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[MBTI General] What do movies we like and books we read say about our types?

Ene

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Can't help but wonder as I think on some movies I like [especially since some of them no one will watch with me]

Movies:

Ten of my favs (not in any order of preference)

Ip Man Movies, Star Gate, Matrix, Time Line, China Cry, Tecumseh, Gray Owl, Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Gospel of John, & The Hiding Place.

OH, I have to add a few more, Planet of the Apes [all of them...the new one is my favorite], Star Wars [all of them], Star Trek [all of them], X-men, Wolverine, Electra, Avengers, Iron Man, Lord of the Rings.

Television shows I like: Last Airbender, StarGate S-G1 and Atlantis, all Star Treks [includes everything from original through Voyager, Deep Space Nine,etc.], Arrow, Smallville, reruns of Friends and the Three Stooges.

Books (fiction):
Ten of my favs:[I realize that many are kind of "classics" but they remain, to me, a few of the greatest books I've ever read.]

The Time Machine, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Count of Monte Cristo, A Wrinkle in Time, The Penny Whistle, 1984, A Brave New World, Lord of the Flies.

.............So, maybe the movies I like and the books I read say something about my cognitive functions, or maybe the functions explain why I like what I like. For example, maybe Lord of the Flies says something I find fundamental in human nature while Star Gate speaks to a desire to explore and a sense of wonder while Ip Man speaks to some need for quiet strength and nobility while the Hiding Place touches that part of me that longs to be a part of something bigger than just going through the motions of life. I know that Tecumseh and Gray Owl mean something to me because they address my heritage and portray my cultural background in a realistic light. Wow, does this mean I don't watch television to be entertained? eek, maybe I do. Maybe that's where comedy comes into play. It certainly is interesting to think about why we like the entertainments that we do.
 

GranChi

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I'm not a big movie fan, but my favorite movie is Dead Poet's Society. I love it. And I think that probably does have something to do with my type, because it has that amazing "be imaginative and live for the meaningful things" message, which really appeals to an INFP like me.
As for books, I really like books that go beyond a concrete plot and have a lot of unique creativity and emotional wisdom in them. One of my favorite books is On The Road, because I love Jack Kerouac's chaotically original and reflective writing style, and his description of his adventures traveling and having experiences is beautiful.
 

Chiharu

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I read everything, my favorite movie is a Scottish drama about humans losing their sense and learning to live that way, and I have an unhealthy regard for old sitcoms (Golden Girls, Frasier, M*A*S*H*, etc.). I'm a bit scared to know what that says about me :shock:
 
E

Epiphany

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I just came across an article the other day along this subject.

Your favorite film can say a lot about your personality


March 05, 2006|By Mark Jacob, the Tribune's foreign/national news editor

If "The Godfather" is your favorite film, these may be difficult days. That's because it's also the favorite movie of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il, the secretive North Korean leader. Outside the "axis of evil," lesser pariahs also are fans of the film, including disgraced and convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

As Hollywood prepares to honor another year of cinema at the Academy Awards on Sunday, it is fitting to look at what the movies say about our time and whether favorite films reflect the personalities of their admirers.

Consider: One candidate to succeed Pope John Paul II last year was Belgium's Cardinal Godfried Danneels. His favorite film reportedly was "The Silence of the Lambs."

Michael Jackson's best-loved movie is a children-in-peril drama, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

In other instances, favorite films tend to reinforce the public images of politicians and celebrities.

It's easy to imagine Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher enjoying the hard-hitting war drama "Saving Private Ryan." It seems almost logical that wife murderer Scott Peterson likes "The Shining." There's no surprise that Dick Cheney likes the 1948 shoot-'em-up "Red River."

And we'd likely be disappointed if John Paul II didn't love "Life Is Beautiful." On the other hand, baseball star Barry Bonds cites "The Ten Commandments."

A top pick for President Bush, once an owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, is the baseball movie "Field of Dreams."

Favorites such as these can be amusing, but do they mean anything? Bernard Luskin thinks so. The director of the Media Psychology Program at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, Calif., Luskin says people's favorite movies are noteworthy because "you always go in the direction of your own beliefs and your own ethics." Luskin isn't surprised Hussein and Kim enjoy "The Godfather."

"They see themselves as benevolent dictators. It's about power," he said. And he believes Bush's admiration for "Field of Dreams" is laudable: "I think that speaks well of him, in the sense that he has a vision of positive outcomes and goodness."

Jerrold Post, a former CIA analyst who is director of the Political Psychology Program at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., also believes movies are valid character indicators.

"What a person watches is telling," he said. "Kim and Saddam's taste in movies may provide insights in their concepts of leadership."

North Korea's leader is especially influenced by films, Post said, and has a collection of 15,000 to 20,000 movies.

"At times it seems as if he has modeled his foreign policy postures after movies, such as `High Noon' or `Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,'" he said. "The way he confronts the West with nuclear threats in order to extract financial and other concessions reminds me of the Peter Sellers movie `The Mouse That Roared,' in which a tiny country invades the United States so it will get foreign aid."

Luskin and Post aren't the only ones taking the movies seriously. After all, films have influenced fashion, language, even matters of life and death. "Taxi Driver" inspired John Hinckley to shoot President Ronald Reagan. Former Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass admitted that he was such a fan of Italian film star Gina Lollobrigida that he asked his Lebanese allies in 1983 not to attack Italian peacekeeping troops "so that not a single tear may fall from Gina Lollobrigida's eyes."

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas so enjoys his favorite film that he likes to show it to his law clerks. That movie is "The Fountainhead," based on the Ayn Rand novel about an architect who blows up a housing complex that he designed because the builder compromised on his vision.

"The Godfather," however, is one movie that pervades American life. At DePaul University, a business course analyzes the film as a study in "organizational design." In North Carolina, a popular rock band is named The Moe Greens, after a character in the movie.

As Post puts it: "Many of us enjoy `The Godfather.' That doesn't make us psychopathic killers."

Among the movie's fans: perky actress Kate Hudson.

- - -

Like `High Noon'? So do ...

... Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and former President Bill Clinton, who named this western their favorite movie. Other moviegoing parties who share a favorite film are listed below. Can you guess which group picked which film? (P.S. One group couldn't agree.)

1. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, former President Jimmy Carter, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

2. Soccer star Freddy Adu and former Senate candidate Alan Keyes

3. Basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Yao Ming, convicted Enron exec Andrew Fastow

4. Tribune film critic Michael Wilmington; Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert

5. Wife murderer Scott Peterson, Washington-area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, Adolf Hitler

6. Chef Paul Prudhomme, child actress Dakota Fanning, country singer Lee Ann Womack, television mogul Ted Turner, former CNN anchor Judy Woodruff

A. "Lord of the Rings"

B. "Casablanca"

C. "Gone With The Wind"

D. "Star Wars"

E. "Citizen Kane"

F. Couldn't agree

THE ANSWERS 1. B; 2. A; 3. D; 4. E; 5. F; 6. C

(Peterson likes "The Shining," Malvo "The Matrix," Dahmer "The Exorcist III" and Hitler "King Kong." There is no evidence whether the popcorn ordered was buttered.)
 

Nicodemus

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I just came across at article the other day along this subject.
Obviously they say something, but a single movie can say a million different things. So it is hard to know what they say.

The article you quoted is more gossip than anything else.
 
E

Epiphany

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Obviously they say something, but a single movie can say a million different things. So it is hard to know what they say.

The article you quoted is more gossip than anything else.

I know nothing conclusive can come from it anymore than someone's favorite color. It just happened to be on the subject of movies and personalities. It is interesting to hear what people choose as their favorite film though.
 

GranChi

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Chiharu, I like how your signature has a quote from On The Road and you posted right after I said my favorite book is On The Road. ;) And oh, that Dean Moriarty. If everyone had his outlook on life.
 

HongDou

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My favorite movie is A.I. Artificial Intelligence which was marketed as some sort of futuristic Pinocchio story where a robot boy searches for the Blue Fairy in order to become a real boy. Sounds pretty NFP to me!

Not sure about my favorite book, but for now I'd have to say it's Atonement by Ian McEwan. I have no idea how this could be related to my personality.

Part of the reason that they're my favorites is that they both got a huge emotional reaction out of me. I cried so much at the ending of both of them. So emotional intensity is definitely a criteria when picking favorites, but I'm still not sure what that'd say about my personality! Maybe it underlines sx/so? :shrug:
 

cafe

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No particular order:

  1. O Brother Where Art Thou?
  2. The Princess Bride
  3. Pootie Tang
  4. Disney's Jungle Book
  5. Disney's Robin Hood
  6. Raising Arizona
  7. Grosse Pointe Blank
  8. LOTR
  9. Hitchiker's Guide
  10. Raiders of the Lost Ark

  1. Chronicles of Narnia
  2. LOTR/The Hobbit
  3. Outlander series
  4. Kidnapped
  5. Sense and Sensibility
  6. Discworld series
  7. Farseer Series
  8. Dreseden Files
  9. Mercy Thompson series
  10. Kate Daniels series
    (This does not begin to cover my favorite books and series, but that's off the top of my head)

  1. News Radio
  2. Lost
  3. Heroes
  4. Game of Thrones
  5. Colbert Report
  6. Daily Show
  7. Malcolm in the Middle
  8. Kim Possible
  9. Sherlock BBC
  10. Firefly

I think it means I'm old, kind of nerdy and I like funny stuff. Oh, I enjoy anti-establishment themes. Beyond that, I can't say. :shrug:
 

Ene

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Cafe,

I don't think it means your old or nerdy. Chananay, you're right. A.I. does smack of INFP-ness. I don't know why, but it does. Moniker, I found the article interesting. Nicodemus, it is true that movies can say a lot of things, but I suppose I was just looking at these posts kind of answers my questions for example as Gran Chi says, Dead Poet Society, does remind me of INFPs. Cafe's list of many comical movies does remind me of INFJs as INFJs are known for having a love of humor.

Now, I have another question, if you have ever seen the movie CONTACT with Jodie Foster, answer this one. I have a friend who CRIES when she watches Contact. I think it's a good movie but it's not exactly my kind of a movie [I perfer Timeline]. I like Matthew M's character, but for the life of me, I can't understand why she cries during that movie! I believe she is an INFP, although she does have some INTP characteristics. When I ask her why that movie makes her cry, she can't tell me. When I watched the Hiding Place [true story] and Corrie's sister dies in the concentration camp, I teared up. I teared up because I had compassion on the pain that these two sisters endured. I know why I was touched. Because it was very deep and because they were willing to lay down their lives for the Jewish people and for their faith. But my friend cannot say why she cries in Contact. So, I'm just wondering what your insights are.
 

kissmyasthma

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People's reasons for liking certain books or movies can vary drastically based on their own interpretations of those works, and I think those reasons probably say a lot about your values, or maybe the kinds of thinking you like to do.
That being said, I love making lists of my favorite things!

Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:
Groundhog Day - (It really does get better with repeated viewings)
Finding Nemo - (love the character development and relationships)
Rudy - (I'm a sucker for inspirational sports movies even though I hate sports)
Ghostbusters - (A perfect comedy)
Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 - (Campy and fun with a whole lot of heart)
Signs - (AMAZING and underrated)
Unbreakable - (Wonderful good vs. evil sort of homage to the superhero/comics genre)
Harvey - (SO MUCH HEART so much heart I adore Jimmy Stewart's character in this)

Favorite Books:
The Lord of the Rings
Emma
To Kill a Mockingbird
A Tale of Two Cities
The Woman in White
Perelandra
Jane Eyre
(really I love so many books and just the sensation of being immersed in a book, but these are some of the ones I'd feel drawn to go back to once in a while)

Television
Star Trek, Alias, Lost, NCIS, early SNL, Quantum Leap, and I'm currently getting pretty invested in Magnum P.I. (god bless netflix) EDIT: AND TWIN PEAKS WOW HOW COULD I FORGET TWIN PEAKS

Gee, that list of favorite films is making me think I'm kind of a Feeling type, maybe, perhaps.
 

En Gallop

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I'm an INTP, so not sure if I was invited to this thread haha. :)

Top 10 Films (no order):

Princess Mononoke (it's just the best haha)
Pan's Labyrinth
Howl's Moving Castle
Donnie Darko
Paper Moon
Nausicaa
A Beautiful Mind
How To Train Your Dragon
Ed Wood
Hanna

Top 10 Books (mainly series):

His Dark Materials
Harry Potter
Mistborn
Discworld
A Song of Ice and Fire
A Tale of Two Cities
Jane Eyre
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
The Lovely Bones
Bleak House


(These are not carefully thought out, I just made it up as they came to me)

My favourite protagonist is either Lyra Belacqua or Jane Eyre. :)
 

kissmyasthma

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My favourite protagonist is either Lyra Belacqua or Jane Eyre. :)

Jane Eyre is wonderful! I've always loved her. :)
I love a lot of your favorite movies/books, especially Discworld, Paper Moon, Mononoke, How To Train Your Dragon, A Beautiful Mind, a Tale of Two Cities...
 

En Gallop

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Jane Eyre is wonderful! I've always loved her. :)
I love a lot of your favorite movies/books, especially Discworld, Paper Moon, Mononoke, How To Train Your Dragon, A Beautiful Mind, a Tale of Two Cities...

Yeah, I like the books you mention too. The Woman in White has my favourite villain - Count Fosco. :) Why do you like Emma more than Pride and Prejudice?
 

highlander

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Some of the movies I like:
The Patriot
Braveheart
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Gladiator
True Lies
Underworld
The Dead Zone
Casino Royale
Spartacus (the original)
The Aviator
Avatar

There is a pattern. Very Counter Phobic Enneagram 6 like

Same goes for my favorite book series - Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
 

kissmyasthma

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Yeah, I like the books you mention too. The Woman in White has my favourite villain - Count Fosco. :) Why do you like Emma more than Pride and Prejudice?

Count Fosco is an amazing villain! And I love Marion Halcombe as well.

I also like Pride and Prejudice, but I've always felt like Emma and Mr. Knightley's relationship resonated the most with me. The way he thinks of Emma as "This sweetest and best of all creatures, faultless in spite of all her faults"--I just love that. And because they're such close friends throughout the book I think it gives a fairly good indication of what their relationship will be like after the events of the novel, which I appreciate.

I love Jane Austen in general though, and Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion are the other two I remember enjoying the most.
 

kissmyasthma

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Oh wow True Lies is so rad. Definitely my favorite James Cameron movie.

Love Gladiator too.
 

Azure Flame

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THANK YOU, someone who sees what I see.

Except I think music is more specifically indicative of type than movie choice or book choice. I can almost tell someone's type by the music they listen to. In fact, I'd be interested in attempting to guess someone's personality type simply by the music they listen to.
 

kissmyasthma

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THANK YOU, someone who sees what I see.

Except I think music is more specifically indicative of type than movie choice or book choice. I can almost tell someone's type by the music they listen to. In fact, I'd be interested in attempting to guess someone's personality type simply by the music they listen to.

What about people who listen to a lot of movie soundtracks? ;)
 

Azure Flame

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What about people who listen to a lot of movie soundtracks? ;)

Depends. A lot of people love the gladiator soundtrack. I think if I had someone give me 10 of their honest favorites in every genre, I could probably narrow down their type.
 
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