Graphics by Kate Francisco
We’ll all fly away together into the forever and beautiful sky.
The Guardians of the Galaxy is back for its third volume, showing in theaters last May 5, 2023. The guardians, led by Starlord or Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), are on another quest as they save their friend and family, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), as he tries to stay alive after being attacked by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). As fans get excited with the action-packed and equally humorous franchise, the film is nothing short of plain as Marvel brings a more important theme that’s not discussed enough: animal cruelty.
The film’s main plot is Rocket’s traumatic past under the hands of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). As Rocket fights for his life through life support, his past life flashes on his mind. We see Rocket being in captivity with the rest of his raccoon family and being the unfortunate animal to get tested to see if the High Evolutionary could create a perfect society. The tiny raccoon was tossed in a cage along with other tested animals: an otter named Lylla (Linda Carellini), a walrus named Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), and a rabbit named Floor (Mikaela Hoover). Like Rocket, the other animals were severely tested, with scars, wounds, and artificial limbs. These animals became Rocket’s family - the bright sky within the dark they’re captive in. And being experimented on to be a genius, Rocket looked for a way to escape his family from the hands of their torturers.
The third volume of this franchise received high praise from fans, critics, and animal rights organizations for bringing light to animal cruelty in our society. Some scenes are too dark for kids to watch, like the animal tortures, initially having a higher MPAA rating than PG-13. However, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) praised director James Gunn for tackling this topic and letting the masses, especially children, learn and talk about the reality of animal testing. And fortunately, the rating stayed as is.
Similar films have also tackled the horrors of animal testing, such as “Save Ralph,” a short film by The Humane Society of the United States, advocating saving animals from these testing laboratories to test for human products such as makeup, skincare, etc. Like the Guardians of the Galaxy, Save Ralph did not censor the theme and showed the terrifying lives of these animals — being tested on until they die.
The film mainly tells us how there are still institutions testing on animals when the products are for humans. Even if many companies stopped these tests, how can we finally put an end to this? How can we be sure that animal cruelty will stop if recently, there was news about London police officers shooting two innocent Staffordshire bull terriers, dogs who couldn’t even defend themselves?
This mistreatment towards animals must end now. Let us be the voice for the voiceless. Lend a helping hand to your nearest non-profit organizations, such as The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).
If you want to check if your products are cruelty-free, head on to https://crueltyfree.peta.org/
References: James Gunn nets PETA Award for spotlighting animal testing cruelty in “Guardians.” (2023, May . PETA. https://www.peta.org/.../james-gunn-nets-peta-award-for.../
Lachica, I. (2023, May 18). Millions and Marshall, two American Staffordshire Terriers: Their senseless deaths slammed by animal lovers. Inquirer.net. https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/.../animal-lovers...
Ramos, J. (n.d.). Fatal shooting of Marshall and Millions by police sparks public outcry. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved May 27, 2023, from https://mb.com.ph/.../fatal-shooting-of-marshall-and...
Sniper®, C. (2022, January 17). The Philippine Animal Welfare Society • PAWS. The Philippine Animal Welfare Society. https://paws.org.ph/
The Humane Society of the United States [@hsus]. (2021, April 6). Save Ralph - A short film with Taika Waititi. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G393z8s8nFY
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