ADRIENNE DE LENVERPRÉ, FOUR

I don’t know how many people have watched the period drama The Bonfire of Destiny (Le Bazar de la Charité), but it’s so good I want to give it a shoutout by examining one of the three lead characters.

Based on real events in 1897 Paris, a fire at a charity bazaar decimates the venue and kills many of the women supporting the display. The show follows three of the women after the tragedy. Adrienne survives because she never attended. Instead, she uses the bazaar as a front while she has a tryst with her lover. We’d just seen her husband, denying her request for a divorce, hit her and send away their child without her permission or knowledge. After the fire, Adrienne realizes she can let her husband think she died as so many others did.

Adrienne is not completely sympathetic nor a mastermind at her ruse. She’s a fully developed character, flaws and all. While living with her lover she plots how to kidnap her daughter (who will return for Adrienne’s funeral) and run away with her. She sells her necklace to a pawn broker without realizing that thieves have robbed the mortuary of the dead women’s jewelry and the police are now investigating. It’s only a matter of time until her husband knows she’s alive and comes after her.

Who is this person who is ruled by passion and emotion? Clearly a Heart Type, not Head. She’s impulsive, not a planner. Shall we jump right to Four? She’s a bit selfish, endangering her lover with her recklessness. Her friends were greatly impacted by the fire, yet she never wonders how they’re doing. When Adrienne approaches her sister to ask for money, she doesn’t anticipate how distraught and angry the sister will be when she learns Adrienne is alive. She’s singularly focused on her daughter, not only to reunite with her but to save her from the father. Her motives are strong, but she’s careless in how she goes about achieving them.

It’s a compelling portrayal. Just to tease the show a little further: Adrienne has the least complicated story of the three! I couldn’t even begin to write about Alice’s dilemma in a concise review, nor Rose’s without spoiling many heart-wrenching details. I highly recommend this limited series. 

JAVI GUTIERREZ, TWO

A multi-millionaire with his own island in Mallorca, Javi is just a guy who loves the acting of Nick Cage. He even has a room dedicated to memorabilia. He hires Nick for a birthday party with the intention of convincing him to star in his spec script (which is probably not very good). Meanwhile, he may be a ruthless mob boss; that’s for Nick to discover.

What makes this fun is the chemistry between Pedro Pascal and Cage. I could watch these two riff off each other for days. It’s a buddy film, which delighted me.

So who is this very rich man who is a dedicated Nick ‘stan?

Well, haha, he’s a Two. He collects Nick Cage, figuratively and literally. He’s also a happy man with a tender heart. The Two/Four dynamic between the men is very successful. Strength/Weakness Enneagrams support and challenge each other. The choice of portrayals (or natural chemistry) these men create turns an awkward plot into a tour de force. Star power is worth money, if there was ever any doubt.

NICK CAGE, FOUR

Just because Nicolas Cage plays himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent doesn’t mean that this character is the same as the real man. Any discussion of his Enneagram assumes that Cage is much too good to give us a simple version of who he is. This Nick is a mash-up of possibly real characteristics and all the heroes he’s played on film. It is, unsurprisingly, a delicious performance.

So who is Nick?

He’s intensely committed to acting. He insists on giving a line reading to a prospective director, terrifying him. He thrives on jobs that interest him rather than paycheck gigs. However, he’s broke from living in a high-priced hotel. (When Nick became divorced and moved out of his home is unclear.) In order to pay his bills, he agrees to perform for one million dollars at a birthday party on a private island.

So, lol, not a One (no money acuity). Not a Six (no worries), not a Nine (loves conflict), not a Five (too risk-oriented).

When he arrives he’s approached by the CIA. He’s the only one who can get onto Javi’s island, and they suspect a kidnapped girl is held there. That means he plays a double game during his visit. The ease with which he lies to his host suggests he’s not a Two.

Although he loves his work and is a master craftsman, Nick is probably not a Three. Too intense, too variable in his success.

If you’re keeping track, we’re left with Four, Seven, and Eight. I want to jump immediately to Four. Although all of those numbers can be intense, Nick is pretty extreme. Nicolas Cage’s career is defined by how volatile his characters are. I think I know already what Javi is, and their friendship is the surprising treasure of this movie. Four is going to be a good choice for Nick.

NEMO, SEVEN

An independent child, Nemo (as in Little Nemo from the classic cartoons of Winsor McCay) is left alone at the lighthouse with her father’s full trust. She loves stories and dreams, basically creating her real life into the tales her father tells her at bedtime.

I honestly don’t need to delve very far to see a Seven. Her competency and confidence, her imagination and lucid dreaming, and her determination to macgyver a way back to her father after she’s sent to live with Uncle Philip speak of an innovative Head Type. Fear will not stop her and despair will not rule her. Also, her lack of balance and reason, her willingness to go to the edge of safety and sanity, call out as the Seven’s dark side. She feels consistently written and is a pleasure to watch as our heroine.

We also have a sweetness in knowing that Nemo and Philip are both Head Types. Although the beginning of their relationship is tragic and painful, they will be fine together. They will come to understand each other. The Enneagram tells us so.

And one more thing I must mention. Nemo has a stuffed pig toy she sleeps with in the real world. In slumberland, the pig is alive and the animation is some of the most wonderful CG work. I am biased toward cuddly pigs, but this is an empirically adorable creature. 

I will not, however, be checking its Enneagram.

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.