My Guardians of the Galaxy article (loosely based on a post I made when the movie first came out) is up on Ms En Scene! :) If you ever needed more reasons to loathe Ego but love Peter, Yondu, Meredith and Fleetwood Mac, I feel this may give you what you need.
I was watching Vol 2 today and a bit that’s always kind of nagged me finally clicked.
When Rocket describes Ego as a little guy and holds up his fingers as about an inch, and then clarifies that he’s sure he would be much larger if he got closer…
This is actually a measured phenomenon. During early development, human brains learn how to interpret the world around them through a variety of different physical and chemical stimuli. Eyesight, for example, is cells in the backs of our eyes being stimulated by different wavelengths, and our brain putting that together to “see” the world based on those stimuli. While growing, creatures learn how sizes relate to distance, they even learn how to expect to see the world around them. Illusions that rely on corners to create the illusion don’t work the same in people who grow up in a culture that uses round houses. Learning how the size of something relates to the distance of that object is one of those things.
There is a case study taught in introduction to sensation and perception psychology classes, where a man studied a remote forest-dwelling tribe. He took a member of that tribe out of the forest and at one point, they came across a large field with a herd of buffalo in the distance, and the researcher pointed them out as an animal that people hunt. The man looked, and then asked why, because they were only the size of ants. Over time, the man was able to learn how distance perception worked.
So I realized.
Rocket had to teach himself size perception as it relates to distance because he spent his formative years in cages and laboratory rooms. He had to fucking teach himself VISUAL PERCEPTION and has to do the manual calculations in his head of how big something is based on how far away he guesses it is, and vice versa, calculating distance based on size.
We get a glimpse into that manual conversion when he’s explaining it out loud. He might not realize how automatic it is for other people, or maybe he just trusts his family to understand, I’m not sure. But it gets thrown back in his face, and the wall goes right back up.
This is too painful, make it stop.
Well, damn.
Man, Rocket is so well done in terms of the cognitive and biomechanical downsides of being–well, a tiny little monster who didn’t ask to be made.
general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house:gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (another hard one to call) best quality: Is honestly a kind person now and always trying to be kinder worst quality: Has many but they’re all in her past ship them with: Peter, maybe Mantis… brotp them with: Also Mantis, majorly. Nebula of course. And all the Guardians! needs to stay away from: THANOS, although she won’t misc. thoughts: She’s so great I want all the merch of her, thank god they actually released some this time around
Yondu:
general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang (he’s not the most… hygienic.) hogwarts house:gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff …..I have no idea best quality: Had a loving heart underneath the rage and the violence and the performative masculinity worst quality: God where to start. Was a massive arsehole to Peter most of the time, is generally a massive arsehole in fact ship them with: Kraglin, and also Meredith in… some sense brotp them with: All the Guardians, all the original Ravagers, Meredith, so many people needs to stay away from: Ego. If only he had misc. thoughts: Yondu has possibly my favourite redemption arc eveeeeer and when he raises his hand to Peter’s face I start crying and don’t stop til after the credits
general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | RAVENCLAW | hufflepuff best quality: Her curious nature and pursuit of knowledge worst quality: It’s hard to say really. Gets caught up in her work too much? But Jane doesn’t really have any terrible qualities. She’s lovely ship them with: Thor! brotp them with: Dr Helen Cho (I think they’d get along if only they were allowed to friggin’ meet) and Valkyrie (ditto, although I think it might take them some time to really be friends) needs to stay away from: The Marvel executives misc. thoughts: God I hope she does make it back to the MCU, somehow, even in just a cameo or something
Mantis:
general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house:gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff …..this one’s really hard to call best quality: She’s so unfailingly sweet and nice worst quality: Like me, is terribly timid ship them with: Nebulaaaaaa brotp them with: GAMORA, DRAX, all the other Guardians, gosh I love how she got a whole family needs to stay away from: EGO, but thankfully he’s dead. Thanos too, aaaarrrgh misc. thoughts: I hope she gets a moment to really shine, power-wise, in Infinity War!
