Marvel Cinematic Universe Has a Twisted Family Dynamic

Gamora starts off as a lethal weapon. Photo courtesy of Reddit.

Then Gamora fooled around and fell in love with Star-Lord. Photo courtesy of Fandom.

I enjoy Volume 1 of the Guardians of the Galaxy films. It's like Brooklyn Nine-Nine in the case of combining action on the job with comic and dramatic elements. Gamora is like Black Widow in that she seems to be a bewitching lethal weapon at first, but she has more human elements than meets the eye. 

Nebula got tortured into becoming a cybernetic warrior. Photo courtesy of Comic Basics.

By the end of GOTG Vol. 2, she got warrior skills, and a true sister. Photo courtesy of The Mary Sue.

The same goes for her sister Nebula and her teammate Rocket Raccoon, in that they both just want to be loved and act all psychotic and macho because no one wants to give them that love, until Peter Quill dances in like Kevin Bacon to stop the bigots with polls up their butts.

At first, Rocket Raccoon lived for how much this was gonna hurt. Photo courtesy of Sideshow.

Then Rocket began to live for family. Photo courtesy of IMDB.

That seems to be a recurring pattern for the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From Tony Stark to their mainstream Peter Parker, everyone has lost some kind of family member and there are people in the world that barely give them the time of day unless they release some brutal nature or something. No matter how twisted it gets, in the end, these heroes prove their worth and find love, for themselves, if not from others. I await to see what crazy girl power and family dynamic gets portrayed in The Marvels, and what other things the MCU plans to do.

‘Bottoms’-Not My Cup of Tea, but Not Without Potential

Photo courtesy of MGM.

Last night, I saw Bottoms. There were few enjoyable moments, emphasis on few, but with all due respect, it just reminded me of more tired high school drama that I don’t want people to see. 

For starters, two high school lesbians, played by Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri, start a fight club just to hook up with cheerleaders. Havana Rose Liu’s character of Isabel said to Ayo Edebiri’s character of Josie that she didn’t have to go along with this just to start a relationship with her, and Liu was right. The whole idea that just because parts of high school don’t think you’re popular and you have to lie and go to extreme lengths to prove them wrong is not a good message to send to people today. 

Mostly because I’m not a fan of hot-tempered vulgar language amongst kids today, fictional or otherwise, I didn’t find it all very enjoyable. One part I did was when Hazel, played by Ruby Cruz, stuck it to the man and blew up quarterback Jeff’s, played by Nicholas Galitzine, car in revenge for a long list of things. This all happened while he was mouthing to Bonnie Tyler. Classic. Another good thing to like about Hazel was how she actually thought the fight club through and got the girls to open up, and realize that they are more than the corrupt hierarchy makes them out to be. 

Another good moment was when Brittney, played by Kaia Gerber, reminded me of Emily Ratajkowski, off-screen and in I Feel Pretty, in that she wanted to prove she has more than just beauty, and wants to run her own business. 

As for Rachel Sennott’s character of PJ, I didn’t find her very likable throughout the movie. It’s because she wanted sex and nothing more, and was willing to get herself and others injured, and she didn’t seem very human like the other girls. However, when it came down to the final fight, I’m glad PJ finally set the record that she has more worth, and maybe found someone less shallow to be in her life. 

I’m also not a fan of the whole football being the one thing everyone should care about in school. But I did appreciate the slow motion when the girls took down their school’s rival and indirectly saved the day. I certainly wasn’t expecting one of them to actually impale a rival with a plastic sword, but still, enjoyed some of the energy. 

Having said all this, in a very misguided way, this film teaches that no matter what label society gives you, you can still accept yourself, find others who will, and if need be, fight back to prove others wrong. That’s a great final message for people on the LGBTQIA spectrum or not.  

All in all, Bottoms was not my cup of tea, but not without potential.