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Gabriel Zarzycki

English 111

8/31/22

6th Hour

Why Is Gamora?

“I’ll do you one better… WHY is Gamora?!” Drax the Destroyer yells this line as a

response to a string of questions between several other characters in the movie, “Avengers:

Infinity War.” These characters include Tony Stark, AKA, Iron Man, and Peter Quill, AKA,

Star-Lord. The best part of this quote, however, isn’t the hilarity of the scene or the comedy the

line brings to viewers. The best part is the fact that Dave Bautista, the actor behind the iconic

Drax, ad-libbed the line completely. In the film industry, some of the best lines are ad-libs or

lines that aren’t in the script but, depending on how well they fit the actors' character, make the

final cut anyway. This particular line brings comic relief to an otherwise tense scene, and

couldn’t have been more perfectly released.

When an actor releases a line as an ad-lib, the first response from fellow actors is usually

either a break in character or a request to redo the scene. In this particular scene, shown by the

fact that the line is in the movie, the actors neither broke character nor did they ask for a redo.

This absolute gem of an improvisation pretty much sums up Bautista’s “Drax” perfectly. Goofy,
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doesn’t understand what is going on around him most of the time, basically functions off of

automatic reactions and what he considers to be correct behavior. Nevertheless, he connects well

with some viewers on a personal level. How? Simple.

Insecurity is something everyone will struggle with at one time or another, and this

dysfunction can make us say stupid things to try and enter into a conversation. This could render

a pause in the said conversation that causes an awkward silence while everyone stares at you

with a look that unanimously asks, “Why did you even try?” Drax is the type of character that

could represent someone who doesn’t let this feeling of awkwardness and embarrassment

negatively affect him. He shrugs it off and maybe makes a mental note while maintaining a

perfect poker face to give the impression that he feels no shame or embarrassment from what he

said or the way he said it. It doesn’t matter if, in reality, he feels this embarrassment. It simply

does not show on his face or through his body language. Is this normal? Sometimes. If you are

good at games that require a straight face like poker, the answer could be yes. But what exactly

could cause this type of reaction in a normal person? It’s quite common, although most people

aren’t aware of it.

In most areas of knowledge, it is known as numb. This is the term most commonly used

unless you have a mental disorder such as autism, and could correlate with the death of a friend

or family member or another demoralizing event. The inability to read social cues such as body

language and facial expressions is not a learned skill as much as it is a natural ability some

people are simply born without. In Drax’s case, it could be seen as sociopathic behavior and

mannerisms, but numbness is a better explanation due to his backstory. Losing his wife,
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daughter, and home to a misled and notorious warlord, spending the rest of his life up to this

point as a basic nomad, being left out of social events due to his loud and raucous behavior. All

of this could cause a certain level of numbness, also known as thick skin, to form.

All of us can feel numb to an extent in our life, but sometimes it’s good to break out of

the shell and just interact. Whether the response was meant to show Drax’s level of intelligence

or just to bring a little comedy to the scene, it was nevertheless a perfect line. Delivered almost

as the punch line to an otherwise dull joke, it brings the seriousness of the interaction between

the Avengers and the Guardians down from ten to a mere one. In the end, laughs float around the

room and make everyone feel like a kid in a lot of ways, experiencing almost secondhand

embarrassment and remembering their time as a kid who said whatever came to their mind. It

completely fulfilled the movie and put it into a more family-friendly category in the minds of

most people watching, if only for this scene. I’m sure no one could have been happier with the

response and success of the movie, and while this wasn’t all due to that line, I don’t think anyone

would disagree with the idea that it was at least part of it.