A curious thing happened on the way through Avengers: Infinity War: fans were incensed by an emotional decision made by Star-Lord, blaming Peter Quill for his actions instead of the maniac villain who started everything in the first place. Actor Chris Pratt is here to explain his character’s motivation—and complain about his reception.
In Infinity War, Star-Lord is so overwhelmed by sorrow and fury when he hears about Gamora’s death that he messes up the plan to stop Thanos by attacking the Mad Titan head-on. The scene is staged to make the audience frustrated with Star-Lord in the moment, but it’s also, obviously, essential that the attempt to stop Thanos implodes for the movie’s plot to continue. Star-Lord was set up to fail by the necessities of narrative.
If the team on Titan had stopped Thanos right then, Infinity War would end rather abruptly and without any kind of conflict. “Well, guess we can all go home now!” Peter Parker might say. “And a good thing too, because I have a math test tomorrow.”
The strangest thing to emerge from the Star-Lord scene is that fans have heaped all kinds of disdain on Peter Quill, instead of faulting, y’know, the bad guy, who has just killed his own daughter—the woman with whom Peter had recently exchanged declarations of love.
Marvel movies often center around grief and revenge for the loss of a loved one as a hero’s motivation, but in this case, the audience can’t seem to get past Peter’s “blunder.”
I should make a research paper about Infinity War SO I MAY THEREFORE CONCLUDE THAT IT’S ALL STARLORD’S FAULT
— ᴍark ᴅaniel | A gin mix (@marquezmark06) April 29, 2018
Chris Pratt has clearly heard a lot of the criticism and he isn’t having it. He delves into what was going through Star-Lord’s head:
“Look – the guy watched his mother die, he watched as his father-figure died in his arms, he was forced to kill his own biological father,” Pratt told RadioTimes.com. “And now has suffered the loss of the love of his life.”
“So I think he reacted in a way that’s very human, and I think the humanity of the Guardians of the Galaxy is what sets them apart from other superheroes. I think if we did it a hundred times I wouldn’t change a thing.”
I don’t always agree with Pratt’s opinions, but in this case, I’m on his side. Peter Quill has gone through a lot, and it would actually have been hugely out of character for him to have not reacted to the news of Gamora’s death as he did.
Quill is impetuous, brash, and deeply feeling—traits fans now seem to want to hold against him, though they have long defined his characterization in Guardians. Peter Quill isn’t one to go cool and calculating upon hearing that the love of his life has been murdered. I don’t think many of us are. Hence Pratt’s assertion that Quill’s response to hearing about Gamora was one of the more human and realistic reactions in a movie marked by high-minded self-sacrifice and superpowered people.
Pratt lands that other, equally crucial point:
“And also, I blame Thanos, OK?” he added. “Jeez, how come he’s not getting any blame?”
“Clearly I’m very sensitive about this,” he laughed.
Pratt may be trying to make light of the situation, but the truth of the matter is that there’s been a weirdly pervasive and uncomfortable thread of trying to lay “blame” for the events of Infinity War on its victims instead of by the perpetrator, Thanos. Both fans and the movie’s creatives have engaged in this.
The various reasoning goes: Gamora shouldn’t have given up the Soul Stone’s location merely for her sister’s life. Doctor Strange shouldn’t have given over the Time Stone. Vision should have been sacrificed early on. Scarlet Witch should have been fighting on the ground in Wakanda sooner. Thor erred in not landing a killing blow with Stormbreaker because he, too, was caught up in grief and revenge for the wrongs committed upon him and his people. There’s culpability to go around for almost everyone except the mauve genocidal villain.
It seems like the knee-jerk inclination that many have to victim-blame extends even into the realm of superhero movies. Let’s lay the blame squarely where it belongs this go-round—on Thanos’ enviro-fascist amethyst shoulders.
me: *goes on ig*
“it’s starlord’s fault”
“it’s thor’s fault”
“it’s dr strange’s fault”
me: pic.twitter.com/bV5EnfuuO0— ana (@mcubabe) May 30, 2018
(via Radio Times, CBR, image: Marvel Studios)
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