MBTI: Kenny Powers- ESFP
There have been a lot of greedy villains over the years in fiction but none so vapidly drawn toward the materialistic side of life more than Kenny Powers. A hero in his own mind, most of Eastbound & Down consists of Powers having to just calm down than actually change his self-centered ways.
When you take the worst parts of an ESFP, you’ve got Kenny.
From the well-lit highway of fame to his brother’s couch, Kenny Powers has seen it all and then some. His days as a professional baseball player put him on a pedestal he doesn’t know how to come down from and everybody around him pays the price on a regular basis. As soon as it seems that Kenny is learning a lesson, he’s just as likely to go back and do the same thing, making the same mistakes. This is the dark underbelly…of Se.
We know what a strong Se user does, taking advantage of the present moment, but the other side of that coin can have the user doing exactly what Kenny does, which is whatever he feels like in that moment which is usually something selfish and so far misguided that his morality is comparable to car exploding in midair while flying off of a cliff.
Kind of like when he faked his own death in season three. Kenny’s Fi is pretty apparent throughout the series as well, because nobody is better at defying all logic and reason for what they believe in than a strong Fi user. Kenny’s drug use, cheating (and just the attempts), deceitful and violent behavior is all justifiable when twisted the right way, and Kenny never stops twisting.
Fi can also be “blamed” when it comes to the inappropriate jokes Kenny often tells to people and their disgusted faces as he waits for a laugh, which usually only comes if Stevie is present. Though Fe will have the user relating to the mood of the room, Fi is a filing cabinet for the feelings of the user; if it’s okay with them, then it’s okay to say it. What? That offends you?
Sure, there are positives to introverted feeling but Kenny displays practically none of them. It allows the user to know what they value, as opposed to Fe which will sometimes have the user going with the flow of the room rather than being sure of of how they feel in a situation. And while going with the flow occasionally would benefit Kenny, so would listening to his brother or just about anybody else whose advice he’s ignored.
But like a true ESFP, Kenny’s penchant for generosity takes hold of him from time to time, especially when he makes his way back to his old love, fame, in season four. ESFPs and other SPs in general, appreciate generosity from others and they also love receiving it. An ESFP friend was often broke but didn’t mind buying little things for people now and then…provided that the favor was returned from time to time.
Kenny’s place on the TV show “Sports Sesh” allowed Kenny to bask in riches once again, something that takes him over pretty quickly. While ESFPs and other SPs aren’t necessarily greedy by nature, they are the most image conscious and will go to great lengths to make sure they look exactly how they mean to whenever they step outside of the house.
And like the negative side of an ESFP, Kenny is often able to turn things around on those who he’s wronged in the first place,. “The Performer” is their Keirsey name for more than one reason. Lovers of the dramatic they are, as even the smallest thing can become the biggest nuisance if it catches the ESFP off guard, and this is often dealt with in exaggerated ways. Kenny’s exemplifies this multiple times throughout the series, breaking household objects and yelling when things don’t go his way.
And though Kenny isn’t the healthiest example of an ESFP, he is a perfect picture of how an ESFP may act when they allow their emotions to take hold. Feeling it doesn’t mean you act on it. Though it is funny.
Zombies Ruin Everything 
04/24/2015 at 9:42 pm
Have you considered Kenny Powers as ENTJ? He’s reportedly modeled after former baseball pitcher John Rocker. After watching Rocker’s interview with Vice (it’s on YouTube), I tend to type his as ENTJ.
04/26/2015 at 1:38 pm
The idea of Kenny as an ENTJ makes me laugh. Not because it’s stupid but it’s so far from anything I’ve thought of him as. I know little about Rocker, past his team, some remarks, and that he was the inspiration for Kenny, but I think Kenny is too scattered and lazy to be ENTJ. He’s terrible with people and only has a drive to get a momentary high. Not that this is all ESFPs of course, but a lot of characters typed here shouldn’t be seen as the perfect model of that type.