Newt Scamander is the protagonist of the movie, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them”. However, he is a far cry from the typical male protagonists that we usually see in movies. The male protagonists that are normally seen, fall into one of these specific stereotypes; as ‘the dark’, ‘the moody’ who hide their emotions, ‘the courageous’ who never back down from a fight or ‘the witty’ who manages to remain cool with whatever it is thrown at them and are even able to make a joke during a bad situation. These character traits are seen in Newt, however, are those that are usually seen in second male leads.
When we are first introduced to him, we can see that Newt is a shy, sweet and empathetic character who shockingly remains so during the whole arc of the movie. He is also comfortable and confident in himself and his wizarding skills. His version of masculinity doesn’t come from physical strength but from the fact that he is sincere, nurturing, sensitive, and unapologetically himself. He is also against any form of violence and instead uses kindness, empathy, and knowledge to solve an issue. Moreover, we see that in the movie, these traits are more of a strength rather than a weakness. He pays attention and puts in the effort to try and understand magical creatures and due to these characteristics, Newt is great at being a magi-zoologist whose job is to take care and study magical creatures.
Newt has shown us that brute strength isn’t the only thing that’s needed and that kindness, sensitivity, and empathy aren’t weaknesses but are necessary in helping us face whatever the world throws at us.
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