Power of the Dog: Some general notes on the movie. I definitely recommend the novel by Thomas Savage as well-- very skilled (Montana!) writer.
Shadow Content: Misuse of Power, Denying and Hiding One's Own Vulnerabilities; Vengeance
Obvious Phil is the boss. The men follow him, flatter and cajole him, and leave when he says so.
All words and conversations are provocations veiled threats.
Hatred of soft and feminine and beautiful. Including bathing.
Doesn’t like losing control of brother.
Withholds data from others (dog sight) The Point 5 Energy is that Knowledge is Power (8 can make that PowerOver).
Doesn’t like being Blindsided-- big sensitivity for 8s.
Bigness, power, strength, force.
He arrives to rub Rose’s musical and social failure in her face.
Hides human vulnerability need to clean himself by doing it rarely privately elsewhere.
He hides his vulnerability (Bronco Henry affection) by using excessive force power and strength.
"I’m not your brother, you’re a cheap schemer” 8s at their core’s dark side can be CYNICS. Sometimes 8s feel they are telling THE truth, when it's just the truth as they know it-- that truth is often misguided but still delivered with full gas.
Juxtaposition of Rose and Peter (and George) is care, beauty, music, love, softness, relationship, birds nesting, shared power…
The soft mother son intimacy is threatened. By the hyper masculine. Tension really rises when Phil begins to attend kindly to Peter.
Excess and power… money, ranch, big piano and house, staff, knowing the governor,
Refusal to bathe for gov’s wife… Anti-Social 8 Type.
In the end is there a possibility this is presented as a Vengeance story, of Peter?
Shadow Content: Misuse of Power, Denying and Hiding One's Own Vulnerabilities; Vengeance
Obvious Phil is the boss. The men follow him, flatter and cajole him, and leave when he says so.
All words and conversations are provocations veiled threats.
Hatred of soft and feminine and beautiful. Including bathing.
Doesn’t like losing control of brother.
Withholds data from others (dog sight) The Point 5 Energy is that Knowledge is Power (8 can make that PowerOver).
Doesn’t like being Blindsided-- big sensitivity for 8s.
Bigness, power, strength, force.
He arrives to rub Rose’s musical and social failure in her face.
Hides human vulnerability need to clean himself by doing it rarely privately elsewhere.
He hides his vulnerability (Bronco Henry affection) by using excessive force power and strength.
"I’m not your brother, you’re a cheap schemer” 8s at their core’s dark side can be CYNICS. Sometimes 8s feel they are telling THE truth, when it's just the truth as they know it-- that truth is often misguided but still delivered with full gas.
Juxtaposition of Rose and Peter (and George) is care, beauty, music, love, softness, relationship, birds nesting, shared power…
The soft mother son intimacy is threatened. By the hyper masculine. Tension really rises when Phil begins to attend kindly to Peter.
Excess and power… money, ranch, big piano and house, staff, knowing the governor,
Refusal to bathe for gov’s wife… Anti-Social 8 Type.
In the end is there a possibility this is presented as a Vengeance story, of Peter?
3 Billboards (film, Martin McDonough)
General notes on 3 Billboards—— maybe read this just after you watch the first time or before you watch the second time (spoilers included)….
Remember that at the beginning of class you received handouts on the 9 Types. Be sure to read about the full-spectrum of Type 8 there and in whatever books you have. The Type 8 video on my website is *stellar*: https://www.enneagramportland.com/meet-enneagram-portlander-videos.html
Three Billboards in Ebbing Missouri (film only) hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw it. I left the theater with my partner Pete and I could not stop laughing and crying from the gut for at least 20 minutes. I felt like someone had put a side of me (rarely shared by me sx4 beyond intimates) on film, but was unsure if this was a Type 4 or a Type 8. What this film is, after seeing it many many times, is a film about themes that frequent the lives of us all, but especially land with Type Eight: Grief, Force, Vengeance, Eye-for-Eye, Denial of Impact, Slapping the Weenies but Protecting the Vulnerable, A Comfort with The Truth/Force/Pleasure/Power, Redemption, Vulnerability, Softness, an Inability to Control Your Own Force, and the goodness of Bang (all definitions). See Eight in the Movie? A few things to notice while you watch the movie (TWICE, so you see the redemptive traits in almost everyone)…
Mildred comes into the building with the **police department** showing behind her. An image of strength and rage is present.
She negotiates the three billboards with no guff and is willing to say aloud all the words they’re not allowed on billboards. No discomfort with what many titter about in life.
After negotiating that she wants a contract the camera focuses on a struggling bug in the window which Mildred put her finger out to save. An eye for vulnerability.
Billboards scheduled to be up Easter Sunday— To which she says “perfect”— resurrecting a grievance and quest for truth, not resurrecting a life.
The storyline includes a deputy who has tortured black residents in custody (Sam Rockwell). The movie has a great attention to Injustice, like Eights. Filled with people who speak their truth, are what they are, overuse their force, protect their little ones (Protectors include Sam Rockwell’s mom and Woody Harrelson, the new sheriff).
Greatest vulnerability: Mildred’s daughter was raped and killed w no follow up or leads.
Vulnerability also found: sheriff who loves his kids and wife, has cancer, feels for Mildred. Ultimately the deputy finds the same respect for that vulnerability.
Mildred wants Justice / Vengeance? Both?
Mildred’s speech to the priest about him being “culpable”in a system of child molesters is **classic 8** calling a guilty spade a spade. Brava!!!
Mildred enacts **vengeance** on the dentist (for complaining about the billboards)... she drills thru his fingernail!
Mildred knew the sheriff had cancer. He wonders why she still put the billboards up. And she says “they wouldn’t be as effective after you croak”
Eights: Tell it like it is. One minute she is fighting him and calling him an asshole and the next she is calling him a term of endearment and getting something for his blood. Poignant moments.
VULNERABILITY Innocence and Care——-As sheriff harasses Mildred in questioning, she stands her ground and takes no bait. A Vulnerable Sweet moment occurs that stops the scene: sheriff coughs up blood on Mildred and she says “oh it’s okay baby, I’m Gonna go get something”… And she cares for him, clearly.
Sheriff is vulnerable, in pain. Mildred is vulnerable, in pain. Her son is also. Store owner friend who gets arrested is vulnerable.
“Red” is vulnerable and gets beat up.
Type 2-Type 5- Type 8: The Pragmatists, all avoiding NEED and VULNERABILITY.
2 No one is helping, 5 I am on my own, 8 I have to fight.
Sweet scene w deer while Mildred plants flowers under billboards.
“Still no rest... I wonder...Because there ain’t no God the world is empty and it doesn’t matter what we do to each other... I hope not.”
Sheriff: horses, **bravery to protect** his wife and kids from his own potentially painful death.
I call Eights: Mack Trucks filled w Marshmallows:
The cops cry like babies when they hear sheriff Willoughby is gone.
“Ain’t gonna faint again are ya?” The deputy takes out his grief by beating Red. (A number of us on the Enneagram turn vulnerability into anger first….)
All done in front of the new (black) sheriff, who proves himself Eightish competent to handle all this madness.…
Letter from Willoughby to Mildred is funny *vengeance*: I wanted the billboards to stay up but know everyone will think that they caused his suicide. “The Joke is on You” and it’s done with sweet love and justice.
Even the billboards were vulnerable (to fire!)…..
Mildred wears bunny slippers and has a feminine bedroom. We get to see this hard outside and soft inside this way. It’s there where she plots her revenge on The Motherfuckers who burned her billboards.
The deputy (Sam Rockwell) is vulnerable. While reading Willoughby’s letter, we find out he has been angry probably since his dad died (grief, vulnerability, turned to anger/vengeance) and has had to take care of his mother. “What u need to become a detective is love, bc through love comes calm...”. And the station burns with him in it... while Willoughby’s letter wishes him sweet and well. “You’re too angry..since your dad died..”. You need (2) Love and (9) Calm and Thought (5)….. and you need thought to detect stuff... that’s all you need. ... hate never solved nothin’... but calm did and thought did...” The voice of sheriff (Woody Harrelson) is singing the praises of the 8’s connecting points of Love 2, Rational Thought and Inquiry 5, and Calm wing of 9…. (grab kleenex)
HOW ABOUT THE VULNERABILITY OF our burn victim deputy put in same hospital room w Red! Our skin is thin thin thin, no matter how the 8 in us tries to toughen it up….
Scene: On her date with the little person who covered for her alibi:
“All this anger just begets more anger” as Mildred’s husband in a roundabout way confesses to burning the billboards (now replaced). As Mildred walks over to her ex and his gf you think she’s going to wallop him but she gets “anger begets anger”, and she tells him to “be nice to her Charlie, you got that?”
End of movie, you the viewer come to know “he” wasn’t the guy who killed Mildred’s daughter, but Mildred and the deputy drive off considering vengeance, and bonding over it.
They are considering an event that will provide world justice for the rape that he did commit.
Anger begets anger but what alleviates that pain? A trip w a gun to Idaho.
When one of my more noble students (Terry!) got to meet a young male 8 trainer as part of her coursework, I asked her what she thought of him. She said: “I liked him. He was like a really big, sweet bear... that you just wouldn’t want to piss off.” And I said: “Yes, that’s it. Both.” You don’t get sweet softness of a big bear without also having to deal with claws and teeth: this is not just true for Eights, but they remind us of this truth.
How big are Eights? Event the BILLBOARDS reflect that everything is BIG—! Why? b/c Eights feel that if they are not big, then the only thing left is very very small. And that's pretty vulnerable...
General notes on 3 Billboards—— maybe read this just after you watch the first time or before you watch the second time (spoilers included)….
Remember that at the beginning of class you received handouts on the 9 Types. Be sure to read about the full-spectrum of Type 8 there and in whatever books you have. The Type 8 video on my website is *stellar*: https://www.enneagramportland.com/meet-enneagram-portlander-videos.html
Three Billboards in Ebbing Missouri (film only) hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw it. I left the theater with my partner Pete and I could not stop laughing and crying from the gut for at least 20 minutes. I felt like someone had put a side of me (rarely shared by me sx4 beyond intimates) on film, but was unsure if this was a Type 4 or a Type 8. What this film is, after seeing it many many times, is a film about themes that frequent the lives of us all, but especially land with Type Eight: Grief, Force, Vengeance, Eye-for-Eye, Denial of Impact, Slapping the Weenies but Protecting the Vulnerable, A Comfort with The Truth/Force/Pleasure/Power, Redemption, Vulnerability, Softness, an Inability to Control Your Own Force, and the goodness of Bang (all definitions). See Eight in the Movie? A few things to notice while you watch the movie (TWICE, so you see the redemptive traits in almost everyone)…
Mildred comes into the building with the **police department** showing behind her. An image of strength and rage is present.
She negotiates the three billboards with no guff and is willing to say aloud all the words they’re not allowed on billboards. No discomfort with what many titter about in life.
After negotiating that she wants a contract the camera focuses on a struggling bug in the window which Mildred put her finger out to save. An eye for vulnerability.
Billboards scheduled to be up Easter Sunday— To which she says “perfect”— resurrecting a grievance and quest for truth, not resurrecting a life.
The storyline includes a deputy who has tortured black residents in custody (Sam Rockwell). The movie has a great attention to Injustice, like Eights. Filled with people who speak their truth, are what they are, overuse their force, protect their little ones (Protectors include Sam Rockwell’s mom and Woody Harrelson, the new sheriff).
Greatest vulnerability: Mildred’s daughter was raped and killed w no follow up or leads.
Vulnerability also found: sheriff who loves his kids and wife, has cancer, feels for Mildred. Ultimately the deputy finds the same respect for that vulnerability.
Mildred wants Justice / Vengeance? Both?
Mildred’s speech to the priest about him being “culpable”in a system of child molesters is **classic 8** calling a guilty spade a spade. Brava!!!
Mildred enacts **vengeance** on the dentist (for complaining about the billboards)... she drills thru his fingernail!
Mildred knew the sheriff had cancer. He wonders why she still put the billboards up. And she says “they wouldn’t be as effective after you croak”
Eights: Tell it like it is. One minute she is fighting him and calling him an asshole and the next she is calling him a term of endearment and getting something for his blood. Poignant moments.
VULNERABILITY Innocence and Care——-As sheriff harasses Mildred in questioning, she stands her ground and takes no bait. A Vulnerable Sweet moment occurs that stops the scene: sheriff coughs up blood on Mildred and she says “oh it’s okay baby, I’m Gonna go get something”… And she cares for him, clearly.
Sheriff is vulnerable, in pain. Mildred is vulnerable, in pain. Her son is also. Store owner friend who gets arrested is vulnerable.
“Red” is vulnerable and gets beat up.
Type 2-Type 5- Type 8: The Pragmatists, all avoiding NEED and VULNERABILITY.
2 No one is helping, 5 I am on my own, 8 I have to fight.
Sweet scene w deer while Mildred plants flowers under billboards.
“Still no rest... I wonder...Because there ain’t no God the world is empty and it doesn’t matter what we do to each other... I hope not.”
Sheriff: horses, **bravery to protect** his wife and kids from his own potentially painful death.
I call Eights: Mack Trucks filled w Marshmallows:
The cops cry like babies when they hear sheriff Willoughby is gone.
“Ain’t gonna faint again are ya?” The deputy takes out his grief by beating Red. (A number of us on the Enneagram turn vulnerability into anger first….)
All done in front of the new (black) sheriff, who proves himself Eightish competent to handle all this madness.…
Letter from Willoughby to Mildred is funny *vengeance*: I wanted the billboards to stay up but know everyone will think that they caused his suicide. “The Joke is on You” and it’s done with sweet love and justice.
Even the billboards were vulnerable (to fire!)…..
Mildred wears bunny slippers and has a feminine bedroom. We get to see this hard outside and soft inside this way. It’s there where she plots her revenge on The Motherfuckers who burned her billboards.
The deputy (Sam Rockwell) is vulnerable. While reading Willoughby’s letter, we find out he has been angry probably since his dad died (grief, vulnerability, turned to anger/vengeance) and has had to take care of his mother. “What u need to become a detective is love, bc through love comes calm...”. And the station burns with him in it... while Willoughby’s letter wishes him sweet and well. “You’re too angry..since your dad died..”. You need (2) Love and (9) Calm and Thought (5)….. and you need thought to detect stuff... that’s all you need. ... hate never solved nothin’... but calm did and thought did...” The voice of sheriff (Woody Harrelson) is singing the praises of the 8’s connecting points of Love 2, Rational Thought and Inquiry 5, and Calm wing of 9…. (grab kleenex)
HOW ABOUT THE VULNERABILITY OF our burn victim deputy put in same hospital room w Red! Our skin is thin thin thin, no matter how the 8 in us tries to toughen it up….
Scene: On her date with the little person who covered for her alibi:
“All this anger just begets more anger” as Mildred’s husband in a roundabout way confesses to burning the billboards (now replaced). As Mildred walks over to her ex and his gf you think she’s going to wallop him but she gets “anger begets anger”, and she tells him to “be nice to her Charlie, you got that?”
End of movie, you the viewer come to know “he” wasn’t the guy who killed Mildred’s daughter, but Mildred and the deputy drive off considering vengeance, and bonding over it.
They are considering an event that will provide world justice for the rape that he did commit.
Anger begets anger but what alleviates that pain? A trip w a gun to Idaho.
When one of my more noble students (Terry!) got to meet a young male 8 trainer as part of her coursework, I asked her what she thought of him. She said: “I liked him. He was like a really big, sweet bear... that you just wouldn’t want to piss off.” And I said: “Yes, that’s it. Both.” You don’t get sweet softness of a big bear without also having to deal with claws and teeth: this is not just true for Eights, but they remind us of this truth.
How big are Eights? Event the BILLBOARDS reflect that everything is BIG—! Why? b/c Eights feel that if they are not big, then the only thing left is very very small. And that's pretty vulnerable...
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