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James Gunn is no stranger to emotional, high-stakes dramas. The Guardians of the Galaxy director helmed one of the more popular Marvel properties and he’s gone through some issues himself in Hollywood (he was fired then rehired for Guardians Vol. 3).
On Wednesday, Gunn shared a particularly touching story called “I am Rocket: A Reflection on PTSD from a Sexual Trauma Survivor” on social media.
Gunn reacted with a heart emoji to the story, saying it had a big impact on him.
Author Maya Golden shares that as a “30-something, black female” she never thought she would identify with the likes of a “foul-mouthed, CGI ‘vermin.’”
However, the scene where drunk Rocket talks to Peter Quill about his past had a huge effect on her. “Well, I didn’t ask to get made,” Rocket screams. “I didn’t ask to be torn apart and put back together over and over and turned into some, some little monster.”
There it was. My jaw clenched. My eyes brimmed with tears. I felt silly. Then I understood. Rocket had never asked for the pain he endured earlier in his life and neither had I, just like millions of other survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The person I was in the wake of the sexual trauma, the woman I grew to be, was just as lost, hurt, angry and filled with self-hatred, like Rocket.
The fact that this woman related to Rocket’s abuse obviously touched Gunn, but that wasn’t the end of it.
Twitter user thereal_angryninja asked about how being a lab experiment and being sexually assaulted are related. Gunn answered that question elegantly.
Because the Guardians movies are, at the end of the day, a story about attempting to recover from childhood trauma, & trauma/abuse survivors share many characteristics, whether their trauma was physical, mental, sexual, or some combination of the three.
One user commented on the thread that they understood exactly what Golden meant.
We’ll get to see more of Rocket in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which just started shooting a few days ago.