Zombies Ruin Everything

DC movies (All released by Warner Bros, of course) tend to have a very peculiar way with their big screen adaptions of famous characters. While Marvel Studios has attempted to make you feel like you’re watching talking breathing versions of characters, the DC movies all seem to be attempting to bring their heroes into the “real world.”

What this means to you is of course, up to you, but it’s going to make for some changes to the characters as well. We’ve seen how it’s affected the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight, but now it’s time for the in-your-face, plucky reporter of The Daily Planet, Lois Lane!

Does anyone use “plucky” anymore? I never have, up until just now.

So how is the comics’ Lois ESTP?

When you think of the original “Stick-to-it” determined reporter attitude, you might even think of Lois. She’s been around long enough, but being a different personality might not have resulted in a character that’s got just as much (if not more) guts than her superhero husband. And at least Superman’s got powers to back him up.

She’s the stereotype of a reporter that will do anything to get a story, stepping on heads along the way, though not necessarily stabbing backs. She’s got standards, thank you very much. Many of her earlier stories involved her either trying to trick Superman into marrying her, while others had her hoping to expose Clark Kent as the man of steel himself. There’s variety sure, but man some of this is reaching.

It’s like some creepy Twilight Zone episode where nothing you do has any value unless it’s geared toward marrying somebody that’s not even sure if they want to marry you. Did we mention Lois wants to marry Superman? Yep, that was pretty much her life back then.

According the the wiki page, when the times changed along with society’s view on women, so did Lois’ adventures though her personality has always been that of the Promoter variant.

Lois as an ESTP, would prefer Se dominantly, having her get a rush from chasing down a lead and generally being in the thick of the action. Of course, as in the comics, if she’s not the first one on the scene, she’s being held captive as a damsel in distress due to the fact that she can’t sit still or stay at home or listen to the safe advice- like, ever.

But speaking of being a damsel, that is also in distress, Lois is also the type to not sit and cry, hoping someone will save her. Not that it would make her weak in the real world to do this, but in Metropolis, she’s always got Superman to save her. This, and the fact that her personality is one of the most talkative of all types. Instead of crying and pleading, Lois being taken hostage results in the hostage-taker having to tell her to shut up because she won’t stop antagonizing the man and poking at the idea that he’s “not going to get away with this.”

Though she acts appropriately toward title waves. Now, Jimmy? He’s an idiot.

In the Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee Hush storyline, Catwoman (Also ESTP) uses Lois as bait to draw a brainwashed Superman out and to bring the good in him along too. To do this she holds Lois while standing on a flagpole coming out from the side of a skyscraper. Yes, standing. But in true ESTP form, the page displaying this shows Lane struggling and elbowing Catwoman in the stomach.

So when readers criticize that Superman is with a “normal” woman, maybe they should change their idea of the type of character Lois actually is. She doesn’t wait for Superman to get home, worrying where he is, she goes out to find him and hopefully get an interesting story out of it too.

So how is the Man of Steel Lois different?

“I’m a determined, independent journalist without marriage on my mind. RIght now.”

A big difference in the comics’ Lois and the MOS Lois could heavily be attributed to the way actress Amy Adams plays her. Going by an “Fi attitude” or what have you really isn’t a way to type a person or character seeing as how anyone could say whatever they wanted about any character.

Example-

“The way Lois looks at Superman in this scene- It’s Ni all over the place. Def INFJ.”

Don’t do this.

There’s no way to gauge character’s type through general gestures and expressions since they don’t have functions in mind when portraying type in the first place. But tonal cues? Sure. Because that’s going to be in an actor or actresses mind when they say the line and you’ll be able to distinguish tone in everything the say- it’s how we know how the character feels.

“I feel like…crying. It’s my default mode.”

That being said, Lois’ outlook on her entire career seems to be one of curiosity, not the rush as an ESTP. Lois doesn’t appear to be “hard nosed” and “driven” though she does come across as dedicated to her story.

Upon first meeting Colonel Nathan Hardy (Christopher Meloni, “The Law & Order” guy), she instantly understands he doesn’t want her there, she doesn’t snap at him, call anyone out or ignore it because she doesn’t care; she lets them know she’s aware of their apprehension with the attitude of “Now can we please move on?”

It’s not as though ENFPs don’t have the guts to be rude, but diplomacy is their strong point. Why fight fire with fire when you can point out the elephant in the room, make a joke, and get back to business? Few compare to the love of people ENFPs have or their way of dealing with them.

Calm down Superman. It’s only mask placement.

And while any type is capable of being an investigative journalist, MOS Lois’ way of piecing Clark’s identity together could easily a product of Ne/Fi- seeing the possibilities and following your gut.

Described as “independent and feisty” by Adams herself, MOS Lois seems to take hold of not just any story that comes across her desk, begging to be looked into; she even notes that she “gets writer’s block if [she’s] not wearing a flack jacket.”

Se and Ne aren’t very similar but they can confuse an observer attempting to type a subject. Se is excited by sensory stimuli while Ne is excited by ideas. Lois in the film is seen as doing what interests her the most rather than what’s in-the-moment as a sensor might.

Driving from place to place, questioning bystanders looking for the manager of an IHOP may look a little more upbeat in a montage but what would actually keep you going in a story you personally chose to follow would be the idea of finally reaching the “X” on the map.

The question is- is “X,” “marriage?”

MBTI: Man of Steel’s INFJ Versus the Comics’ ESFJ

This entry was posted on 09/10/2014 at 1:47 pm and is filed under MBTI Artisans, MBTI Idealists, MBTI Stuff, MBTI Whatever with tags amy adams, DC comics, enfp, ESTP, Lois Lane, man of steel, mbti in fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.