Character Sixes – Page 2 – Enneagram and Encaustic

TOBEY MAGUIRE’S PETER PARKER, SIX

Maguire’s Spiderman is like a retriever who always brings the slimy tennis ball to drop in your lap. The dog is so cheerful, so proud, and so annoying. And if you shoo the dog away you’ll feel terrible because you broke its heart.

Maguire is the Pity Peter. He’s nice and he’s trying really hard to take down the villain. However, he went petty and nasty once and got his Uncle Ben killed. No amount of smiles will change that fact. Even Aunt May, after he confesses, has to leave the room and reorient her mind before she can look at him again. He’s so busy bringing the rancid dog toy back that MJ gives up on him and becomes engaged to someone else.

Lol, wow. Time has moved on and Peter, to me, has aged very poorly. I didn’t know I had such a harsh verdict within me!

You know what it is? I might hate the moment when Peter lets the robber leave. I mean, from a writing perspective. It’s not him. He’s so ingenuous at every other scene, so open and trusting and fair. The writers did him wrong here. He’s otherwise so vulnerable I want to say he’s a Two. That’s a mistake, though. Look at his brainy introversion! Peter is a Head Type; that’s why his spidey swings are so joyous. It’s nothing he’s ever experienced before or even knew he wanted. That’s also why — lol — he looks like he’s going to miss the next grab while he flails about.

He’s a Six. Rules, even rules about his own fear, are important. That’s another reason the robber scene is wrong. A Six wouldn’t break the rules, but he would cower. Overcoming his timidity would be a crucial step. Uncle Ben still dies, but it’s not because Peter was callous. A Six, someone stuck in his head, would never do that. The situation catches him by surprise and he fails. He chooses inaction and a default position of fear. It’s early in his career and he hasn’t embraced all that Spiderman can do. When we see this Peter again in No Way Home he’s mature, calm, and assured. It’s a great arc. However, it’s grounded in a man who lived in fear and overcame that weakness. It’s not based on a moment of petty revenge.

AGNES VAN RHIJN, SIX

The Gilded Age has become one of my delights. The series is engaging, the characters are true to themselves, and the costumes are jaw-dropping. Please try it if you haven’t yet.

On the Old Money side of the street we have Agnes. She is so firm, so determined, so confident in her ideas. Her snobbery towards New Money is unmovable.

Her compassion is very strict, too. She can spot “an adventurer” from a mile, and she’s always correct. For care of her family, she will cut the rogue to the bone. That her sister or her niece might prefer their illusions is something Agnes would disdain and ignore. Right is right, and the truth must be honored.

This is not a Heart Type, lol. This is a One or a Six. Rules are an iron bound box to her. We never see her step out for a stroll or a turn about the park, so probably not a Body Type. Also, she married a horrible man when she was younger in order to protect and support her family. This is a Trooper.

ROCKET, SIX

He loves practical jokes. An elaborate plan to break the team out of prison includes a request, straight-faced, for an artificial leg that has no purpose beyond being funny. What commitment!

He’s deeply insecure. Is that a trait intrinsic to his Enneagram, or is it a product of the abuse he’s suffered as a lab experiment? He’s a Head Type; an ingenious wizard in the body of a raccoon. Anybody would feel less-than under those circumstances.

Five, Six, or Seven? Well, hilariously, I immediately discount him as a Five because he’s so short. It’s not his fault! He’s a small animal!

He’s so dour he must be a Six. A Six can be very glass-half-empty, and that’s Rocket. Disaster is always around the corner for him. His love of Groot — a Nine if ever there was one — is also very Six. A Six moves to Nine in strength, and what raccoon wouldn’t dream of being a powerful tree, lol? Their partnership, I would suggest, is based in this Enneagram relationship.

Rocket is the darkest version of a Six possible, which is rooted in his lab-animal history, but we still get his cutting humor, his crafty intelligence, and his tender heart. Well done.

LADY JESSICA (2021), SIX

This movie doesn’t explain why Jessica chooses to birth a son rather than daughters as the Bene Gesserit expects. I remember the book, though. (I think, lol.) She loves Duke Leto and wants him to have a son (the patri-lineal monarchy), someone like him, and someone special (if he is indeed the Kwisatz Haderach). Family and love, mothering, are everything to her. This Jessica is very much played with this intention. Ferguson kills it, bringing so much depth to these emotions.

Like Paul, this Jessica is more emotional than the Lynchian counterpart. We see one brief fight moment where she rocks it, but otherwise she doesn’t seem enamoured of the physical realm. The Voice is her specialty, a kind of mind control. She’s going to be either Heart or Head.

I want to say Heart, partly because this Paul is a Four. They really feel like two people against the world, against any of the worlds. Beyond her depth of feeling, though, Jessica doesn’t give us much to work with. Any number can be a devoted mother. When she suggests that Paul needs to go off-world rather than finish the Atreides mission on Arrakis, however, she shows that the personal is more important to her than the political. This would also explain why she births a son, going against the Bene Gesserit plan.

And now I want to say a Six. It’s her sense of duty, of putting Paul in danger with the gom jabbar, even though it’s the last thing she wants to do. Her thinking is black and white: she’ll break the rules for a son, and then follow the rules for the Reverend Mother. Worry, more than any other emotion, consumes her. It’s the fear that Ferguson plays (despite the litany!) that leads me to Six.

ALINA STARKOV, SIX

If you are unfamiliar with the “Grishaverse”, I sympathize. Until I watched the Netflix show, and then deep-dived into the novels, I had never heard of this IP. The Crows, the underworld gang characters, are much easier to scan and appreciate. How they’re written in the books is basically how they’re played in the show. They’re clear and extremely enjoyable.

However, Alina, the protagonist of the Netflix series and of the Grisha plotline, is portrayed very differently in each work. Because we only have one season, talking about the show is difficult. The novel, though, is complete. We can look at this particular Alina and make some choices.

Throughout the Shadow and Bone trilogy, is Alina a consistent character? Can the changes to her be explained by her summoning power? I don’t particularly like Alina, and I’m curious why that is.

EDDARD STARK (TV), SIX

He’s honest and doomed. He gets all the best scenes: with Baratheon he mysteriously reflects on his dead sister and his own past, with Jon he mysteriously hints at the truth about Jon’s mother, with Cat he parts from her in King’s Landing in a sincere way that breaks your heart if you know what’s coming.

Of course he’s lovable. He brings Arya the dancing master. He takes responsibility with honor when trouble comes, executing Sansa’s direwolf himself as a creature of the North, of his people. And his insistence, regardless of the obvious danger, in pursuing the truth, in investigating Arryn’s death, is admirable. He’s so honest he doesn’t stand a chance.

He’s such a Six, the ultimate trooper. He takes honor and rides it into the ground. In prison Varys visits, trying to persuade him to bend the knee. What about the realm? What about your children? He says he must stick to what’s right. Joffrey is not the blood heir. The one thing Ned’s good at, being Robert’s friend, is ruined when he changes the king’s last official declaration.

Ned’s final moment is an awkward confession. I don’t believe his character would do this and we aren’t shown his decision moment that would explain this. It seems a manipulation, a heart pull on the audience, to trick us into thinking that Ned could eke out survival. Clumsy writing, though.

I’ll have more complete thoughts about Book Ned. During this re-watch/re-read I’ve grown to despise a character I used to admire. It’s been quite interesting.

MARK DARCY, SIX

What a good sport Colin Firth is. Not only is he playing the same character twice, once as sincere and once as a derivation, but since his version of Pride and Prejudice is so beloved, he’s also playing a reaction to himself. How complicated! He’s a spoof played absolutely straight and with charm. Well done.

Bridget was nothing like Elizabeth. Darcy, though, besides sharing the name reflects many character traits, too. He’s aloof, successful, and a “catch”, to put it in old school terminology. At first he’s portrayed in a bad light, and then his character is revealed to be excellent.

So, if Fitzwilliam Darcy is a Five, what is Mark?

This Darcy is not judgmental. He likes Bridget “just as she is”. When Bridget’s birthday dinner falls apart, Darcy jumps in and whips up an omelette. He’s handy, and isn’t too stuffy to help. He’s a bit pushed around by Natasha, though. All of these traits are the opposite of Fitzwilliam. I’d say this Darcy is not a Five. (My goodness, I should officially look at our P&P Darcy just to make sure about this!)

He’s a Six.

The world is clearly very black and white to Mark. His legal case is righteous. Cleaver’s behavior with his wife is unforgivable.

Hahaha! I just thought of the reindeer jumper. How Six-ish to be completely unselfconscious while wearing a hideously ugly garment.

Bridget, possibly because of the paddling pool incident, is classified in Mark’s view as okay, even though she takes questionable actions. She’s been filed and catalogued, and that’s where she lives.

I don’t feel one hundred per cent sure of this call. I keep getting distracted by Firth’s real life build — decidedly un-Six. He’s plausible, though, and we’ll leave it at that.

CHEETAH, SIX

We see more of her as Barbara Minerva. Cheetah gets one fight scene in full furry regalia, and she seems like a character that is only rage, not personality, at this point. But, cool name, cool title.

Her alter ego is stereotypically geeky and awkward. She can’t walk in high heels until after the wish. No one listens to her until after the wish. She’s metaphorically invisible. She’s physically vulnerable to harassment. Honestly, these traits are so cliche it’s painful. I, and I don’t think I’m alone, expected more originality from the WW84 team.

This is who we have, though, and this is who Wiig had to play. What did she have to work with?

She had niceness. Everyone who wishes, according to the Rules of the Magic, loses what is most important to them. Max Lord risks his son. This is a tangible fear and an actionable one: I want to keep my son. Pascal is given a playable trait. Wiig is given: I want to keep my pleasant outlook on life.

Which Enneagram number is the nicest? She’s socially unable to connect, so not a Heart Type. The high heel thing suggests she’s not a Body Type. The brainy job suggests she’s a Head Type. Not a Seven — they’re not awkward like that.

A Six, because Wonder Woman, the person she wishes to emulate, is a Nine. Sixes move to Nine in strength. And, I’m surprised to realize, Sixes in their purest form are indeed the nicest number.

HERMEY, SIX

“I want to be . . . a dentist.” After years of watching Hermey I accept his reality, but think about how weird this was the first time you heard it. The North Pole and dentistry seem so unrelated. Sweets and Santa, though: the writer’s thought process is clever. Of course the land of sugar has tooth decay. I’m impressed.

You’ve written an outcast, someone as misplaced as Rudolph. That’s lovely. And he’s a good egg, a solid friend. And when they must go against the Abominable, Hermey is brave (oink oink) and competent. He’s also very resolute. The Head Elf is stern and intimidating, yet Hermey sticks to his guns.

Great character! What is he?

A Six. This is why he and Rudolph are a good partnership. The world is black and white to Hermey. He could go along to get along. The elf gig is good. His principles, though, his determination, won’t let him acquiesce. Also, his bravery is tied to helping his friends. A Six is so loyal that their natural fear will be put aside if someone needs them.

RACHEL, SIX

Aw, she doesn’t even get a last name. Just Rachel, but, oh, what a Rachel. She’s immediately charismatic.

I like how Rachel stands up for herself: “I thought you were . . . blank.” Her hurt at being duped is honest yet not raging. And she cuts him off until he proves at the talent show with Marcus that he’s changed.

What number has that fortitude?

A Three, possibly. Not a Body Type at all. None of her reactions fit those profiles. Not a Four or Two, which leads me to conclude she’s not a Heart Type either, so not a Three. She’s too calm when confronted with emotional pain.

Head Type. Not a Five, who would never put up with Allie the son’s behavior. Fives move to Eight in strength and would blow his snottiness out of the water. Also not a Seven, who really has no time for that nonsense. Sevens have important work to do.

A Six? Her putdown of Will is so subtle and witty. When she decides she’s done with him, she’s really done. No waffling: he must demonstrate true character alteration and growth. A black-and-white judgment, no gray.

Interesting. I like it.