ENFP: Del Griffith, “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles”

The Champion, The Energizer, The Discoverer

Del is either the best or worst travelling companion you could have, depending on how you look at it. If you need a quiet night’s sleep, or a clean bathroom, or a working vehicle, then no go. If you need an indefatigable ally on your side to get you to end of your journey no matter what disasters befall you, he’s your guy.

Oh, and of course you’ll get some quality shower curtain rings out of it.

Dominant Function: (Ne) Extraverted Intuition, “Conceptualize From the Experience”

As Del repeatedly tells his new buddy Neal, he likes to go with the flow. He believes he’ll always find a way to get where he’s going somehow. When one door closes—or a flight gets cancelled—Del just turns in another direction and takes a new path. “Like a twig on the shoulder of a mighty stream.”

Del actually has quite the gift for metaphor. “We’d have more luck playing pick-up sticks with our butt cheeks,” or “You’d have more of a chance of finding a three-legged ballerina,” are just a couple of the colorful comparisons he makes in conversation.

Del’s job is selling shower-curtain rings, and when he and Neil end up robbed and broke, he goes on a sales streak at the airport, improvising wild tales about the exotic origins of his “jewelry” in order to pick up a few extra bucks for dinner.

Of course, Del’s gift for gab gets him in trouble, too. He can’t not talk, and this rubs his reserved travelling companion the wrong way. Like many an Ne-dom (or even an Ne-aux—hi, I’m an INFP!) Del struggles with closure, leading to lots of pointless conversational rambling that makes Neal nuts.

ISTJ: Neal Page, “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”

The Inspector, The Sentinel, The Trustee

Steve Martin was known for playing “wild and crazy guy” types, when suddenly he took a turn for the uptight with Neal Page. Neal and his travel buddy Del make yet another ISTJ/ENFP pair for this blog—like Spock and Kirk, or Zoë and Mal—and the personality conflicts make great fun. The cognitive function stacks are exactly flipped, so Neal and Del push each other’s buttons in just the right places on their wild and crazy adventure home for Thanksgiving.

Dominant Function: (Si) Introverted Sensing, “Relive the Experience”

Neal goes into every situation expecting things to be just so—a first class seat for a quick flight home, a clean and comfortable hotel, a rental car waiting in its assigned parking space—and he’s constantly disappointed. He suffers through the indignities of coach, cringes at the sight of his cheap motel room, and glares at his raucous fellow bus passengers with an air of put-upon longsuffering. He’s highly sensitive to annoying changes in his environment, and Del’s bodily functions, sloppy habits, and endless chatter drive him mad.

Neal’s family and home, waiting for him in the suburbs of Chicago, is warm and comfortable and traditional. He likes old-fashioned showtunes, a preference not shared by the other passengers on his bus. He wears crisp, neat business clothes and hat, slightly older than the current fashion (even for 1987, when the movie was released), and a very nice watch. He tries to maintain his decorum and appearance throughout his adventure, and each piece he loses strips him of a little more of his sanity.

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles MBTI

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! And to those reading from non-US locales, best wishes and gratitude to you for enjoying the blog, too.

In honor of the holiday, I’m posting a short series about one of my favorite comedies of all time. As far as odd couples go, Neal Page and Del Griffith are a perfect match, and I still laugh watching this movie. Also, cry…just a wee bit at the end.

I had a much bigger series planned for this month, which I am still working on, but a certain bat-sh** mid-season finale last week has me scrambling to update the profiles. Add to that my computer forcing me to upgrade to Windows 10, new writing assignments for Zekefilm.org, and the fact that I may be getting a brand new sparkly job very soon…! And I have a lot to keep me busy, but also a whole lot to be thankful for today.

So to keep the blog from going dark while I finish up that other series, buckle up for a quick ride with Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

(P.S. Although it’s a comedy, PT&A has a bit of a dramatic twist at the end, which I discuss in these profiles. So, spoiler warning.)