Do you still think women are swooning over billionaire playboys who wants to dominate us and maybe we hope we can tame? Nah. Who has time and emotional energy to sink into that ridiculousness? Moms today know what we like. We like Hopper.
If you’ve been watching the “Stranger Things” phenomenon unfold, you may be familiar with the surly, middle-aged officer Jim Hopper. He personifies “dad bod” and has vices you imagine he’d probably be done with if the show wasn’t set in the 1980s. He’s not wealthy and it would be a hard stretch to call him “charming.” Other than the obvious “man in uniform” cliche, what makes this guy the kind of man women would fall for in spite of all logic?
He makes you feel safe. Officer Hopper is the guy you can call when things are going terribly. Like, “your kid has been sucked into an alternate dimension” terribly. He’s going to do the right thing, even if it means risking his life. He’s brave and coolheaded even in the most bizarre circumstances. When you’re at your most crazy, he will listen. He wants you to know it’s going to be okay, although all signs point to mass governmental conspiracies. Even his everyman look is the kind of thing that makes you feel unintimidated and accepted in his presence.
He’s got a soft spot for kids. In season 1 we learn his daughter died of cancer and through the rest of the series we can see how that’s impacted his drive to protect children. If you didn’t love him after season 1, watching him take on the care of Eleven through season 2 will make you swoon. His answering machine apology to her after a typical parent/teen conflict (if your typical conflict involves shattered windows via your child’s telekinetic powers) is precious. He’s protective of the kids he loves. They bring out the soft side of this otherwise gruff guy.
He works hard. Hopper takes his job and commitment to the people of Hawkins seriously (well, at least once he figured out there were monsters running around). He goes above and beyond to investigate what’s going on in his town and works tirelessly to protect it. While other people talk about moving on from Hawkins when things get hard, Hopper knows this is HIS town and these are his people.
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