Tim Burton's Human Design Chart
These celebrity chart readings are my interpretations of what I see in their charts. It's not about rewriting their story or psychoanalyzing their lives. I wrote this post throughout the December season, digging into the chart of my favorite filmmaker.
Tim Burton's chart contains quad left variables, an open head (pressure to think) center, an undefined g center (love, identity, direction), and a 3/5 profile.
"It's hard to find logic in things sometimes. I can't analyze things too much because it often doesn't make much sense."
The arrows all point left, illustrating Tim Burton's "quad left." Quad lefts are hyperfocused, sharp, and logical.
This leftness is contrasted by Tim Burton's open head center, the pressure to think, and taking in inspiration.
He has no inherent concept of what is interesting, what is worth thinking about, or what is a trustworthy source of inspiration. The open-head center can end up battling strategy in authority to place power in mental logic.
If you're new to Human Design, check out Human Design Decoded for an easy-to-read guide on type, strategy, authority, and profiles. This post won't be going over the foundations as there's plenty of information on that.
The Human Design system states that people are meant to follow their strategy and authority to navigate their day-to-day life. The open head center is under constant pressure not only to think but also to magnify other people's thoughts.
In Human Design, no one has a mind authority. Yes, there's mental authority, but mental authority is about working with others as a sounding board, not retreating into the mind for answers. The obstacle for Tim Burton's chart is reclaiming peace with strategy and authority without abandoning it for mental pressure.
The logical thinking of the quad left clashes with not knowing what to think about the open head center.
Quad lefts are analytical, using strategy to navigate situations. This variable hones in on something specific and gets tunnel-visioned. It's not designed to see the bigger picture but, the finer details. Though I'm not positive of Tim Burton's workflow, this element of his chart reveals someone who paints every piece of the jigsaw puzzle and, over time, clicks it into place.
The finer details illuminate a larger picture (versus breaking down the larger picture into smaller pieces).
I've often been accused of, 'Oh the movies looked good but there's no story,' but I disagree with that in theory, and '9' is a perfect example for me because the feel, the texture, and the look of that world, and those characters, is the story. That's a major component of why you feel the way you do when you're watching it.
Human Design charts naturally contain contradictions. Tim Burton doesn't know what's worth thinking about and is predispositioned to be overwhelmed by other people's suggestions. He is pulled to finding logical reasonings but quad lefts are the minority. His mind asks, "why? why? what is the truth here?" but often, the questions he asks are not his problem to figure out.
"Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?"
from timburton.com
Tim Burton has a 3/5 profile (martyr/heretic). Line 3, the martyr side of this profile, is perfect for Manifesting Generators like him. This type has the strategy of "waiting to respond."
The Line 3 martyr is constantly bumping and running into things, giving the Manifesting Generator much to respond to.
Tim Burton must've spent a lot of time refining his vision, which is no surprise. Every artist goes through this process.
What's interesting, in terms of what we know about his life, is he had much of his work pushed aside, especially in his earlier projects. Disney also fired him for his short film, Frankenweenie. Frankenstein heavily inspired the work - a young boy finds a way to reanimate his dead dog. Disney was pissed that Tim Burton used studio money to make Frankenweenie which was "too scary" to show kids.
from Tim Burton's original Frankenweenie
Line 5, the heretic, is much to blame for this. Heretics live in the projection field - people project their expectations onto line 5. Line 5 must be careful not to be seduced by becoming a savior, drunk on praise. Otherwise, line 5 is prone to be held in impossible expectations and losing itself in insecurity.
Tim Burton will meet few people who genuinely understand him, which may explain his childhood isolation and feel misunderstood.
His first work, Vincent, is based on his childhood. Vincent is a young boy who doesn't like to go outside or play with the other kids. He prefers to read Edgar Allan Poe and explore an imaginative world where he is actor Vincent Price.
Image Source: IMDB
The comedic part of this melancholy work is Vincent's mother interrupting his imagination. She wags her finger in his face and demands he goes outside to play on this beautiful day. Vincent laments that he's too depressed over losing his lovely wife.
Parents naturally want to socialize their children. But for Tim Burton, it solidified the distortion between how he sees the world and how the world expects him to be.
It was a weird reaction to 'Batman Returns,' because half the people thought it was lighter than the first one, and half the people thought it was darker. I think the studio just thought it was too weird - they wanted to go with something more child- or family-friendly. In other words, they didn't want me to do another one.
Tim Burton is an excellent example of how responding to the correct projections (through strategy and authority) can bring satisfaction. He was given creative control over Batman Returns, and the reaction is quite 3/5. It didn't match most people's expectations of what the movie would be, despite all those expectations being different!
This is a textbook line 5 projection.
"I keep thinking I'm going to miss it back in Los Angeles. But I don't. The only thing I miss is driving out in the desert in the Southwest."
Tim Burton is known for using repeating cast members in his work, such as Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, and Winona Ryder. These people likely give him a sense of direction and wholeness, which is sought after by those who have undefined g centers.
The undefined g center needs to be around the right people to be in the right place. Since there's no consistent identity or sense of direction, it is naturally drawn to environments that may give that.
Strategy and authority are particularly important here. Earlier, we explored Tim Burton's open head center. The g center doesn't think. It just experiences pulls that Tim Burton's strategy will "respond to" through his authority.
However, if he tries to logically reason it out through mental pressure, abandoning strategy and authority, he can end up in the wrong places with the wrong people. This can further isolate him, especially with the projections of these wrong people.
It's healthy for Tim Burton to know who and where feels like home to him and that he is satisfied there or with those people. With line 3, martyr layered into his chart the sense of home and the people will shift and change over time—line 3's trial-and-error.
They create bridges and burn/refine them.
Tim Burton fascinates me. No one can predict what he'd do next. That child living in his little world now sees his world exhibited everywhere.
