MBTI Type: ESFJ

Barry is always talking about wanting to make a difference in the world, and accomplish something grand, through using his influence to motivate and get people to work together. He is forever using “we,” because he thinks of himself and everyone else as one entity that can accomplish great things for one persecuted lesbian from a small town. He easily encourages her, begs her to let him give her a makeover, and feels her pain when she faces devastating rejection. Barry easily grasps that Dee Dee has not moved on from her ex husband and encourages her to talk about it. He shares his own sad history with ‘coming out’ in order to make Emma feel less alone. And his ‘bad review’ deeply hurts his feelings. He can be somewhat self-absorbed and self-important, and does not really question his own motives that much. Everything ties back to his own personal subjective experiences—his time in the theatre, his bad reviews and triumphs on the stage, his coming out and running away from his family before ‘they could throw me out.’ He focuses on sensory luxuries and likes to have things just so, takes an interest in fashion and tries to help Emma ‘up her game,’ and trusts what he knows to pull through for him. Barry has lots of creative ideas for the prom and uses them to help make it spectacular, and is open to considering different alternatives, but is also blindsided by the meanness of the school faculty and their ‘fake prom.’

Enneagram: 2w3 so/sp

Barry is very emotional and easily touched by things. He sees a chance to help (and improve his image at the same time) and leaps at it, but also out of a genuine desire to do something nice for Emma and connect to her on a deeper level. He becomes so invasive in his assistance at one point that she asks him and the other ‘starlets’ to please leave her alone. His assumption is that he is wanted, needed, and important, and he can be an egocentric and arrogant man in his constant quest for praise, his desire to impress others, and his seeking of fame. But he is also terrified of rejection and afraid to face his parents, in case they are not supportive of him.