MBTI Goes to The Oscars: 87th Annual Academy Awards

“Acting is a noble profession!”

So declared Neil Patrick Harris when he appeared in his underwear at this year’s 87th Annual Academy Awards ceremony. It was a delightful moment in a kind of ho-hum show, but it’s true that the Acting categories this year were all really strong (despite the lack of diversity).

Most of the characters that pop up on MBTI blogs like mine are easily identifiable, pop-culture icons. They work really nicely as broad archetypes of their personality types, and of course we love them and love to read and write about them. Oscar-winning performances tend to be, shall we say, a little more complex?

Please, PLEASE don’t read that as “better” than our pop-culture characters. The point is that actors and actresses shine in these Oscar-winning roles because the characters are often contradictory and hard to define. They’re extra challenging, and for this we give them awards.

The 87th Oscar Winners

Every year, two old friends of mine and I have a standing date to watch the Oscars together. This year, I’d seen about 5% of the movies nominated, because I suck at being a film nerd.

If I’d have thought about it beforehand, I would have caught up and done a series on the characters played by the nominees. Now, I think I’m going to do a series on the winners and use it as an excuse to get my butt in gear to watch some of the year’s best films.

I’m also behind in the screenplay I’m writing, so if I ever want to be up on that stage myself, I have to get to work. Heroes and Villains will return next week with new stuff. Meanwhile, enjoy this reminder of the winners of last night’s Oscars. NPH is up there because that moment made us all winners.