One of the highlights of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the heartbreaking backstory of Rocket Raccoon. It was revealed that he is a survivor of the High Evolutionary's cruel animal testing and has undergone several experimentations as part of the villain's quest to "perfect the universe."
James Gunn's MCU threequel has been praised for shedding light on the evils of animal testing to a bigger audience and its sympathetic portrayal of the animals that they featured in Rocket's backstory.
Now, the film has received notice from the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as they recently praised the film for its "beautiful and compassionate story about testing on animals to a Marvel-size audience."
"James Gunn’s screenplay doesn’t back away from the tough (but often true-to-reality) subject matter, and we’re thrilled by a story about having empathy for all living, feeling beings," the organization wrote in their article about the film.
PETA also honored Gunn with the Not a Number Award for "his kind and compelling portrayal of Rocket and his friends and reminding moviegoers that animals tortured in laboratories are sentient beings and not the numbers tattooed on them."
The organization also posted a video on its YouTube channel where it explained why the film is an "animal rights masterpiece" and how it exposed the realities of animal experimentation in laboratories.
There is no doubt that a lot of the audience really responded to Rocket's backstory with some even disturbed and unsettled by its portrayal of animal cruelty through the eyes of Rocket and his friends.
Without spoiling what exactly happened in the flashbacks, we also saw that Gunn really went to the lengths on showing its heartbreaking effects on the animals and the fate of Rocket and his friends as a result of what they went through.
Some fans even believed that the High Revolutionary became an effective villain as they successfully made a case about his cruelty and now there have been discussions about whether he is one of the best MCU villains to date.
As seen with PETA's public statement and the fan discussions online, we can now confidently say that the film was able to successfully tackle the topic of animal testing in the audience's purview and make it part of the conversation coming out of watching it.
Also Read: James Gunn Finally Reveals Which Character He Played in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now showing in theaters everywhere. You can check more details about it here.
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