Some people say haircut doesn't matter.
Well, try telling that to the Thor fan boys out there who some are up and arms because
of Thor's haircut for the upcoming movie, Ragnarok.
Now, in this video, I'm going to talk about Thor's hair and the symbolism behind it.
Okay.
So, just in case you don't know who Thor is, Thor is a prominent figure from the Norse
mythology.
He actually was worshipped as a god by the Germanic and Scandinavian people before the
introduction of Christianity.
Now, there are a few things that historians can agree about Thor.
One, he was the protector of Asgard.
He was the ideal warrior.
Two, he actually had some pretty cool weapons.
He had a belt that could double his strength and most famously he had a hammer that could
control the elements gave him almost unlimited power known as Mjolnir.
Now, number three and a little bit lesser known is he was married to Sif and she was
known for her blonde hair.
I'm making an extrapolation here, I'm assuming Thor has blonde hair had the same thing, it
was all about fertility and oftentimes when the Vikings would go conquer new land, they
would feel blessed by Thor's fertility.
He would bless their lands and his hair was a symbol of that.
Now, him getting his hair cut in the new upcoming movie I think has a lot of symbolism in it
and that's what I'm going to discuss in this video.
Long hair symbolism point number one.
Long hair is oftentimes associated with strength and the cutting of that hair can actually
zap a man's strength.
Classic story, we go to the Hebrew Bible look in the Book of Judges and we see Samson.
If you've not heard the story of Samson and Delilah, you ought to go check out, really
good one.
I remember being told this as a kid and looking back it's kind of a little bit morbid.
But, Samson was a pretty tough guy born with incredible strength that was within his hair.
He's able to take on a lion and kill it very quickly.
Take on an entire army and kill them with a jaw bone.
But, his weakness was if his hair was cut, he would lose his strength.
So, he got in with a wrong woman, Delilah.
She found out his secret.
She apparently was working for the other side.
Cuts his hair, he loses his strength.
He's taken captive, they put him in a temple they make him a slave.
But, his hair grows back, he's given one more chance to show what he's got and he ends up
bringing the whole building or temple down on everyone.
Yeah, not the best ending.
I don't know why I love the story as a kid, but the point is long hair and within it is
a man's strength.
So, we could see the symbolism here.
Thor is captured in the movie Ragnarok.
He's put in a gladiatorial arena and in a sense maybe he's powered down maybe it is
something that his strength was taken by the cutting of his hair.
Hair symbolism point number two.
The cutting of a man's hair shows that he has submitted to society or to an organization.
Where do we see this still used throughout the world?
Militaries.
If you join the Marine Corps, if you join the army, what happens?
They shave your head.
Why do they shave your head?
To strip away individuality to get you to work as a team as a group to basically show
that you are now a unit and you're a cog in the system.
So, let's look at the movie Thor Ragnarok, what happens?
He shows up and he's put into the arena by the grandmaster.
So, in this movie we see actually his haircut maybe something that he is, yes, going to
be stripped of his individuality.
He's no longer Thor, he's actually just a fighter he's a gladiator in the arena.
Hair symbolism point number three.
If you had long hair, you had wealth, you had status, and you are fertile.
Let's go back look at Louis XIV, the son king, one of the most famous monarchs all of Europe.
What do we notice about this guy?
Look at the way not only he dresses, but look at that hair look at that wig that he wore.
Why would men in this time period who are at the top who are the top of society wear
wigs?
Let's go back look at early US presidents.
Let's look at George Washington.
What do we see here?
They are wearing a wig.
Wigs are worn to show that you had long full hair.
Hair was a status symbol.
It showed that you could take care of yourself, you could take care of your body, you could
afford good food, you were in good health, you were a fertile man.
So, let's look at Thor.
Like I said, Sif is actually known for her long blonde hair.
It was a symbolism of wheat and that, you know, basically that the crops would be blessed.
A very important thing to early, you know, Germanic and Scandinavian people.
So, in the movie Ragnarok you can infer that the cutting of Thor's hair is a symbol that
he has lost his status as the protector of Asgard.
So, I have a bonus hair symbolism point for you comic book fans out there.
And that could be that Thor is unworthy to actually be the protector of Asgard to wield
Mjolnir and therefore, his hair was cut and it was to symbolize that.
This comes out of the unworthy Thor comics.
If you go back look at the I think it was the Original Sin where Nick Fury whispers
something into Thor's ear and after that point he can no longer lift his hammer.
In fact, he is unworthy he goes on a quest to try to prove himself to try to figure out
how to get his mojo back.
Definitely go check it out.
But, the haircut it has symbolism.
And I know I'm very excited to see the movie to see what happens here.
And I'm curious do you like videos like this because this is a little bit different.
I think actually hair and symbolism is very interesting.
I've talked about the signs of facial hair and if you want more you're interested in
things like this, you need to check out Scott over at NerdSync.
I'm going to link to them down in the description.
He's a friend of mine.
We've been in the mastermind together.
This guy goes into the science behind comics.
He does like forty, fifty hours of research then puts out a detailed video explaining
how things work.
A little bit more about the back story and I love the work he's doing over there, so
go check him out.
And, if you want to continue the conversation, you're interested in, you know, talking more
but you want a community, check out our free Facebook page.
Guys, I love this group.
The guys over in our Facebook group they really help each other, they want you to become a
better man.
Let me know, I really want to hear from you down in the comments if you like something
like this.
I've got some other ideas with some other characters I'd like to talk about.
Me, a little bit of my background with comics, I had hundred of comics as a kid, so I definitely
am both a DC and a Marvel fan boy.
And that's it, guys.
Take care.
See you in the next video.