How to Train Your Dragon is awesome!

[darkside501st]

I got this movie for my kids a few weeks ago... just looking for something to keep them entertained on a rainy day... I wasn't expecting much out of this film but it was really good. I actually sat down and watched it with them. It was very entertaining and well put together.

 

[Nwerke]

Call me a sucker for characters who work hard towards something that usually doesn't fit any medium of what they are trying to become (female dragon slayer? Since when?).

Since forever in this village; they don't have the population to have the luxury of women NOT fighting dragons. Hiccup's mother Valhallarama was an accomplished dragon fighter, for example.

And yes, I'm calling her useless because when the big battle comes in, her role as a fighter is rendered completely useless when she needed to be rescued

Along with, you know...THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF BERK.

Face it, Hiccup is FAR more downtrodden than Astrid over the course of the movie. It's Astrid who is high-status, it's Astrid who needs to be humbled a little while Hiccup needs an ego boost. Her character arc is the opposite of his, so OF COURSE she's one of the first kids out of the fight.

Oh, they do actually all end up out of the fight, by the way. And how many times does Hiccup need to be rescued in this film, versus Astrid, anyway? CONSTANTLY!

She's the capable one, but she's a little arrogant. Hiccup's got a lot of potential, but low self-esteem. The writers wanted symmetrical character arcs with both kids ending up at about the same place in terms of confidence, self-esteem and status. That may be formulaic writing but it's hard to blame them for it: audiences find it satisfying.

So that's my stance. I didn't like the movie that much because when it came to it's biggest female character in the whole story, all she did was get pushed aside. Heck, Hiccup didn't even train her first.
:thumbsdown

Oh man, you really are working to hate this movie. Astrid fills a standard-issue supporting character/love interest role - that's really your position, in a nutshell. With a nice little arc thrown in on top of that that you haven't even noticed. I deem your argument sexist: if it had been a buddy picture with Snotlout as the main supporting, you wouldn't be complaining.

 

[Jeyl]

Oh man, you really are working to hate this movie. Astrid fills a standard-issue supporting character/love interest role. I deem your argument sexist

If there were other films to fall back on that don't feature the female characters reduced to the role you have described, I wouldn't be making a fuss. But I've seen the movies and I've seen the figures and all I can find is that the female characters either get the shaft, or that typical love role. No one wants a female character in the lead for various reasons. My personnel favorite has to be the "gender doesn't matter" argument that everyone used to defend Pixar's all male film listing. They said that gender didn't matter because the stories are what's important. Well, that makes a lot of sense since every one of their stories told is about a male character. Sure, they'll have a great female in there somewhere (Except for Ratatouille, who's female character is nothing BUT that role on a 2D plane)

Cripes, even Tangled, who's story is about Rapunzel was hastily marketed as Rider's story. They even modified the title and trailers to reflect that. So don't tell me that my views are sexist when a lot of these studios are insanely biased towards male leads to the point of trying to avoid the female demographic like that's the sole problem.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Bwuahahaha... you're funny. Not even gonna waste any more of my time with your hyper-sensitive issues.