In recent times, people seem to have become obsessed with dragons. From movies, to books, to video games, dragons seem to take part in our everyday pop culture. Incredibly successful movies like How To Train Your Dragon, Dragonheart, and The Hobbit utilize dragons as the primary driving force to their stories. Everyone seems to love them too, think about it, name one person who has seen Game of Thrones who didn’t think that owning a dragon would be the best thing since the invention of pants.
But they still have been getting a lot of attention lately, and why not? Dragons are strong, breath fire, can fly, (maybe intelligent depending on the story), inspire fear in their enemies and courage to their allies; dragons are basically awesome incarnate. But does that explain why dragons have become so popular? After considering the question, I realized these weren’t the reasons why dragons have become popular, but rather they are the reasons why dragons are still popular.
For centuries and across the globe, dragons have held the awe and wonder of humanity. Many European legends incorporated dragons and dragons slayers, such as Beowulf, who garnered glory for their feats of strength,. Other countries have held dragons with a regard of mysticism like Japanese and Korean lore. Even the Bible makes several mentions of beasts that all too well describe dragons (and of course there’s the whole Red Dragon thing in Revelation which refers to Satan in an allegory describing the battle between Heaven and the Devil). Simply put, dragons have been something people have always looked towards and have gone, “Aw man! check that thing out!”
This leads back to the question about modern time dragon popularity, and why does it now feel so sharp? Well, as crazy as it may sound, I don’t think dragons ever became ‘unpopular,’ they simply shifted in perspective. For the past 80 years or so, American youth have been obsessed with some kind of dragon—we simply called them dinosaurs. If one were to envision a dinosaur, they would be big, reptilian, powerful, and inspiring, as much so as any dragon—some of them even flew! And face it, even you had your favorite one growing up. Of course this parallel becomes even more dynamic through the lens of creationism, however, I digress and that would be a topic for a different blog. Regardless, dragons have existed in cultures all around the globe, and dinosaurs became their modern equivalent based on science rather than myth.
So, attention drifted away from dragons to dinosaurs, and that shift is reflected by toys, books, movies, tv shows, and culture in general. Dragons, while still cool, faded into obscurity and became a possession of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Everyone still loved dragons, whether named dragon or dinosaur, but only those who enjoyed those specific genres openly loved traditional dragons. Perhaps that is why dragons have become so popular again, not because people’s opinions about dragons have changed, but because the acceptance and enjoyment of those genres have vastly expanded. Dragons have once again seeped into culture as a highly revered element of fiction and have bled into every medium available.
So, why have dragons become so popular lately? The truth is, they haven’t, it’s always been like this.
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Hope you all enjoyed this entry about dragons and culture; dragons have always been a topic close to my heart so I really enjoy getting the chance to rant about them for a little while. Didn't like this post because you don't like dragons? Well, don't know what to tell you, I think I've already mentioned how great they are. If you did like this post, and would like to see me talking more about modern geekdom in culture, leave a comment about it. Also, do you love dragons? Post your top favorite--or top five if you can't narrow it down--dragon of all time and let us all know what kind of dragon you like the most.
Image Source: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Hellfire-389654862 by Dragolisco at Deviant Art