I finally managed to see The Dark Knight yesterday. I’ll admit that I was pretty tired and didn’t quite catch how everything fit together, so I’ll wait for the DVD in order to fairly assess the film. My present opinion, however, is that, while I personally loved Batman Begins, The Dark Knight is superior in almost every way. Seeing Eric Roberts in it was just icing on the cake!

Aaron Eckhart isn’t getting enough praise as Harvey Dent, in my opinion, but that’s due mostly to Heath Ledger’s fantastic portrayal of the Joker overshadowing everything else in the film. The Joker has always been a great Trickster figure, but here he really is the perfect embodiment of the archetype, with all its confusing contradictions. The goal here is to blur the distinctions between “good” and “evil” by introducing sheer chaos—brilliant stuff.

The highlight, however, was when a woman brought a full shopping trolley into the cinema about 20 minutes into the film. What kind of socially-retarded misfit even considers doing that???

The next film I want to see: Tropic Thunder.

I just finished watching The Phantom Menace for the first time in years, and something leapt out at me this time around:

The major theme here is Ti versus Te.

Te is symbolised by the planet of Coruscant, and in particular by the Senate and the Jedi Council. These arms of the Republic have become unthinking and institutional, following their rules and procedures to the letter rather than the spirit of their laws. This is, essentially, a cautionary tale of Te run amok and is a great example of the Te Opposing Personality in INTPs.

Ti, on the other hand, has its mouthpiece in Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). This Jedi Knight will “do what [he] must” despite what “the system” says. He’s a loose cannon as far as the Jedi Council are concerned because he won’t go along with consensus judgements (Te). It’s here that we see a clear example of the Ti Hero, where independent, intellectual judgement (free from “the party line”) is where the primary source of identity lies. (It seems pretty clear, too, that Jinn is essentially George Lucas’ surrogate.)

Perhaps most notably, however, the idyllic Naboo represents Fe. Why? It’s the primary depiction of the idea of symbiosis (i.e. mutual cooperation). Interestingly, it also stands-in for the feminine principle — the Anima — as embodied by Padme. Again and again, the Anima/Animus function seems to be offered as the ideal state to strive towards. Fascinating!

Finally, Se — trade, greed and conspicuous consumption — is played by both the Trade Federation and Watto, the junk dealer. These are Tricksters: dubious figures who aren’t outright villains.

I’m sure there’s more here as well, but that’s all I’ve got for the time being. But despite what anyone may think of the film’s merits, it’s yet another window into the INTP psyche and is valuable on that basis alone.

In conclusion:

• Hero/Heroine: Qui-Gon Jinn (Ti)
• Anima/Animus: Naboo (Fe)
• Opposing Personality: Coruscant (Te)
• Trickster: Trade Federation, Watto (Se)

Extraverted Sensation (Se) is the function orienting us towards that which is visceral and immediate. As a Hero or Heroine (in ESTPs and ESFPs), it drives us to seek-out action, adventure and excitement in the physical world — anything that stimulates the senses is given the highest value.

As a Trickster (in INTPs and INFPs), however, Se becomes suspicious and untrustworthy, though often alluring nonetheless. It instead strikes us as hedonistic and frivolous, being “fun” but not nearly enough to build a life on.

The prototypical Se Trickster is Bender in the very INTP-ish animated comedy science fiction series Futurama. Bender is a funny, loveable and attractive character, but also utterly amoral, often betraying his closest friends for personal gain. Nonetheless, you can’t help but suspect that all those maths geeks writing for the show secretly wish they could be Bender in real life, if only they could get away with it.

This seems to be the Trickster in a nutshell: despite perceiving this figure as generally opposed to our own self-image, we still harbour a desire to take a holiday from our ego every so often and embrace this archetype.

Take Han Solo in the original Star Wars: Luke (named after George Lucas) may be the Hero, but Han is the guy Lucas wishes he were. Still, Han is portrayed as selfish and without a moral centre — it’s only in the final reel that the character is redeemed by choosing loyalty to his friends over pure self-interest (a very Fe message). Han is, of course, another Se Trickster from the mind of an INTP, clearly depicting both the best and worst of the function.

And then there’s Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back, whose Cloud City is beautiful and alluring (Se) but ultimately a place of danger and deception. Again, Lando is redeemed by employing Fe.

If that weren’t enough, in Return of the Jedi we have Jabba the Hutt, a caricature of Se at its most extreme. Note that Jabba’s palace features trap-doors — another alignment of Se with deception.

Indeed, Obi-Wan counsels Luke that “Your eyes can deceive you”, and Luke ultimately learns to not rely on direct, immediate sensory data when attempting to destroy the first Death Star.

In the Genesis album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (with story and lyrics by INFP Peter Gabriel), the hero, Rael, is only able to escape the Chamber of 32 Doors by being lead out by the blind character, Lilywhite Lilith — his eyes were deceiving him rather than aiding him, in other words. Furthermore, his later erotic, sensual encounter with the Lamia results in gross deformities, and the only solution is castration. The world of direct sensory experience is yet again depicted as being alluring and attractive but also dangerous and deceptive.

Need I mention Zaphod Beeblebrox from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as one more example of the Se Trickster, this time from INTP Douglas Adams?

So what this all comes down to is that INTPs and INFPs are both drawn to and wary of the world of Se. It all just seems a little bit too fickle and superficial, as if you’re having too much fun and you’ll come to regret it later. If life were consequence-free, however, they’d jump at the chance to go wild, and given the right set of circumstances and frame of mind, these types only need a nudge to embrace their inner Bender. (Believe me, I know…)

The Trickster archetype is one of deception and moral ambiguity. We’re never quite sure of whose side the Trickster is on (if they’re on any side at all).

The character that embodies this archetype in Brazil is Jill — the real Jill, not the dream Jill. Is she a terrorist? Can she be trusted? Neither Sam nor the audience are really sure.

For ENTPs, the Trickster is Introverted Feeling (Fi), the function of personal values. As a Hero, Fi is humanitarian and universal, but as a Trickster, it’s much harder to trust.

Jill, at the end of the day, cares about people as human beings, symbolising Fi. She is in direct contrast to the Puella, Sam’s mother, who cares more about social status (Fe). Note that, in an Oedipal moment, Sam actually dreams that his mother looks so young that she appears to be Jill — the two characters are two sides of the same coin.

In the final part: Extraverted Sensation (Se) as Demonic Personality…