Tag Archives: guardians of the galaxy

Abused Children: Inside Out

INSIDE OUT: The emotions. Joy holds a memory.
©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

I had two things to do tonight – attend a screening of Pixar’s Inside Out and write a blog post. Although I intended to write about a costume item, I can’t stop thinking about this movie and its implications. The movie explores the workings of a young girl’s mind and emotions. Riley, the main character, is 11 years old and spends the movie struggling with a major life change. We watch the story unfold, both inside and outside her mind.

I promise I won’t give any major plot points away.

The world Pixar creates inside Riley’s head is complex and insightful. Her entire personality and her resilience – her ability to deal with adversity – is based on certain “core memories.” These are Riley’s foundation. For Riley, these memories are filled with Joy. Created when she was very young, Riley’s core memories are consistently reinforced as she falls back on them again and again while she grows. Because her core memories are happy, Riley is essentially a happy person and uses this happiness to overcome challenges.

Fear (voice of Bill Hader), Sadness (voice of Phyllis Smith), Joy (voice of Amy Poehler), Disgust (voice of Mindy Kaling) and Anger (voice of Lewis Black) guide 11-year-old Riley from Headquarters, the control center inside her mind. Directed by Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Up”), Disney•Pixar’s “Inside Out” opens in theaters nationwide June 19, 2015. ©2014 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The implication is that we all have core memories and strong personality traits defined by them. But what happens when our core memories are not happy, but sad? Or angry? Or Fearful?

The implications are tragic. A child whose core memories are any of these would be defined by the corresponding emotion. When faced with adversity, a child without joyful core memories would fall back on something else. Like fear. Purely fearful core memories would result in a child cowering and running when challenged. Anger would cause a child to lash out when dealing with hardship. Sadness could lead to deep depression.

This is what life must be like for abused and neglected children. In this Pixar world, the traumatic events abused children experience would be so strong and defining that sad and fearful events would make up the bulk of their core memories. This would affect the way they act, the way they confront challenges, and the way they view the world. Sadly, it is very hard to change core memories. They are the foundation.

I, like Riley, was fortunate enough to grow up with joyful core memories, memories I can fall back on when things get rough. Others aren’t that lucky and find themselves confronting life with a shaky foundation, one that leaves them prone to distress and anger.

Maybe we can’t change the sad or fearful core memories, but we can add a little joy to the lives of these children. Create happy memories and nurture them. Give the emotions living in their heads the tools and the base they need to deal effectively with challenges and, well, life. Maybe, hopefully, we can add a splash of yellow to memories that are currently blue or purple or red.

That’s what this project is about. I’m just a normal guy, but at least I can dress like a Marvel character and raise a few dollars for those trying to help them.

(Inside out is a wonderful film, by the way)

The pants are in!

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I came back from a trip this weekend to find *drum-roll* the pants.

Not what I expected.

I mean, they’re not bad, just a little different. To start, they’re a little more lightweight that I thought they would be. When I think of motorcycle pants, I think of heavy material, with a little faux (or real) leather. These remind me of the snow-pants I wore sledding when I was a kid. Without too much padding.

Star-Lord seem like the type of person to wear rough, distressed, leather and tough canvas pants. The type of pants that can take a beating and keep on going. The type of pants that Peter Quill had worn for years and years…maybe without washing. These pants are not those pants. These pants might be able to take a beating, but not many more than one.

That’s not to say that they aren’t cool looking, They are cool. Darn cool. Just not quite what I had imagined.

Anyway, now that I’ve conveyed my first impressions, let’s take a look at some of the details.

First, the obvious. There are some logos and patches that need to be removed. Star-Lord was not advertising “Riding Tribe” in the film. Luckily, everything looks to be sewn on so that, with a care, I can remove the unneeded patches.

Notice the stitching which should be easy to remove.

The stitching is harder to see on these, but is there. This logo should come off easily as well.

Here’s a close up of the material:

It is mesh in some parts. This is great because it somewhat mimics the multiple fabrics of Peter Quill’s trousers.

Here is a side by side of the front:

Star-Lord on the left. My pants on the right.

As you can see, they’re not at all an exact match. However, they are a good baseline. As I said in a previous post, Star-Lord’s pants are custom so short of hiring someone to make me exact replicas – or miraculously developing some serious sewing skills – I was always going to have to make due with “close.” And these pants are close.

They just need a little work. First, I’ll have to remove the logos and pocket. After that, well, we’ll see if there’s any way to modify them further.

Thoughts, suggestions or comments? Leave them below…especially if you will make me a custom pair of Star-Lord pants in exchange for advertising to my four readers!

Why CASA? (true story)

How Awesome is the Awesome Mix?

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The Awesome Mix 1.

Is this an ancillary prop? Absolutely not.

Peter Quill would not be Star-Lord without the Awesome Mix. These songs were his link back to Earth, to his childhood. These songs influenced him growing up. These were the songs he listened to during the most important moments of his life. These were the songs he learned to dance to.

Oooh Chah…. Image source: http://rebloggy.com/post/my-gif-gif-funny-film-spoilers-funny-gif-dancing-gifset-gotg-dancing-gif-2014-gu/102777724645

Constellation sums up the Awesome Mix 1 perfectly on the-artifice.com:

Music both influences our perception of Peter and directly affects his path toward self-definition. Some of the tracks which accompany scenes that demonstrate this include “I’m Not in Love”, “Come and Get Your Love”, “Hooked on a Feeling”, “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)”, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Together, they represent the culmination of Peter’s efforts to free himself from his ravager identity and the trauma of losing his mother. Awesome Mix Vol. 1 provides great insight into Peter’s developing identity as Star Lord, not in an explicit story told through lyrics but in his reactions to it within context.

Therefore, I feel like I wouldn’t be properly channeling Star-Lord without this tape.

So here it is, fresh out of the mail!

Photo Credit: Me. All me.

The label is an exact replica of the movie label. Now here’s the sad part: it doesn’t actually play. No songs on this cassette tape. It will serve, though.

If you are interested in how Peter’s music is a reflection of his personality, you should read Constellation’s post, “Becoming a Guardian of the Galaxy: Star Lord and the Importance of Music.” It goes through each song, describing how it contributed to Peter’s evolution into Star-Lord. An excellent piece written by a creative writing student.

Now to find a walkman to put the tape in…

And I’ll leave you with this meme:

Me and you!

I Forgot Nerf Guns Were This Cool…

Star-Lord’s Pants: Trickier Than I Expected…

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Of everything I have to get together (besides the blasters), the pants seemed the easiest. At first.

Turns out, if you’re going for authenticity, that isn’t the case. These pants appear custom made with some interesting features. Take a look:

This is a decent shot of the pants in good lighting. Fortunately, the boot covers conceal the bottoms leaving less exposed area to worry about.

Chris Pratt…being a boss. This is a decent shot of the pants in good lighting. Fortunately, the boot covers conceal the bottoms leaving less exposed area to worry about.

Here’s a look at the back:

Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy
L to R: Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) & Gamora (Zoe Saldana)
Ph: Jay Maidment
©Marvel 2014

A thread on RPF.com (click for link) sums the challenge up perfectly. In the words of user Kevin Gossett:

On to the pants. OH the pants! These things are a beast. So many details and multiple fabrics.

It looks as though the exterior panels are made from a waxed cotton/canvas and the interior panels are possibly a cotton twill or nylon/cordura. There is the same type of zipper, which appears to be nonfunctional, that is used on the short jacket. On the front of the pants there are two panels at the top with a faint ticking stripe stitched in, an extended flap closure, more panels, straps, and snaps. You’ll also find the rocket controls mounted to the outside of the knee. At the knee there is also what looks to be some pleated horizontal panels. On the hips are leather padding, similar to motorcycle pants body armor. This is where the quad blasters sit while holstered (more on that later)

Yeah. Custom indeed. Not only do they need to have the right features, but they need to fit properly. They don’t hug Chris’ legs, but aren’t terribly baggy either. More of a “modern fit.”

Luckily for me, I’m far from the first person to study Star-Lord’s outfit or to attempt to recreate it so all I need to do is follow someone else’s lead. A few enterprising fans have paid for custom “from scratch” pants which, I’m sure, cost a pretty penny. This is money I’m not willing to spend with the punch-in-the-wallet coat still looming in my future. I absolutely do not have the skill to sew my own. I needed to find a close match ready-made.

Eventually, I stumbled across a blog post by a gentleman named Darryn Bonthuys (@Darrangedd) who found motorcycle pants which were a close match. Close, not exact, but close enough for me. They’re being sold on eBay. Take a look:

Not quite right…but close?

Fit looks about right. They have close to the correct groin snap thing (I’m sure there is a correct term…which I don’t know). Color, obviously, is good. The red should be easy to deal with. The biggest problem is material. I feel like there is a lot more leather to these than the authentic wardrobe pieces. Unfortunately, on a budget, these are as good as it gets. I may have to do a little customization, but these will get me most of the way. Hopefully.

Ordered them yesterday and they are in the mail.

Fortunately, the seller takes returns.

Becoming Star-Lord.

Documenting my transformation into a Superhero…for charity, of course.