Namely, it's the story of a disaffected young male taking on the responsibilities of a man after watching a young lady (often a princess like in Disney's "Tangled" or "Frozen") attempt to take on life's challenges without him and falling for her as he realizes his place in life is defending and supporting her in that task.
This is essentially the story of the Millennial generation.
Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" took that story a step further and essentially wrote a story in which their disaffected young hero, Peter Quill or "Star-Lord," serves as a stand-in for young men across all of Western Civilization facing challenges from within as well as from the east.
Quill dreams of being a legendary outlaw, but in reality he's often just mocked or marginalized despite his real skill. Shades of #GamerGate here, imo.
The first interesting theme of Guardians of the Galaxy, although it's not at all rare for a Hollywood film, is that Gabriel is the hero:
Theme 1: The "privileged" white male hero
"White privilege" is a commonly used term in American society today to marginalize the opinions and roles of white males. The idea is that white people in the West enjoy privileges that non-white folks don't benefit from. It's an expression of cultural marxism used to cast white males as the oppressive villains of the world and to justify their overthrow at the hands of ethnic or cultural minority groups that represent the minority in the West.In reality, the "privilege" that white people tend to enjoy in the West is what occurs as a result of middle class white males marrying, having children, and working sacrificially every day of their lives to protect and support their families. Remove that discipline and you won't see white people enjoy as many privileges regardless of surrounding cultural context. Add that discipline in the inner city and you'll see black Americans start to find considerably more opportunities available to them.
Of course, Peter Quill doesn't enjoy white privilege since his dad wasn't around for his early life and sent some barbarians to fetch him when his mother dies who fail to deliver him to his true father.
Instead he grows up amongst outlaws, and if he's not exactly "100% a dick" he is primarily motivated by self interest.
His growth into becoming the hero is not the typical message that the media or culture today likes to bring. Rather, they'd prefer to see him thrown into prison for no doubt "date-raping" the red alien girl in his ship while Gamora works to help the Nova Corps realize that their own aggressions against Ronan's people in the past are to blame for his reckless behavior.
While it's still common for a white male to be the blockbuster hero, the enemy in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" is not your typical enemy in either the cultural marxists story of history nor the typical Hollywood film of today. They typically bend over backwards to avoid this:
Theme 2: The Islamic terrorist stand-in villain
Ronan the accuser is presented immediately as a religious zealot, infuriated by his people making peace with an advanced, pluralistic civilization who's culture offends him deeply. Although his own people aren't terribly eager to stop him, much like many of the states in the Middle-East and their attitudes towards al-qaeda, he represents more of the radical fringe than the mainstream of the "Kree" people.Ronan's language is largely religious (he orders for the "cleansing" of the prison, meaning to kill all the prisoners and guards) and his tactics include suicide-bombing the civilians of Xandar.
He's an obvious stand-in for the radical fringe of Wahhabist Islam, that wants to see the world submit to Allah and observe sharia law in a global Caliphate. While this isn't as much a threat in the US, it's a growing concern for Westerners in Europe and will likely become an increasingly important issue in the US.
Ronan's strong belief and commitment to it are what make him strong and dangerous. He's willing to burn through his whole army and execute the questionable plan of destroying an entire planet that he's on, as well as the ship he got there on, in order to see a culture destroyed. It's a perversion of the type of self-sacrifice that men should naturally demonstrate in defense of their homes and community.
So you have a hero that is typically villainized confronting the external enemy who is normally ignored and who's aim is to burn down the stand-in for Western culture. The only problem is, does the hero even care to be the hero?
Theme 3: The white male takes responsibility, saves the day
The messages of cultural marxism, which were designed to collapse Western civilization after recognizing that it was in implacable foe to traditional marxism, often serve to marginalize white males. To rob them of their purpose (leading and defending their families), and break their influence within society.
This is all true for Star-Lord, who's simply a petty thief who accidentally falls into something bigger. However, a few major events occur that convince him to finally "give a shit, for once, and not run away."
First there's his romance with Gamora, who as a woman has a particular attachment to civilization which serves to protects women and children from suffering at the mercies of wild and violent men like the ravagers or fanatical control-freaks like Ronan. As someone who grew up under the tyranny of Thanos, Gamora aspires to something greater for others.
Quill falls for her and adopts her mission as well, to protect the people of Xandar rather than simply looking out for himself, even though it means risking his own life first at the hands of the barbarians he has now renounced then against Ronan himself.
He ultimately realizes he can't live in an insulated bubble and be unaffected anyways. Rocket the Raccoon, similarly emotionally-scarred by a hard life origin, asks Quill:
"Why do you want to save the galaxy?" To which Peter hilariously and aptly responds, "Because I'm one of the idiots who lives in it!"
Very often people in the West buy into "white guilt" or "privilege" and start to buy into critical theory claims that Western Civilization is evil and needs to be shaken at its foundations. People frequently say "just because we've always done something a certain way doesn't mean it's necessary."
Although this is undoubtedly true, one might also respond that "if you don't understand why we've always done something a certain way perhaps it's not a good idea to change it."
Ultimately Quill understands that, whatever their flaws are, the people around him are his community and he has a duty to protect them. Allowing the foundations to be destroyed is not in his best interests.
Quill falls for her and adopts her mission as well, to protect the people of Xandar rather than simply looking out for himself, even though it means risking his own life first at the hands of the barbarians he has now renounced then against Ronan himself.
He ultimately realizes he can't live in an insulated bubble and be unaffected anyways. Rocket the Raccoon, similarly emotionally-scarred by a hard life origin, asks Quill:
"Why do you want to save the galaxy?" To which Peter hilariously and aptly responds, "Because I'm one of the idiots who lives in it!"
Very often people in the West buy into "white guilt" or "privilege" and start to buy into critical theory claims that Western Civilization is evil and needs to be shaken at its foundations. People frequently say "just because we've always done something a certain way doesn't mean it's necessary."
Although this is undoubtedly true, one might also respond that "if you don't understand why we've always done something a certain way perhaps it's not a good idea to change it."
Ultimately Quill understands that, whatever their flaws are, the people around him are his community and he has a duty to protect them. Allowing the foundations to be destroyed is not in his best interests.
The next event is interesting but perhaps not unique in Hollywood blockbusters, to the chagrin of cultural marxists. When Peter Quill, stand-in for white males of Western Civilization, takes leadership the diverse collection of "losers" as well as the de-civilized barbarians in his midst follow his guidance and stand up to defend the culture from the external radical.
What's more, due to his ingenuity and sacrifice and the strength of his bond with his friends, they overcome their foe. Of course, first he had to overcome a marginalized role in society along with an unwillingness to accept responsibility.
That story, plus fun dialogue from an excellent cast, can allow a Marvel no-name with a talking raccoon, tree, and green woman to dominate the box office.
If the Academy Awards are likely to represent the direction in which Hollywood's elite would like the country to go in, the success of movies like "Guardians of the Galaxy" demonstrates that classical values are still alive and well.
What's more, due to his ingenuity and sacrifice and the strength of his bond with his friends, they overcome their foe. Of course, first he had to overcome a marginalized role in society along with an unwillingness to accept responsibility.
The stories that resonate
There's a reason that movies like this, or like Captain America that emphasize the hero's moral authority rather than compromising him with bad decisions, are performing well with audiences. The themes of the movie, even if somewhat unrecognized, resonate with people who are a part of Western Civilization and are staring at similar challenges.That story, plus fun dialogue from an excellent cast, can allow a Marvel no-name with a talking raccoon, tree, and green woman to dominate the box office.
If the Academy Awards are likely to represent the direction in which Hollywood's elite would like the country to go in, the success of movies like "Guardians of the Galaxy" demonstrates that classical values are still alive and well.
Good one!
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