DreamWorks Animation
Film released 2010
Director: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
Writer: William Davies, Dean DeBlois, and
Chris Sanders
Based on the book by Cressida Cowell
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler,
Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, and David Tennant (Who
knew?)
Rated: PG
Grade: 3.5/5
Mk. This one is another story of the queer “other.”
There are lots of kids’ movies that take on this trope, some good, some bad,
but this one is particularly intriguing when it comes to breaking down gender
roles and femininity versus masculinity.
Let’s get into it.
WHAM! Right off the bat: alternative family
structure (which gets even more interesting
in the sequel, but that’s for another day). Our protagonist Hiccup (poor little
Viking, seriously, they had to name him Hiccup?) has been raised by his giant
Viking father his whole life with no mother in sight.
 |
| FEE FIE FOE FUM |
Hiccup’s dad is the leader of the Vikings
and a celebrated dragon hunter. He’s a giant dude. Hiccup on the other hand is
a scrawny little boy. He can’t hold an axe, let alone kill any dragons. He’s
basically the laughing stock of the whole Viking village because of this. Here’s
where we get queer. Hiccup is not the Viking (read: man) he should be. His
father tells him, “stop being all of you.” That’s harsh, bro. And “from the
time he was born, he was different.” Sounds queer to me. Hiccup has to deal
with toxic ideas of masculinity and gender role constructs.
 |
| Harold and Kumar and Hiccup? |
Hiccup tries his darndest to measure up to
the ideals of masculinity placed on him by his environment, but he just can’t.
He’s labelled inadequate. But he does his best to compensate with his
creativity! He invents things! He wants to prove himself within the confinement
of the given environment (ie the norm): manly Viking men kill dragons. But when he finally encounters the Night Fury
he hit with his invention, he can’t do the deed.
 |
| Excalibur! |
He’s just not that kind of
Viking. Hiccup starts to think outside the box, outside the construct. This is
Hiccup’s queer aha! moment. He realizes that he cannot conform to the normative
mode of manly Viking men who kill dragons. He accepts himself as a tiny Viking
boy who trains dragons. He finds his
success outside the norm, within his queerness.
 |
| Lil' Bub Toothless |
Hiccup is not the only one who is working
outside the norm. We find this in the dragon Toothless, too. Toothless has
learned through his/her (I don’t actually think Toothless gets gendered in the
movie, not sure though. BUT HOW COOL IS THAT!?!) experience and encounters with
humans, that it’s a kill or be killed world out there. Toothless also actively
struggles with this construct, this norm. They become friends when they both
accept the queer notion that they don’t
have to kill each other. Their friendship proves that PEOPLE CAN CHANGE!
 |
| Don't send a boy to do a girl's job |
Also, Astrid is a total feminist fierce
independent lady. Hiccup’s crush on her is awesome for young boys to see a male
character infatuated with a positive female role model. And she’s obviously
good for young girls watching the movie.
What’s the take away on this one?
Masculinity is more complicated than manly Viking men who kill dragons versus
tiny Viking boys who train dragons. And it’s good to question social norms
because you might just make a friend out of it J
MVQ: Toothless.
OTP: Astrid and the girl twin. Why not?
Favorite Moment: This:
Sorry this was a short one, I’m totally
bogged down with work for my MA. Next post is gonna be up on Tuesday instead of
Wednesday.
ALSO ALSO ALSO! I’m taking requests! Shoot
me an email at thelamerest@gmail.com
and I’ll add it to the list!
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