What Good a Bunch of A-holes Can Do

After over a month since it's release date, I finally saw "Guardians of the Galaxy". It sacrificed some sleeping in, but it was well worth the matinee price and being out of a total of ten people in the theater. There were two young kids who were among the audience, and I wonder what the parents thought when a few adult words were thrown around here and there. That's besides the point...

What really struck me was how relevant this movie could be made towards the kind of society we live in. I'm not talking about being a bad-ass and saving the world, but our obligation as living beings of this earth, of this universe even, to do what is right for the benefit of all in the face of disaster.

*FILM SPOILERS AHEAD*

When we meet the protagonists of the film - Peter Quill (a.k.a. Star Lord), Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket, and Groot -, they all collide into each other on account of a resulting bounty for a mysterious orb. The content of the orb, an Infinity Stone, has a fraction of what will create the ultimate power in the universe. They end up being detained by the Nova Corps and, after making multiple promises of fortune and reward, escape into space, where the real problem is revealed: the Infinity Stone is being sought out by the most feared being in the galaxy, Thanos. His goal, with the aid of the Infinity Stones, is to destroy the galaxy and redesign it to his own liking, a true power-hungry maniac, for a lack of a better term.

What sets the Guardians of the Galaxy apart from other heroes is that at first the majority of the team was unwilling to go out of their way to do something universally beneficial, and were stuck up with their own selfish ambitions. Gamora is depicted as the humanitarian of the group, attempting to rally the team to look past its temporary goals of wealth and fame. The characters' inner turmoils also served as distractions to the universal problem. Once they were able to respond beyond their unresolved issues, they became the embodiment of what every person should be. Ok, if you look past the fact that they used one of the Infinity Stones to destroy Ronan and save the planet, they really did become more powerful than their selfish selves. The stone was a helpful tool...

This is what made the movie so great: we got to see these losers (as Quill clears up, losers in the sense that they all lost something) who had their own slew of personal problems grow together, fight for a common cause, kick some ass, and save the galaxy. This is what everybody needs to see nowadays because this film expresses that one needs to look beyond one's pride and selfishness in order to accomplish something great. Also, it shows the fact that no one can accomplish anything great alone, so it helps to have a few best buddies around. And a talking tree. That also helps, too. So go ahead, push your own pride aside and do something that you know will have the most beneficial impact on the world, like donating clothes, food, or money to those in need, or plant a tree to create a more beautiful world than the one our elders are predicting. You'd be helping out with Vin Diesel's "Plant A Tree For Groot" campaign! Overall, it is heroic to show that you give a damn about your world, because you're "one of the idiots who live in it".

Keep calm and be a Guardian.