Scott McCall Is Not A Paragon

Scott McCall is Not a Paragon

Someone sent me an anon request which I meant to answer, but I screwed up and posted it with only five words. So, this is the full answer, and it deals with a category error that many people, especially people who don't like Scott, make when thinking about Teen Wolf.

Scott McCall is not Superman, nor was he meant to be. Scott McCall is not Captain America, nor was he meant to be. Scott McCall is not even Izuku Midoriya, nor was he meant to be. He is not a paragon. This doesn't make him any less a heroic protagonist, of course, but it does require the thoughtful audience member to view him through a different lens then they would otherwise.

The classical definition of a paragon is a character (or actual person) who embodies a virtue in its purest most Platonic form. However, in modern cultural construction, it's taken on a more open connotation as a heroic lead protagonist who embodies every thing good in a cultural setting. Superman embodies overwhelming planet-shattering power used responsibly, arising from the embrace of the Other and being embraced by the Other in return. Captain America may be less powerful, but he embodies the strength of those who hold principled convictions. And so on. With a shallow reading, Scott McCall can certainly fit into this group, but there are several important differences.

Scott's Heroism is Not Premeditated. Superman listens with his super-hearing across the world to find people to save; he is a founding member of the Justice League. Captain America volunteered for Project: Rebirth to go fight the Nazis and then Hydra; he is one of the reasons the Avengers were foundered. Izuku Midoriya dreamed of being a hero and took advantage of an opportunity to work towards being the head of an entire social system predicated around this as a career.

Scott doesn't pursue evil throughout the series and the movie; instead, he is pursued. In Season 1, he is chased by the alpha. In Season 2, he is drawn into the war between the Hales and the Argents by threats to his immediate social group. In Season 3, he is the target of the Alpha Pack and Stiles is the target of the nogitsune. And so on, with the Dead Pool, Theo and the Dread Doctors, the Wild Hunt, and Monroe, they all come after him. Yes, by the time Season 5 comes around, the villains have realized that Scott won't let the people in his town be straight-up murdered and so they have to in order to win the day, but it's not as if Scott seeks them out. If, for example, the Doctors had used the Nemeton at Toulouse, Scott would never have been involved.

Scott's Heroism is Not Professional. Superman develops resources to help him in his heroic calling: the Fortress of Solitude, an occupation that brings acts of villainy to his attention, and scientific experiments. We watch Captain America train, alone and with others, in order to be able to fight threats more effectively. Izuku Midoriya literally goes to a specialized technical school for training heroes. They view their heroism as part of their normal lives, and not a situation forced on them periodically.

Scott goes to a mundane high school. He trains to play lacrosse. He learns to help animals. While Derek and Stiles may have saddled him with the heroic charge of "Protector of Beacon Hills," it is a title he accepts only because he has to. In the movie, Scott hasn't been back to Beacon Hills in a long time. He runs an animal shelter. He is called in when there's a dog trapped in a collapsing building, but that's a very narrow situation. He's still the alpha, but that's because of his relationships with "my friends, my pack" not because he's got a territory to watch over. He does get better at heroic action over the series -- Season 1 Scott wouldn't have been able to dodge Ghost Rider bullets like Season 6 Scott could -- but we never see him train for the purpose of being a better hero.

Scott's Heroism is Not Proselytizing. Superman wears the symbol of the House of El on purpose; he attends news conferences; he's spoken to the United Nations. Captain America is draped in the flag of the country whose virtues he wishes to embody. He struggles repeatedly with those virtues (think of the Nomad era). Izuku Midoriya literally aspires to become a symbol for the people of Japan. They consciously desire others to see the value of what they stand for and to integrate it into their lives. They're not forcing their beliefs on anyone, but their behavior is designed to influence the society around them for a benevolent end.

Scott is definitely a leader, but he exhibits leadership in limited situations. Unlike Allison, he has no goal to reform the Argent code. Unlike Demon-Wolf-Era Deucalion, he doesn't want to reform werewolf society. Unlike Monroe, he doesn't want to free humanity from fear or danger. The biggest example for me is that he never tried to change or rehabilitate Peter (or Deucalion or Theo) even though he had hope that Peter would change. The biggest long-term goal he expresses interest in is encouraging Liam to step up as lacrosse captain and, when necessary, as alpha after he leaves for college. None of this requires an impact on society.

I want to be completely clear: this doesn't make Scott any less a heroic protagonist. Scott wanted to be a normal teenager and then a normal adult, but the cost of him ignoring what was going on right in front of his face would have borne by innocents, so he sacrificed his own wants and needs for others. That's his heroism. Yet far too often, I've seen Scott lumped in with Captain America and similar heroes. There's nothing wrong with the Paragon Archetype, but it simply doesn't fit. Sometimes fans do this to compliment Scott, but that's flattening the character to fit somewhere he doesn't belong. Most of the time it's used as a negative, calling Scott boring, tyrannical, judgmental, whatever the hate du jour happens to be. Such a character deserves to be looked at for what he is, not stuffed into the nearest category so the fandom can move on.

Teen Wolf Characters (minimalist)

As @rhyslahey pointed out , your post is bollocks, but let's imagine for a second that what you've written has merit and that Scott really was an undesirable option for Isaac to seek help from. Who else is there?

1.First we have Derek. The guy :

- that broke Isaac's arm for backtalking

- that conveniently enough forgot to warn Boyd, Erica and Isaac about the alpha pack

-who is canonically filthy rich, but forced Isaac to live in an abandoned metro station for months

-who threw a glass at him and told him to go away

Why would he go back?

2.Maybe he could take a shot with Peter... I don't think I need to elaborate on that one or at least I really hope so. I know how some of you are.

3.He got along really well with Allison in that episode, perhaps... Chris is a seasoned hunter who is still grieving the loss of Victoria so that is a no.

4.What about your fave Stiles? He can offer him shelter if he manages to stomach the fact that Isaac tried to kill his precious Lydia. There is also the Sheriff who knows jackshit about the supernatural and would have just reported Isaac to social services.

5.Speaking about Lydia. She seems to be into blond werewolves these days. What is one little attempt on her life, am I right? She would have welcomed him with open arms, I am sure .

6.Jackson and Isaac have been implied to be former childhood friends at some point, haven't they? This is the perfect opportunity to rekindle their friendship.... Jackson is in London

7.He can also choose to handle this on his own. Become homeless, hide in his old house. Thay won't leave him vulnerable to the alphas at all.

The only other valuable option is Boyd who you unsurprisingly forgot to offer, because Boyd and Erica are only worth mentioning when you try to shit on Scott. That would have been actually pretty awesome if the show didn't decide to screw him over. Plus, the Boyd family is unaware of the supernatural, as far as we know, so child services here we come.

The McCall family was the best option not just because of Scott, but also Melissa. She had all the necessary infromation in order to make a decision that fits their circumstances.

P. S The guy in the comments that dared to compare Scott to Mr. Lahey. Take a long walk off a short pier. That is a new low and you know it.

Isaac going to Scott after Derek kicked him out to save his life made no sense. Scott openly mocked Erica's trauma and epilepsy, tried to override Boyd's agency for his own gain, and called Isaac an idiot for wanting the bite to defend himself from his abusive father. Why would Isaac go to the guy who abused and gaslit him just for existing, and who repeatedly used him as a punching bag in a jealous fit?

Because the writers didn't even bother to try and keep their own characters in character.

Seriously.

They were constantly trying to force their own narrative, making a lot of the later seasons feel like OOC fanfiction of their own previous writing -- pretty much making it unwatchable.

Isaac never would have gone to Scott. In fact, it would make more sense that he would have gone back to Derek.

But yeah.

Those are my thoughts.

Somehow I read somewhere in passing that Scott was a homophobe because he didn’t like Derek and Stiles together even if they weren’t.

Mental gymnastics and flawless logic and yadayada

@slice-of-magenta !!!

THUNK!

Smoke & Mirrors

Scott McCall Ships…

favourite scott ships/crack-ship?