Posted by Jan den Breejen on December 27, 2000 at 22:50:24:
Tom Poes
In the Ollie B. Bommel cartoon series there is a white cat who is clever and is allways with the not-so-smart narcissistic bear Ollie to help him out of the trouble he got himself into. The cat is described by observers as 'the smartest boy from class', someone who never makes errors, who looks 'neutral', almost sexless . When Ollie proposes one of his new plans to Tom, Tom reacts in a sceptical way, saying 'hmmm….' , puts his hand on his chin and starts thinking. Journalists who have commented on this comics series don't like Tom; don't find him sympathetic, even call him 'the nasty white cat' despite the fact that he often saves the day. One journalist called Tom 'has no 'character', a bloodless cold 'Mr.Know it All', too perfect, too smart and too boring, an irritating tendency towards conventions'.
Ollie - being low IQ- 'outsources' his intellectual needs; when he's worked himself into problems he's asking Tom 'Tom Poes, think out a craft/cunning!'. Tom has big wide open eyes and is allways a bit suspicious, expecting things to go wrong; 'Don't do that Mr. Ollie, only trouble can result from that'. Tom is loyal to Ollie and lives near Ollie's castle in a little house. Tom is slick, careful and rational; a down-to-earth regulator, a vigilant trouble shooter with high IQ, an analyst and puzzle-solver who often says 'I don't trust this'. Tom is loyal with Ollie in his adventures.
Tom is a bit difficult to classify. We could think paranoid character but the picture shows him to be too friendly for that I guess. His sceptical attitude is quite natural because of Ollie's far fetched plans; so it doesn't have to indicate a paranoid archetype. Then we could say; clinical analyzer; that could be schizoid. But: he is allways looking to the outer world, not being absorbed with thinking in his head. Also his need to accompany local elite person Ollie in his exciting adventures is not something we would expect with a schizoid. Serious Stylers are also sceptical and see the weak spots in plans but they are prone to stress and Tom is not. Well; that leaves us with the 'streetsmart' narcissistic archetype; the 'no problem' practical/flexible confident person.
That would make sense; the compensatory narcissist Ollie who tends to have dreams in which he over-estimates his abilities and even periodically loses contact with reality, is compensated in this mental handicap by his streetsmart friend Tom. The big wide open eyes are also found with narcissists in daily life; when you want to take advantage of opportunities you first have to SEE them; extraversion of course implies a focus on the outer world.
In my Big Five matrix of keywords the word 'smartness' is put into a cluster with words like 'adventurous and expressive, playful, quick mind, mondain'. (niche V+, I- in the matrix) These people seem to be a mix of the Self Confident and Narcissitic Styles.
Jan
Poes, Tom
Het merkwaardige van Tom Poes is dat in de literaire kritieken men hem een 'vervelend, akelig wit ventje' vind. (Matt Dings in De Tijd, 29/6/1990) Nog een voorbeel van de bitsheid die arme Tom ten deel valt: 'een karakterarm typ, met een irritante hang naar conventies, een bloedeloze allesweter en alleskunner, het beste jongetje van de klas, te perfect, te slim en te saai'. En dat terwijl hij juist zeer loyaal is aan Ollie. Tom Poes is handig, voorzichtig en verstandig. De parallel met ex-minister Eelco Brinkman dringt zich hier op: capabel maar een koele rationele uitstraling die voor een pr-probleem zorgt.
Tom's grote Bambi-ogen treffen we ook bij Brinkman aan.
Tom Poes is boven alles een nuchtere regelaar. Hij is een achterdochtige en altijd alerte trouble shooter met een te hoog IQ: een analyst en puzzelaar. Hij legt Ollie steeds uit dat de wereld riskant en geen pretje is. Tom Poes ziet de wereld als gevaarlijk en bedreigend; herhaaldelijk zegt hij 'het niet te vertrouwen'. Een dergelijke houding tegenover anderen wordt al snel een self-fulfulling prophesy; anderen gaan zich naar de vertekende perceptie gedragen waarin de paranoide persoon weer een bevestiging ziet van zijn gelijk. Zaken die erop wijzen dat het zo'n vaart niet zal lopen worden uit het wereldbeeld weggerationaliseerd.
In de strip is de sterke alertheid van Tom geen probleem maar een talent dat de overmoedigheid en over-optimisme van Bommel compenseert: 'Niet doen, heer Ollie!...er kan alleen maar narigheid van komen' (Tom Poes en de pruikenmaker, p. 160)