Disnability

How to Train Your Dragon is a recent Dreamworks production that was released in 2010. The story revolves around an outcast viking teenager named Hiccup who dreams of being included amongst the “normal” vikings, doing viking-like things such as killing dragons and wielding weapons. The story follows Hiccup as he accidentally (or skillfully) shoots down one of the rarest and most lethal dragons, a night fury which is a black coloured sleek dragon.The two build a friendship through the night fury- Toothless’- handicap, a missing tail fin. Through their friendship they go through great adventures that results in the re-appropriation of Viking attitude towards dragons; they learn that dragons are actually peaceful and kind creatures that only attack out of defense.

The first investigation of disabilities i will make is on the character of Toothless the dragon.

Toothless:

Toothless is the dragon that Hiccup accidentally captures and injures. As a result of this, the dragon is missing one of its tail fins, as can be seen below.

At first, understandably, Toothless is a little defensive towards Hiccup, not only because of the stigma that humans carry to him, but also because of his inability to escape due to his tail. Toothless, though not a human, still exhibits some of the stereotypes of disability just through his existence.

Toothless is shown as helpless; he can’t fly, he can’t escape, and he can’t even manage to catch food for himself. This is befitting of the stereotype that disabled people are helpless and that they can’t really accomplish anything without help.  Without his tail fin, Toothless is powerless.  Only after Hiccup builds him a prostethetic tail fin is he able to function at a somewhat normal level, but still only with the Hiccup’s help.

Much like a wheelchair or a prosthetic limb, Toothless’ prosthetic fin is what enables him to achieve some sort of normalcy, thus illustrating disabled peoples’ reliance upon their equipment.

Another surprising depiction of disability in the film appeared at the end of the story. In a shocking turn of events, Hiccup loses his foot in the epic battle against a ginormous monster dragon. As depicted here, Hiccup attempts walking.

He is fitted with a prosthetic foot and in a heart-warming scene his dragon helps him in learning to use it, paralleling the earlier scenes in which Hiccup helped Toothless. What i think i liked the most about this portrayal of disability was, not only was it very touching to witness the bond between the two characters, but the disability was not treated with a disgusted shock of any kind. The only attention given to the fact that Hiccup lost a foot was pretty much all shown in that two minute span of Hiccup walking with his dragon to the front door of his home and making a joke to the people who welcome him about how he might tinker with the prosthetic some more. Not one makes a big deal about the loss and, while this may not be realistic and came off across as slightly dismissive, it was refreshing to see this misfortune as ” the end of the world.”

In the scene that follows immediately after Hiccup’s acceptance of his new foot, he climbs aboard his dragon and takes off into flight as if it was just another usual day flying up in the sky. Of course that is normal behavior right after you’ve lost a leg. Of course.

Another character that brought about a positive light to disabled peoples is in the character Gobber.

Gobber:

Gobber is a rather burly, tough, big member of the Viking clan who despite his appearance has a soft heart and a good sense of humour. He is relatively well-balanced in spite of his missing two limbs, which i think if that happened to me, i would be scarred to some extent. But Gobber is proud of his missing limbs as depicted in a scene in the film where he appears to be enjoying telling the story of how dragons took his arm and leg, boasting that perhaps the dragon who took his arm spread the word that he was tasty so another dragon came back for his leg.

Gobber also holds a respectable position in the viking clan as the chief’s right hand man (that rhymed), something that disabled characters are stereotyped as not being able to: holding a position of status over others who are not disabled. Gobber, if anything, dispproves most of the stereotypes of people with disabilities; he is not weak, he is not depressed or whiny, and he holds a position of power where people respect him and trust him.

Overall, i am pleased to conclude that the viking’s in How to Train Your Dragon take a very differing standpoint on disabilities discourse. The characters seem to pride themselves upon receiving injuries and having missing limbs, which is an interesting thing to take pride in compared to the many articles that stereotype the disabled as longing to be not disabled.

So in conclusion, How to Train Your Dragon provides a good insight for children about acceptance, that even if you lose your leg.. everything will be alright. If you have a pet dragon. Just kidding.

But no, really, the world does not end for the disabled, nor should they believe it will end and that is a good message to spread.