Monday, September 1, 2014

Team of Misfits

Marvel Studio's newest movie Guardians of the Galaxy, released in U.S. theaters August 1, has been the most successful movie of the summer. For a good reason, too - the film, which features five different species from five different backgrounds coming together in a team to protect the galaxy, is a mix of humor and action scenes that evidently prove to be adept at entertaining the audience. Part of the humor comes from the varied backgrounds of each of the main characters, as each of them have different expectations for the behavior of the others, resulting in scattered instances of culture clash throughout the film.

One such instance occurs with Drax and Rocket. Drax comes from an extremely literal society and does not understand the concept of a metaphor, as seen in this exchange:
Rocket: "Metaphors go over his head." [referring to Drax]
Drax: "Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast - I would catch it."
Metaphors are so commonly used in most cultures that it is expected we will not take them literally, and when this expectation is not met, the result can be slightly confusing.

Another instance occurs with Gamora, a highly trained female warrior/assassin, who is confused when Peter Quill tries to teach her about dancing. ("I'm a warrior. An assassin. I don't dance.") Dancing is an integral part of Peter's culture, which happens to be 1980's (roughly) U.S. culture, and he is amazed to find anyone who doesn't know how.


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