Dr Couples Analysis: Melman and Gloria

First thoughts after watching movie

My first thoughts after watching the movies is that they suffer from the major flaw the franchise has in general; there is no subtlety whatsoever. They barely interacted in the first film (due to them being background space), he is suddenly in love with her, and Gloria suddenly likes him back. In the third film, they are cute and affectionate, as their development is done. Honestly, there is not much to say about them. I know there were plans for them to be a couple in the first film, but they scrapped it for some unclear reason.

Summary

I watched the first movie, and there was no inclination of an attraction whatsoever. The two did not even have any special interactions throughout the film, as they were just background  characters to Marty and Alex in every aspect. Both of them only made their weird jokes, or commented on Alex and Marty’s straining friendship, or the dire situation of being stranded.

Anyways, we start off Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa with the main crew on the plane, with Gloria mentioning that she wants to get into a relationship and to breed. Melman gets nervous, because he all of a sudden likes her. When he mentions her dating “other guys”, everyone else is confused as to what he means. WHY WAS NONE OF THIS HINTED IN THE LAST FILM? When their plane is crashing, Melman yells about his love for Gloria, which he apparently always has. She is still asleep, so she is unphased by it.

All four of them go their separate ways when they are in Africa, so they can deal with their sub-plots. They all meet up at the midpoint of the film, where the three men are sad, but Gloria returns to everyone being happy about her new relationship with a hippo. Melman argues with her about this, though Gloria has no idea what they are arguing about. He pretty much feels entitled to her in a way, but it’s worse because he thinks he is dying soon, while Gloria is mad that he is not supporting her.

This is so damn contrived. I have to side with Gloria on this one, though I do not care about this relationship whatsoever. It just comes off as a bit creepy, out-of-nowhere, and obsessive. Melman creates a grave for himself, while the insufferable Julian convinces him to approach Gloria to confess his feelings for her. Oh, I forgot to mention that Melman is suffering from some curse, that will cause him to die soon, which explains the grave digging.

Gloria is starting to lose feelings for Moto Moto because he only likes her looks. A few scenes later, Melman decides to be a sacrifice, which shocks and upsets Gloria. As everyone runs to see him sacrificed, Gloria tries to convince him to not do this, but Melman claims that he is dying anyways. He finally has the balls to tell her that she is the only reason why he was able to make it through the zoo, and that he has always loved her. We are tricked to believe that Melman and Gloria are going to be married, but it is a penguin and a bobble-head. Melman tells her all of the amazing qualities he has. They do officially get together though.

In the third film, they are overly affectionate with one another, which is pretty cute I admit. None of the main characters have much going for themselves in the film, but these two interact the most out of the original 4. They have to learn a dance routine while walking a tightrope, and of course they eventually get it. Not much to really say.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, this is my shortest post in this series because nothing impressive really happens. It is not much of a trainwreck, but nothing positive to write about regarding the development. I think that because Marty and Alex were always the main two characters, Gloria and Melman were reduced to being the supporting cast, either having a minor plot, or complimenting the other two characters. Not the worst by any means, but not much that’s noteworthy.

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