Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the lanky, awkward
protagonist is portrayed as a weak, useless kid to the Vikings of the Isle of
Berk. Unable to handle the slaying of
dragons, he is shoved into the back office to make weapons for the
"cooler, stronger, and better" Vikings. But, like any typical adventure movie, Hiccup
bends the rules of staying away from dragons and ends up befriending them,
against his father's wishes. But in the
end, he ends up saving his society from getting killed from the vicious,
monstrous dragons (non-violently, of course), becoming the hero of the entire
village, and getting the prize: a girl.
Somewhat cliché, don't you think?
Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup's
potential love interest, breaks just about every female stereotype in a hero's
journey; she is headstrong and independent.
Yet, she is still not realistic.
Her body shape defies nature and in real life, she would be considered
anorexic. Her hair seems to fall
perfectly over eyes and she is still graceful while fighting. Although Astrid is portrayed as strong and
capable, her personality is interpreted as mean and rude, almost like a bully. She doesn't accept Hiccup because of his physic
and inability to protect himself.
DreamWorks is sending a message to young girls that you can be
courageous and tough but in order for you to be accepted that way, you still
need an hour-glass body shape, perfectly tamed bangs, and radiate perfection at
all times. However, in the midst of
perfection, you must remember that to be tough, you have to be mean to
others. If you come off as mean, people
will take you more seriously as a girl.
What's that all about? Do we
really want girls, between the ages of 5-11, to feel ashamed because there bangs
stick up or that they are nice to people?
And why should we lead them on to think that a man's love waits at the
end of the tunnel? Are these realistic
messages? Why are we convincing girls to
starve themselves and bully others in order to be taken seriously?
Even though Astrid tries to
break out of the girly shell and prove her capabilities, her male friends seem
to try to push her back in. Although
subtle, there are a couple of moments in the film that prove to hint the true
standing of the female stereotype.
DreamWorks, at times, goes against the anti-female stereotype by
slipping in sayings such as "girls like flowers" or "watch out
babe, I'll take care of this". So
what are they trying to prove? Are they
actually saying that despite being shrewd, clever, determined, competent, rude,
and perfect, you will NEVER actually be taken seriously by males? Are they convincing boys to believe that
girls should always be known as the Damsel in Distress? Are we, women, Damsel in Distresses?
Apparently we are.
Purvi, this is great! I really liked how you chose to do one of the more uncommon children's movies. No one as ever done how to train your dragon for this type of assignment. I really liked how you clearly explained the roles this movie portrays for both young men and more for young women. I totally agree that these children's entertainment pictures always portrays women as the damsel in distress. I really liked this and how it was clear and easy to understand, and how you made the observation very evident, and explained in the end what it says about our society and culture.
ReplyDeleteInteresting angle on the movie! I always saw it a Post-Colonial sort of way: Hiccup saves the dragons only by colonizing them and making the pets (certainly not equals). But I like the feminist approach. Cool, specific analysis!
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