Guardians of the Galaxy: A Paratextual Analysis

In our everyday lives we are surrounded by branded ‘parallel texts’ that accompany principal texts such as Films and Television shows.

These ‘Paratexts’ frequently manipulate us as audiences and create meaning often without us even noticing.

But they are by no means a recent phenomenon: “Hollywood’s current fondness for a franchise based economy perhaps makes paratexts more voluminous today but they have always existed and thrived” (J.Grey, 2010, p.17).

An easy to explain example of a paratext is a film trailer.

For hyped blockbusters, trailers have become big events in recent years and it’s interesting that for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), the first trailer was released ‘exclusively’ via a chat show, Jimmy Kimmel Live (2003-). This cross media convergence is possible due to two paratexts; the YouTube channel for Jimmy Kimmel Live and the Guardians trailer, working together in synergy to attract a wider audience. This initial Guardian’s trailer actively created meaning and shaped audience expectations showing sequences that were action packed whilst being equally comedic and entertaining. Trailers are deliberately constructed like this to become talking points in the hope they will be shared via social media through a form of ‘two step flow’ (Katz, 1955).

In 2008, website ‘The Onion’ humorously satirised ‘hype’ with the headline ‘Iron Man Trailer To Be Made Into Film’. The report focused on how the hype created by a trailer for Iron Man (2008) was so huge, ironically a two hour film needn’t be made; “Can the film live up to the integrity of the trailer?/Robert Downey Jr is back to reprise his role from the trailer”.

However, trailers also have the power to manipulate audiences and alter their perceived perceptions of a text. Trainspotting (1995) is a good example of this with its marketing campaign featuring a notable lack of drug usage and instead focusing on the film, perhaps misleadingly, as a feel good comedy. By avoiding the dark subject of drug addiction, Trainspotting’s advertising campaign and the paratexts that spawned from this were a vital part of the film’s success (in particular the release of its soundtrack).

Like Trainspotting, Guardians uses its soundtrack as a paratext to symbiotically attract its audience. In fact; it’s incredibly clever in knowing it’s demographic. Of course the film will naturally appeal to children who’ve grown up with ‘Marvel’s Cinematic Universe’, but it is outright appealing to those who grew up in the 70’s/80’s (when the original comic was released).

Director James Gunn stated, “Quill, [the hero who is abducted as a child of the 80’s and taken into space] is a real person from planet Earth who’s just like you and me. Except that he’s in this big outer space adventure”. The soundtrack has been a huge part of the film’s success and through distributing the soundtrack on vinyl and cassette tapes, it has promoted a sense of nostalgia once again targeting this specific demographic.

Long gone are the days of texts being a finished production. Now, such texts exist in a form of continuous ‘productivity’ (Kristeva 1980); once Guardians stops being shown in cinema’s it will still ‘live on’ through its paratexts. Grey stated that with regard to specifically behind the scenes documentaries, “They layer the text often paralleling the cast and crews struggles in making the film to the epic campaign against the threat depicted in the narrative.” A relatively straight forward example of this is the troubles that went into making Star Wars (1977). In a DVD documentary on the subject, Empire of Dreams (2004), George Lucas is portrayed as the young hero fighting the evil film executives to make his film; (a clear parallel to Luke Skywalker’s attempts to defeat the evil empire).

Of course paratexts can also have negative effects on texts. Later sequels have the significant risk of ‘tarnishing’ the franchise’s reputation, such as the recent Star Wars prequels (1999–2005) which for some led to audience fatigue towards the franchise. If Guardian’s had a disappointing sequel, it’s perfectly plausible that the original film’s reputation might decline. Similarly if (like Yoda infamously did) Rocket the Raccoon appeared in a mobile phone advert it might well harm the Guardians brand.

Guardians clearly has various paratexts targeting different audiences. There’s the epic mainstream trailer, toys/action figures for children and even lead actor, Chris Pratt, appearing in sketches parodying the film on Saturday Night Live(1975-). Of course there are also paratexts directly targeting dominant, hegemonic fans of Marvel films such as behind the scenes interviews, documentaries and even the cast attending conventions such as Comic Con. This provides fans with a social belonging (according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) creating a community who create and consume their own paratexts through participatory culture in fan sites, fan-fiction and user generated content. It could even be argued that a fan acting as an opinion leader, using word of mouth, could be considered a paratext themselves (certainly the increasing desire of fans to Cosplay [again a sign of personal identity]) can be seen as a way of promoting texts. The most notable example of fandom picked up by mainstream media, is Trekkies (fans of Star Trek (1966-)) of whom have been the focus of almost ethnographic, documentaries such as Trekkies (1997). This documentary, whilst attempting to focus on the fans, is still all the while creating meaning/spreading awareness around Star Trek as a franchise/brand and potentially even lifestyle.

The relationship between texts and their paratexts is therefore most often a symbiotic one. Guardians in particular has utilized paratexts such as apps, trailers and it’s soundtrack; , to broaden its potential audience/box office success (without losing track of its principal demographic) and created a universe of transmedia storytelling. There are of course occasions when paratexts are harmful to the original text such as disappointing sequels/spinoffs or merchandise lacking in quality; which can bring into question doubts over brand integrity but for Guardians this has so far not been the case.

Finally, it’s interesting to contemplate on the idea that Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) is in fact itself a paratext of the original comic books from the 1960’s. The film as a paratext has done wonders for propelling the franchise not only into the 21st century, but into the public’s awareness as the 3rd highest grossing Marvel film ever made (as of 2014). Paratexts are hence a central part of Media Production and the wider industry as a whole.