ROGER MOORE’S BOND, FOUR

For this Bond I would’ve attended an opening in the movie theater. Moonraker may have been the first Bond movie I ever saw. The Moore years were very theatrical: wild ski jumps, a man with razor teeth, voodoo. You could call these the peak Bond years, although Moore was my least favorite Bond. His double entendre was so painful!

I immediately jump to Four. This Bond is very socially aware. He judges the room, works it. He’s on mission, make no mistake, but he notices people. He doesn’t just shoot and run, he manages the flow. Suave is a tool in his arsenal.

You have to see a Heart Type when you look at his mastery of emotion. His somewhat cold manipulation of it is very Man Four. He rules the ups and downs. They don’t rule him.

I’m sorry I can’t be impartial about this. I don’t remember much about the Moore films because I only watched them once. The other Bonds I’ve rewatched many times. The smile doesn’t reach the eyes with him, and I don’t find his Bond engaging.

SEAN CONNERY’S BOND, EIGHT

Our first movie portrayal of James Bond, Sean Connery’s is still my favorite. How did I see Dr. No or Goldfinger before an era of streaming and video services? I don’t remember. They were magical, though. Dynamic.

And brutal. Even for the time period, when violence would’ve been handled in a sanitized way, Connery’s Bond was ruthless. Shootings were still punctuated then with a music soundtrack. Bang bang was a double scrape across the violin strings while Connery barely blinks. The opening to Goldfinger has Connery manipulating Jill in order to get the angle on Auric. And then the angle on Jill. He’s so confident, so focused, and mostly lacking in regret.

I want to say Eight as this particular Bond’s Enneagram number. Emotions are very sparse. The mission is everything. He’s pleasant enough to people, charming if he wants, but does Bond really care about Moneypenny? It’s a part that he plays — flirt with the secretary — on his way to do business with M. It also annoys M. Two for one.

Why an Eight and not a Four? Connery is too even keel for a Four. Wit is secondary to force. Close call, though.

He’s a socially aware Eight. He’s deadly serious, literally, but the veneer is a pleasure to be around. This light touch that Connery brings helped define future portrayals that stray from the book’s Bond. How much of our understanding of Bond is established by Connery’s choices? Interesting.

JIMMY DUGAN, EIGHT

A drunk. An athlete. A stubborn jerk. Jimmy’s a hard case.

He’s also beautifully written and portrayed. Jimmy has one of the strongest arcs in the movie. But what’s his Enneagram number?

He loves conflict. Oh, he totally knows he’s aggravating that umpire. Not a Nine. 

He’s not an Envy person. Dottie’s talent is no problem for him. He wants her to excel and to recognize her gifts. The loss of his career makes him bitter against himself, but he doesn’t measure himself against others.

Possibly an Eight. His “no crying in baseball” line is honest and brutal. (That’s part of what makes it so funny and beloved.) Eights are not ashamed to hurt other people’s feelings. They rip off the band-aid.

Not a One. The mechanics of coaching hold little interest for Jimmy. Not a Seven. An alcoholic Seven would be having much more fun.

Eight it is. When he stops drinking his natural leadership shines through and he becomes a great coach.

KIT KELLER, FOUR

Total Envy Person, right? Her jealousy over her sister Dottie is eating her alive. Credit to the actors for nailing their characters so perfectly that narrowing the Enneagram choices is easy.

Two, Three, or Four? Obviously I jump right to Four because Kit seems consumed with emotion, but let’s dig deeper.

Kit is athletic, yet not a Body Type. Next to Dottie Kit is average, but compared to everyone not Dottie, Kit is cream of the crop. She excels. Possibly a Three.

She second guesses herself, though, and lets Dottie live in her head. Her doubt seems very un-Three.

She’s open with the other players. Everyone likes her. I’m going to say no to a Two, though. Evelyn, mother of Stillwell Angel and instigator of one of the greatest lines in film — “There’s no crying in baseball” — seems like the team’s Two.

So, we’re back to Four. Kit is up and down. Her determination to battle, even though she feels defeated, is Four-like. And the Four/Nine dynamic, with Dottie as the partner Nine, is on steroids here. Everything one number refuses to feel, the other number displays. That mix of deep connection and painful codependency makes for a very compelling sister story.

DOTTIE HINSON, NINE

Oh, she’s a Nine all the way. Her avoidance of conflict, her superior athletic ability, her calm dependability — so much Enneagram Nine.

I’ve complained before about having Nine protagonists at every turn. It’s so predictable. Here’s a good one, though. Dottie’s Nine traits, her placid nature, are used to play off the other characters’ more exuberant traits. Although Dottie is our heroine, this is an ensemble cast. Actors play their individual beats and Dottie sits right at the center, reacting. It’s a very good use of a Nine character. Everything that we see happen to her, from signing up for the team to going to the team reunion, is instigated by someone other than Dottie. Even leaving the team because Bob came home is a passive reaction rather than a decisive action. It makes for an interesting and sometimes frustrating character arc.

Also, her astonishing athleticism is important to the story. She’s almost physically superhuman, which leads to a lot of conflict. Her mild personality is a great contrast because she doesn’t really know how good she is. Someone like this, one of the greatest athletes of all time in the world of this story, should have more strut. She’s a bit of a mystery.

In the end, though, she returns to the playoffs of her own accord. The Nine can’t resist the battle when all’s said and done.

ERIK KILLMONGER, EIGHT

Of course he’s an Eight. His anger, his vengeance, his brook-no-arguments leadership are all evidence of his Enneagram number.

What’s truly interesting is that Killmonger is the hero archetype while T’Challa, the actual superhero, isn’t. I believe the filmmakers played this dichotomy on purpose. What does it say when you reverse the superhero trope?

Some people wanted Killmonger to be the protagonist. He’s the corrupted version of a superhero — his methods and goals will cause great harm and he is unrepentant about that — but his core is attractive. That decisiveness and commitment, an unwavering drive, are what we expect in a hero. His origin story is compelling. T’Challa’s just a prince-in-waiting. Part of us wants Killmonger, the underdog warrior, to win.

And yet he is defeated by someone more conflicted, more diplomatic, more democratic. King T”Challa wants to hear from everybody and weigh all sides, as a true leader would. Killmonger dictates and destroys.

In real life humans are more complicated than Killmonger. In stories someone as predictable as Killmonger is a comfort. The catharsis, the sharing of his journey even if it’s a tragedy, is what we crave.

NAKIA, THREE

She’s brave. She’s fearless. Her mission at the opening of the movie is incredibly important to her. Only the death of her king will break her away.

A Three? 

She feels deeply. Injustice lights her on fire. Yet in her personal relationship she is cautious. Feelings don’t rule her in romance. These are very Woman Three traits.

Also, naturally, she’s great at what she does. Three. The family depends on her.

While admirable, Nakia is not a character we latch onto. Shuri, yes, she’s personable and animated. Okoye, yes. Who doesn’t love her fierceness and dedication? Nakia, though, is always distant. Three. A movie that made her the protagonist would be very important and probably boring.

Competency is dull, no matter how great the actress who portrays it. Interesting.

T’CHALLA, NINE

Most superheroes are a one-off: bit by a spider, traumatized by parents’ death, shipped from an alien planet, fathered by a god, etc. Black Panther comes from an ancestral dynasty. When the former king (his father) dies T’Challa assumes the mantle. Before that moment he’s physically trained and wearing the suit, but he’s imbued with the superpowers because he’s now the king.

All of this is very interesting to me when deciding an Enneagram number for him. A lot of superheroes are Eights or Nines. It’s part of the personality necessary to become that leader. Being a Body Type is essential, in a way. But someone who doesn’t choose? Someone who is passed the crown? He could be anything!

Immediately I want to say that he’s not a Body Type. He almost loses his first fight for the kingship and he definitely loses his second. Although he’s competent, T’Challa doesn’t seem like a natural athlete. The suit and the magic power do a lot of the work.

So, Head or Heart? He’s kind of a softy, isn’t he? The way he seeks out Nakia, who’s way more like a superhero badass than he is, is gentle. He wants to tell her in person of his father’s passing, and he wants to check on her without looking like he’s checking on her. She’s the one on the dangerous mission.

He’s not particularly strategic. His sister Shuri is the brains in the family. She carries a lot on her shoulders. What does he bring to the table?

Uh-oh. I’m sensing a placid Nine. A diplomat. But what about his almost Six-ish fighting trajectory?

None of this seems right. I have huge respect for Ryan Coogler and Chadwick Boseman. They wouldn’t create an incompetent portrayal. I think we’re in a weird zone. He’s got to be a Nine. He avoids conflict until he can’t escape it, and then brings a hammer to correct a problem that could’ve been massaged earlier. His physical vulnerability is probably a plot device so that Killmonger can threaten the world. Every superhero has the underdog moment.

I’m kind of not happy about this, though. I really liked this movie, but now I’m wondering if a soft Nine character build will stand up to repeated viewings.

UPDATE: I’m so terribly sorry to hear of Chadwick Boseman’s passing. What a shocking and tragic loss to his family, the acting community, and the MCU fans. May we who mourn find peace.

NEWT, SEVEN

She’s a great character. Indispensable. How can I not write about Newt?

Well, she’s a child, that’s why. I believe we’re all born with an Enneagram number, but I’m reluctant to talk about someone not mature. It feels unfair. To ignore such an integral character would also be unfair, though, so let’s poke.

Brave. Way brave. “They mostly come out at night. Mostly.”

Clever. “This little girl survived with no weapons and no training.”

A good judge of others. A realist. “She’s just a piece of plastic, Ripley.”

Not a Five or Six. Not a Four. Not a Heart Type at all. I know a lot of her personality has been tamped down by fear and survival, but her emotions seem to never have ruled her.

Seven Women are very practical, measured, and calm. This is a possibility.

Also, what about the Body Types? Is she physical? I could call her placid and Nine-ish. Not Eight, not One. She’s not aggressive enough.

She’s a monkey, scampering through the vent system. A Nine’s physicality would manifest in different ways, something more overtly athletic. This is the imp movement that is the hallmark of a Seven.