4) The Nostalgic Soundtrack
As I sit here listening to the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 on repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat, I can’t help but bust out my own awesome Peter Quill moves complete with squirming lizard as a mic. It’s become quite a problem as I’m…hooked on a feeling (send help). Many a film has used popular songs that have been played into oblivion as part of their soundtrack, but seldom is one brave enough to make a compilation of them, and a rarity is it that the music becomes diagetic – music that the characters can hear as well. We all can’t help but to live vicariously through Star Lord as he dances and swoons through these booming tracks, even in the face of Ronan.
Film soundtracks are usually more effective when they’re incorporated into the actual film instead of merely being plugged into certain parts, but the most successful ones stem from the protagonist’s own sense of connection to the music – see The Bodyguard and Frozen. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Quill’s relationship with his mother, his only memory of home, is manifested into his mixtape (a point, which is further validated by the Awesome Mix Vol. 2).
As these mixtapes spur a sense of nostalgia and “the feels” within Quill, we can’t help but to draw from his emotions and create our own nostalgia with these lively tracks of the not-so-distant past – many of which our very own parents listened to as well.
