesn’t define her.

So, a One.

Nobody in this era is going to jog about the park, but Anna is often shown walking to town. A Body Type would have few other outlets for exercise. She’s physically vibrant and brisk. Also, lol, I think she manages the finances for her marriage (a One trait). Everyone upstairs and downstairs is at ease around her. She has no Envy in her, so she can’t be a Three. Like a Three, though, a One is universally liked and successful. It makes her a useful character to the writers for a terrible rape plotline. No one wants to see Anna harmed, and her physical exuberance is convenient as a pivot point to put her in danger. That’s the dramatic nature of a soap opera, and I can’t complain that the showrunners have integrated Anna’s Enneagram into the story. I just don’t want to watch it.

GRAMMA TALA, NULL

She’s a troublemaker, lol. A rebel. She opens the movie by terrorizing the toddlers with the story of Maui. When Moana is grown, Gramma basically gaslights her by pretending she doesn’t care what Moana does. “I’m the village crazy lady,” she says. “That’s my job.” She’s a fairy godmother with a manta ray tattooed on her back.

Her only individual, character-specific moment is when she stands on the shore and admires her spirit animal. Otherwise, she’s the quest-giver, the heroic mentor, and the beloved elder. She’s a trickster. (Did they miss one of the archetypes, lol?) The showrunners pack a lot onto her shoulders. Can an Enneagram rise above all this weight?

Wow, no. In a previous review I held Gramma up as a great, well-written cameo character. I think I may have been bamboozled. Sorry about that. She’s layered with so many archetypes that she dazzles. However . . . she’s just a Null. Bummer.

The Goldfish Problem

I decided to give Moon Knight a try because some random YouTube mentioned it as an Egyptology show. I didn’t know that, really knew nothing about it and had no interest in it. Holy cow, was I wrong! I loved this quirky, beautifully-acted little gem. It doesn’t fit neatly into any expectation I held for an MCU project.

The reviews for MK are mixed, and I’m curious to see if my opinion changes during a rewatch. Alrighty, here we go. And remember, I load my breakdowns with all the spoilers.

LEFTOVER NINE

Hands adjust a cloth on a table. From overhead, we see the surface. Some kind of distinctive cane lays on one side, next to a pair of huaraches. On the cloth, arms rest, the right forearm tattooed with a balancing scale. The hands pour a tumbler of water, and then this person, face in shadow, drinks. The empty glass is turned downward, and the cloth is folded over it. With the cane head, the person smashes the glass. The shards are dumped into the shoes. Insert this person’s feet stepping into the huaraches, standing, and then smoothly walking.

Roll credits.

ONE

An extreme close-up of someone’s face in profile. It’s Oscar Isaac. He sits up, probably waking up, and looks around his garret apartment. He’s confused, maybe. Throwing back the puff, he reveals that his right leg is chained to the bed with an ankle brace. He checks that his connection to the bedpost is secure, and then frees himself. Now we see an insert of his feet. (Nice juxtaposition with the earlier scene!) The bed is surrounded by unmarked sand. He steps forward, leaving a clear footprint. He removes tape from the front door jamb.

Baxter, Nine

Since Baxter came up during the Molesley examination, let’s discuss her. She’s the one who eventually becomes Cora’s lady’s maid after O’Brien leaves. Thomas recommends her for the job; in exchange he holds her hostage. He wants to know the gossip upstairs and he’ll reveal her secret if she won’t dish.

And what is her secret? In a previous household she was convinced by an unscrupulous man to steal her employer’s jewelry. She served time and he went away free.

So, Baxter is malleable. She’s no Eight, One, or Three. She’s genuinely kind to others, even Thomas. This is a character with no Envy, so not a Two or Four. Because of her romantic feelings with Molesley, let’s rule out a Six (his Enneagram).

Five, Seven, or Nine? I want to say Nine. First of all, I like it as a companion number to Molesley. Also, I think the conflict inherent in Baxter’s crime is what torments her the most. Of course she’s embarrassed to confess to Cora, but upsetting the household balance, of putting Cora in the difficult position of deciding her fate, is more offensive to her. Molesley’s support — I would say his moral clarity, which is a source of peace for him — lends Baxter strength. Her past is not a drama for him, which makes it less of a drama for her.

The Desert

This is the episode I wish I could just skip. It’s too sad.

ONE

Desolate, vast, and sandy. Each of our team faces out on the desert, looking in a different direction. Turning around, Aang yells at Toph for letting Appa be taken. She defends herself with reasonable explanations, and Aang explodes, accusing her of not caring. Katara intervenes, supporting Toph. Sokka gives a pessimistic view of the entire situation.

TWO

Aang won’t hear any of it. He goes airborne to look for Appa.

THREE

Katara assumes leadership. They must get the information about the solar eclipse to Ba Sing Se. They start walking.

MAUI, TWO

He’s immediately hilarious and wonderful, nailing the best song in the show. At first all we see is his confidence and his callousness. (He leaves Moana locked in a cave FOR LIFE, or at least as far as he knows.) If this weren’t a Disney movie (and Moana weren’t highly athletic) it would be a much different tone.

Instead, it’s basically a road movie with these two.

Because Maui’s a shapeshifter, I want to say he’s a Body Type. He’s impulsive and socially clueless at times, which leads me to Eight. I mean, he is a superhero, of a sort. Eight is pretty go-to.

But what if he isn’t? He’s powerful because of his fish hook. Without it, he’s just a marooned dude. Oh, hahaha! Are his tattoos a Two’s collection? Underneath his jerk impulses he’s a lonely guy who wants to be appreciated. He did everything, all of his heroic feats, to help humans (or, so he claims in “You’re Welcome”). If we are to believe him, he didn’t defeat the monsters because of the physical challenge, to pit himself against the toughest bosses. He did it out of a sense of service. At the climax, when his hook is half-broken and he wants to quit, he returns because Moana won’t stop. Aw, how sad that someone who seeks human connection and love has been isolated for so long. (No wonder he talks to his ink, lol.)

MOANA, NINE

One part of Moana genuinely believes she will perform her duty, stay on the island, and lead her people as her father has done. The other part of her is desperate for adventure on the sea. Also, as a good chief she knows that the village is unsustainable. Rot ruins their plants and the lagoon has been fished out. When she finds the boats in the sea cave, she sees a solution and an escape rolled into one.

It’s in the nature of the genre that our heroine will be athletic, but I think we’re looking at something extra. Moana sails with no previous experience, shows physical daring and confidence, and is an excellent acrobat, which all suggest a Body Type. (Otherwise I would peg her as a Three. She has that indomitable will and lucky touch.)

She’s a Nine. It’s her misplaced dutifulness. A Nine will slide to Six in weakness. She meets her obligation to the village without passion. Only after she pursues her own way, sailing to return the heart and adventuring to find Maui, can she succeed. Even then, she needs to express herself physically: sailing among her people. I like it! She’s an enjoyable character who feels fresh, yet she hits all the appropriate beats and stays true to her Enneagram. Well done.

Neptune’s Spatula

ONE

Heroic gladiator music over the credits is replaced by our friendly uke with a bubble-wipe to the Fry Cook Museum.

In walk Spongebob and Patrick. (He wears a large ballcap and has a camera around his neck.) They ooh and aah at the displays, which are mostly creatures in glass cases wearing chef hats.

And then they arrive at the “ultimate cooking utensil”, the Golden Spatula. Ah. Larry the Lobster climbs a staircase behind the display in order to try — a la Excalibur — to pull the spatula from its bucket of — suds? wash water? mashed potatoes? He fails, and the spatula goes “Sproing.”

(Haha. It’s a bucket of “ancient grease”. While the gladiator music plays.)

TWO

Only a fry cook worthy of King Neptune himself . . . haha. We’re just waiting for it now. Too cute. Spongebob wants a picture next to the spatula, his hand lightly resting on the handle. An old lady fish interrupts Patrick asking for directions. While he drools with uncertainty, Spongebob valiantly offers to help. Pointing the way, he wields the spatula. Schwing! Golden fire surrounds the liberated, upraised tool. A swirly cloud surrounds Spongebob while Patrick, oblivious, still tries to take a picture.

THREE

Lightning. Fish gathering around. A voice from the cloud. Through a break we see a Mount Olympus-style tableau, and Neptune swims down and through. (His voice this time is J. Peterman from Seinfeld. In the movie it’s George Bluth from Arrested Development.)

MOLESLEY, SIX

If ever a character was pitiable and heroic at the same time! At first he’s a man in service looking to better his position. It seems like he’s good at it, too, but his personality is always awkward at putting himself forward.

Isn’t Molesley a Six? Need we delve further, lol?

He’s a worrier. He’s a forelock-puller (if he’d lived in an earlier era). He’s never going to be head butler. It isn’t until Baxter joins the household that we see the depth of his character. Before that, he seems more like a comedic foil for the downstairs plots. With Baxter, though, he shows the black-and-white moral code that Sixes do so well. He likes her romantically, but he also just stands by what is right, and his influence helps Baxter take back her life.

Can we say that The Fool is often a Six? Isn’t that interesting! Character tropes that may match up with the Enneagram! Molesley is most definitely a Fool archetype. And then, like every great Fool, he tells the truth when no one else will take the risk. After all, the Fool is one of the most heroic types in fiction. No one else is willing to annoy a king day in and out.