Conan is the movie I’ve probably watched the most times with my kids.

It’s simple, aesthetic, entertaining, has no flickering crazy effects, and is packed with ideas and value. My kids love it and starting it feels like coming home when we re-watch it every year.

The music, the visuals, the story progression – it’s all just perfect.

There are so many lessons to take a way from this movie. If you’ve never seen it – fix that immediately, and if you’ve seen it a while ago – fix that too.

Conan is the perfect movie for pagan men, and your kids can anchor to a lot of healthy ideas with its’ help.

I’m sure you will get a lot of ideas for games, discussions, and lessons for your kids in this film. Here are some beacons for the themes I find the most prominent in the movie:

You are alone

It’s OK to be alone and on your own in your struggles.

Conan sets off to fight Thulsa Doom alone, leaving his companions behind in safety.

You will have your toughest battles and greatest victories when no one has any idea what you’re going through.

Push the wheel

Conan gets so big and strong by pushing the Wheel of Pain. Every day, in heat and cold, without complaining or getting depressed.

This can be tied to physical exercises and training sessions of your kids. Discuss how often he eats and what.

Then he becomes a fighter and fights to the death every night. They teach him to read and write – and due to the constant work and ascetic lifestyle he becomes and absolute beast of a man, an unbeatable warrior.

This is an obvious allegory for kids leaving their childhood and their mother’s world and entering the men’s world of purpose, perseverance, and work. Discuss with your kids how this resonates with the upbringing of boys in Sparta.

Empowering vs crippling religions

Thulsa Doom’s snake cult is a clear visualization of abrahamism as it spreads over the world through the minds of the weak, the delusional, and the traumatized.

Compare the nasty snake cult with faiths of Conan and Subotai. The two have a beautiful casual “whose God is stronger” discussion at dinner and no one loses their cool.

The true source of power

This is the theme of the “Riddle of Steel” – Conan’s father tells him about it, Thulsa Doom mentions it later.

All his life Conan lives and wins off of physical strength and weapons. This is the steel, and it serves him well.

Thulsa Doom, on the other hand, feeds on the power of the flesh – he has gathered and mesmerized a large following of people willing to do anything for him.

However, steel breaks, and crowds of flesh scatter without the leader.

And in the very end of the movie, Conan beheads Thulsa Doom with his broken sword, making Doom’s followers scatter like the sheep they are, and he wins thanks to his WILL.

Will is the true source of power, commanding both steel and flesh.

Our trauma builds us

Thulsa Doom tells Conan that by killing his father and inducing him into the world of struggle he made his so strong.

While this seems like regular villain talk, there is truth to that.

We grow up as unique men because we’ve gone through a sequence of unique traumatizing experiences.

Take the scars away, take our experiences away – and we become nobodies.

No spring for us

The meaning of is is that once we become driven by our mission, we never rest, and that’s OK. Others may slack and wade in confusion, but those setting extraordinary goals and living extraordinary lives never do.

This is the life, and this is the world you are building around yourself.

There is no spring for us, only the wind that smells fresh before the storm.

The first Conan movie is a gift that keeps on giving.

Ironically, the sequel is just horrible – Conan is made to get drunk and embarass himself, the whole thing is turned into Disney-style tale with forced jokes, there is an awfully toxic female character (the princess), and it’s just shallow and wordy.

But we’re thankful to have Conan the Barbarian.

The Pagan Father Score – 10/10