Max
New member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2009
- Messages
- 471
- MBTI Type
- ISTP
Ricky's parents: ISTJ and ISFJ. They're almost cliches of the type, honestly. (And the mom has psychological issues.)
And the dad doesn't? Hm.
Ricky's parents: ISTJ and ISFJ. They're almost cliches of the type, honestly. (And the mom has psychological issues.)
The story was really about Lester's growth. I was hard on Lester above, yet I think I should add that usually when one moves from passivity and being a child, one goes through a rebellious and self-absorbed stage. This is Lester throughout most of the movie, and I think it was actually necessary for him to pass through that wasteland to get to a good place.
His catharsis when he "wakes up" and takes care of Angela is his moment of glory. It's unfortunate that he never gets to move past it because of his neighbor's phobia and rigidity. If he had survived, I actually think things between him and Carolyn would have changed. He would have finally reached out to her; and after some internal struggle on her part, she would have reached back. Her wailing in the bedroom, clutching his clothes and smelling the smell of him, after she knows he is gone, really shows how much she really did love him; the end of their relationship is devastating to her, regardless of how just a few minutes before she was contemplating violence herself.
Sidenote: Chris Cooper (plays Ricky's father) is such a great actor. Very underrated.
And the dad doesn't? Hm.
I actually feel pretty strongly about Jane not being an S.
It hasn't helped that every ISFP woman I've known has hated to be abrasive. Not all of them are gooey (although I've noticed a preponderance who have and show deep affection for their pets and don't seem to want to hurt a flea), but there's such an easy-goingness about ISFPs that I haven't experienced that type of rebellion (Jane is a noted non-conformist) from them, especially the females.
Usually an ISFP doesn't respond to negativity the way Jane does here. She basically responds in more typical INFP style rebellion. Very low-key except when someone gets in her face, then she will shove back; otherwise she just keeps herself protected behind her somewhat-detached exterior.
Put another way, the ISFP is more prone to palpably reveal their Fi-style values in overt (although often low-key) shows of affection. INFPs will abstract it more; it's there, but not as manifest. Jane detaches and lives in her mind... and this is far more typical of N. This is why they often express negative energy in terms of being slightly out of sync (if not more) with the surrounding culture... leading to Goth appearance/behavior and whatever else. It's their way to maintain their individuality and preserve their inner values. ISFPs seem to dabble in lots of things a la brocalage, but move on because it's more an experiment for them rather than an actual part of how they've placed their feet in the ground to differentiate themselves from society.
I think Ricky would also be bored with Jane if she was an S (and that is not meant in the least as a jab at S types, it's just a telling comment about Ricky's personality). Jane's internalization of her values and thoughts (rather than expressing them through tangible acts like S's more commonly do) is intriguing to him. Angela is the "obvious beauty" of the two and very S in how she projects herself, she's the conventional bombshell, and yet Ricky barely even notices her. He can see that Jane has walls, and he wants to know what is behind them. They connect because they are so similar.
Frankly I think an ISFP woman would be sorta freaked out by Ricky's penchant for taking pictures of dead things and his general obsession with death. They would think "he's not right." Some of what he says would creep them out as unkind, insensitive, detached, demented, etc. Jane knows she should be creeped out... but she's not... or rather, she senses something deeper inside of Ricky as well and it intrigues her.