Qualities
Stoick Haddock, more commonly known as Stoick the Vast, is the chief captain of the village in the How to train your dragon movie series. He is a big, strong Viking who feels a large sense of responsibility to the village of Berk and keeping it safe from dragons. Even if he is strong, very brave and protective towards his fellow Vikings, he has many flaws that can’t be overseen. Firstly, he is very stubborn and closed-minded. He feels that everything must be done his way and everyone must think like him. This can mostly be seen by his relationship with his son, who is friends with a dragon. Because of this relationship between the dragon and the boy, he sees his son as weak and “not a real Viking”. He doesn’t care about the boy’s feelings and won’t listen to his point of view. Secondly, as his name implies, he is quite stoic. He doesn’t want people to see him weak or sad. Instead, he gets angry and does something without listening to others to seem more manly. Thirdly and lastly, going on the last point, Stoick does not know how to act emotionally. He often says mean and detrimental things without knowing the harm it can do to others. That being said, he evolves and gets much better in all of these areas as the movie and TV series advance.
We found that this fictional character’s habits correlate well with Kimmel’s definition of masculinity in the section of inexpressiveness and independence. This characteristic of masculinity states that men should show no sign of weakness. Stoick never shows the side of him that can be weak or hurt. He never shows any sadness or physical weakness. Instead, he gets mad and displays his strength to look strong and manly. As said in Kimmel’s book, men have “strength of belief, dedication (to a cause) or stubbornness.” Stoick the Vast is very stubborn and close-minded, which fits perfectly with the description. Especially at the beginning of the movie series, he is the typical Viking who won’t take advice from anybody and would rather fight than try to debate and listen to others. He also will not listen to his son, who has a different view on dragons than him. This makes him hard-shelled and stubborn.
Bibliography:
https://howtotrainyourdragon.fandom.com/wiki/Stoick_the_Vast_(Franchise)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Train_Your_Dragon_(film)
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 