!GOJIRA vs. GODZILLA! or: How GODZILLA Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb.

The original 1954 film entitled Gojira directed by Ishiro Honda (released in America as Godzilla) was produced in Japan as a horror / Sci-fi film with anti-nuclear proliferation overtones. Since the original productions initial huge financial success, the film has had nearly 30 sequels, making it one of the most prolific franchises of film history. In 1998, an American production of the picture was released, with many notable differences in style, plot, and attitude. This paper will compare these two films in terms of style and politics and note production differences between the films.
In 1954, Japan was still recovering in a very real way from the effects of nuclear war. The people of Japan were going through a tremendous rebuilding effort, and from this particular point of view the first Gojira was made. The original Japanese cut involves a series of boats that are found destroyed, and an island town that is attacked. The superstitious natives of the island name the creature Gojira after a legend of a great sea beast. A scientist played by Takashi Shimura points out that the evidence all leads towards an amphibious reptile that had been extinct for millions of years, however the radioactive elements in the animals footprints suggest that it had been resurrected from the sea as the result of nuclear weapon use. It is determined that Gojira is in the Sea of Japan, and Tokyo is vulnerable. The only defense that the city has is its large electrical grid, and as Gojira makes its way through the grid , it is seen destroying trains, bridges, buildings, and screeching a horrible roar. Hoards of people are seen running from Gojira. In this devastation, the monster breathes flammable radioactive breath, for which the humans have no defense. Fighter planes then chase the beast into the sea. It is found that a scientist, Dr. Serizawa has discovered an oxygen-depletion chemical that can kill any life underwater. His wife divulges this information to the authorities who want to use it to kill Gojira, and he determines that this weapon is so powerful that he can only let it be used once. Dr. Serizawa burns his notes about the weapon and upon successful delivery of the oxygen weapon, he sacrifices himself while scuba diving, cutting his own air / oxygen supply, and going down with the beast. The film promptly ends.
The American cut of the film stars Raymond Burr (from the ‘Perry Mason’ television series) as reporter Steve Martin. This version opens with Martin in a pile of rubble, and a voice-over recalling what had happened. Martin serves as a narrator, present in many scenes where there is Japanese – only dialogue. Many scenes were altered, and dialogue changed in the American version, due to fear that an American audience in 1954 would not relate to cultural differences; i.e. an all-Japanese cast. Most notably the title of the film was butchered to Godzilla.
The original film was a very serious and quite scary work of art. It was designed for a people who had been through a major war, and could contemplate mass violence seriously. The idea of creating a weapon, and having to use even more heinous technology to destroy this weapon was quite real in the post-war Japanese mind.
This as a metaphor for an arms race (or nuclear proliferation), fortunately was not lost in the American version of the film. However some more human elements were. There is a line in the original Japanese production where a woman states that it would be awful to survive Hiroshima, only to be killed by Gojira. Another altered scene was where a room filled with schoolchildren singing against nuclear proliferation was narrated by Raymond Burr as a ‘national day of prayer’.
The film Gojira (as well as its American cut) create a moral dilemma for the audience. The message that violence and weaponry begets more violence and greater weaponry, often with unintended consequences, is a profound moral message, with very practical, historically real roots. This film intended to personify a weapon, and in this writers view, it did a very good job of it. Gojira is a hideous, heartless, fearless beast, which roars a horrible sound, capable of whimsically destroying anything. The choices that man must make in its presence are difficult and vital. This is seen in the self-sacrifice of Dr. Serizawa, as he heroically lets himself drown so that his work about the oxygen destroyer can never be pursued.
In 1998, Roland Emmerich directed an American remake of Gojira entitled Godzilla, which contained many plot elements of the original production. The films opening credits are entirely visual, showing us old film nuclear tests, superimposed with images of iguanas on islands. A few sea-faring vessels are attacked in the South Pacific, and the military hires a ‘nuclear biologist’ who had been investigating worm growth at Chernobyl. Played by Matthew Broderick, the character finds that the creature had been created by nuclear tests and is an entirely new life form. A French spy (played by Jean Reno) interviews one of the surviving sailors who calls the beast ‘Gojira’. A wannabe reporter in New York City who had a prior relationship with Broderick can’t get the reporting done that she wants to. Her boss takes all the credit. Eventually the beast attacks New York, and gets lost in the forest of skyscrapers. Godzilla proves to be quite evasive of the many helicopters and bumbling military sent to destroy it. The Scientist and the reporter both track Godzilla (as the reporters boss butchers the name) and the creature it turns out wants to burrow in the city to lay eggs. The French spy notes that his countries nuclear tests created the beast in the first place. Eventually, the spy, the scientist and the reporter all team up in the end to vanquish the hatchling Godzillas, and snare mama Godzilla in the Brooklyn Bridge, where it is vulnerable to helicopter fire. When the creature dies, the scientist inquisitively mourns. The film ends with a big kiss, and a lone egg that hatches for your sequeling pleasure.
This Clinton-era production reveals an arrogant society at peace. All of the original anti-war / anti-weapon messages are lost or non-existent. There is no message of the film other than to stay true to the one you love, and that there is room for a sequel. Major holes in plot, ‘science’, character, and genre help to classify this film as bad. Especially for fans of the original (and the 26 other sequels), this was a major deviation from the Godzilla franchise. The film apparently tries to be a monster movie combining elements of the hugely successful Jurassic Park as well as Gojira.
The telling elements of society / demographics are profound. The French spy in the film notes that it is his country’s nuclear tests that created the beast, thus eliminating ANY moral responsibility on the part of an American audience. Quite to the contrary, this evasion towards French responsibility creates an animosity in the picture from American audiences against the French, because the attacks from Godzilla occur on American soil. Nothing is mentioned of American use of nuclear weapons. It is possible that there exist different cuts / translations in different countries so as to make a more marketable / less profound picture from nation to nation more consistent with typical Hollywood tripe.
The film is more of an action / comedy designed for pre-pubescents than a serious horror / sci-fi picture. The character of Godzilla is noted as being androgynous and asexual (“where’s the fun in that?” noted by female reporter), but for the duration of the film the monster is sexistly referred to as ‘him’, even jokingly so as the scientist notes ‘his’ pregnancy. Much of the production design seemed to try to steer away from the clumsier, chunkier design of Godzilla itself, and tried to make the creature more of a real animal, not a supernatural being as many other sequels had done.
Comedic elements added to the ridiculous: a fat, candy-eating mayor named ‘Eberts’ whose election campaign involves a ‘thumbs up’ poster, two actors who voice characters for The Simpsons, and many childish one-liners. Product Placement was not surprising, as the videocassette of the film features a trailer/ad for the soundtrack to the film, which is a compilation of pop music barely relevant or featured in the film. The most surprising part of a film designed for 10 year olds was a racial slur (“you dumb wop!”) uttered by a New Yorker to her husband. In addition the more telling aspect of the film is the near yearning for disaster, evident in some pre-9/11 predictions made: A portion of (mayor Eberts:) “The goddamn Chrysler Building” is torn off by Godzilla, Manhattan is evacuated, and the military takes over, A reporter calls Manhattan “Ground Zero”, and mentions the first World Trade center bombing. The mayor is seen as a corrupt leader, the military is a noble power (the only sacrifice made in the film is by helicopter pilots hunting Godzilla), The press is cutthroat, and science is bumbling but accurate. The French are in competition with the Americans, and nice guys get the girl. American demographics become clear.
In the 44 years between the release of Gojira and Godzilla many sequels were made that paid little attention to continuity. The sequels of Godzilla are known for having nothing to do with each other, and existing purely as ‘popcorn-movie’ pleasure. The serious elements of the films were lost even in the cold war era. The franchise became clichéd and the 1998 production attempted (as was advertised) to be the most varied in the history of the franchise. Most notably was the fact that it was an American film, set in New York City. There were few hoards of yelling panicked people (as if New Yorkers cant terrify). Godzilla could swim, burrow, and breed. The cast was international. Godzilla was no longer a guy in a rubber suit, but a computer – generated animation.
The biggest element, which modified the production of the two films, was audience. In the post-war years, the Japanese people faced many struggles, and had many serious worries about the future of their country. The economy and infrastructure were in shambles, just beginning to re-emerge. How were a people to develop and evolve? They had to reconsider such fundamental things as right and wrong. By contrast, the American audience during the Clinton years was just the opposite. Fat and happy, with a booming economy and a guiltless conscience they yearned for some struggle, and a chance to kick ass. Two years earlier the same director made a similar disaster picture, with similar attributes, which was enormously successful financially, but contained the same cynical demographic studies, and plot failures as ‘Godzilla’. A film that tried to express grief of war and a sense of uncertainty was completely pillaged by a shameless remake. The American scientist mourns the loss of the nuclear bomb metaphor. His discovery is dead. He has no shame or guilt, after all, his country didn’t create Godzilla.
Since 9/11 there have been two straight to video sequels of Godzilla. One involves the ‘traditional’ rubber suit Godzilla vanquishing the CGI Godzilla. Both of these films were intended for fans, and not marketed to mainstream audiences like the 1954 and 1998 productions. This author feels that post 9/11, the demographics in America have changed significantly. The economy has slowed since the Internet boom, and the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington have created a feeling of realistic vulnerability, which would make a monster / disaster film that destroys New York with one-dimensional characters spitting one-liners seem tasteless and inappropriate. No doubt this film was briefly blacklisted immediately after 9/11. Any new mainstream release of ‘Godzilla / Gojira’ in the United States would have to take itself more seriously, and more patriotically. No doubt the Military would be seen with absolutely no jokes as a savior of the American people. Perhaps such a sequel would go so far as to have the exact opposite message as the 1954 Godzilla, suggesting that the way to defeat a monster is by USING nuclear weapons. Certainly the politics of Roland Emmerich do not conflict with depicting the use of nuclear weapons by a movies hero, should he be the director of such a proposed picture. If this were the case, and the picture were successful, it would prove that the original Gojira has had little impact on world politics today, and its legacy had been completely mutated (no pun intended) into a pro-nuclear picture.


Bibliography:
Films:
1.) Gojira. DIR. Ishiro Honda. Toho Film Company LTD, 1954.
2.) Godzilla. DIR. Roland Emmerich, Columbia Pictures, 1998.
3.) Jurassic Park. DIR. Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, 1993.
Books:
1.) Tsutsui, William M. Godzilla on My Mind – Fifty Years of the King of Monsters. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
ISBN: 1403964742
2.) Lees, J.D., Cerasini. Marc. The Official Godzilla Compendium : A 40 Year Retrospective. Random House Books for Young Readers, 1998.
ISBN: 0679888225
3.) Kalat, David. A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. McFarland & Company, 1997
ISBN: 0786403004
Internet:
1.) Goldberg, Barry S. Barry’s Temple of Godzilla. January, 20, 1996. Accessed Friday December 16, 2005 < http://www.godzillatemple.com/index2.htm>.

Military Industrial Complex

Sir DJ Snowy Owl, being of fit and proper mind, in his allegiance to all things capitalism, would hereby like to salute Major General Smedley Butler for his honest and upright views; and in taking the vanguard against human decency in the relentless pursuit of capital.

I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.

-Smedley Butler

Myth Owns Us

Myth Owns Us. What is ownership? Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive possession or control of property, which may be an object, land/real estate, intellectual property or some other kind of property. It is embodied in an ownership right also referred to as title. Who controls myth in this place on this pyramid? Who controls myth now? Who will control myth in the future? Hold your myth dearly.

Goldilocks

And Lo! she spoketh unto the willing!

The individual is the true reality in life. A cosmos in himself, he does not exist for the State, nor for that abstraction called “society,” or the “nation,” which is only a collection of individuals. Man, the individual, has always been and, necessarily is the sole source and motive power of evolution and progress. Civilization has been a continuous struggle of the individual or of groups of individuals against the State and even against “society,” that is, against the majority subdued and hypnotized by the State and State worship. Man’s greatest battles have been waged against man-made obstacles and artificial handicaps imposed upon him to paralyze his growth and development. Human thought has always been falsified by tradition and custom, and perverted false education in the interests of those who held power and enjoyed privileges. In other words, by the State and the ruling classes. This constant incessant conflict has been the history of mankind.

Individuality may be described as the consciousness of the individual as to what he is and how he lives. It is inherent in every human being and is a thing of growth. The State and social institutions come and go, but individuality remains and persists. The very essence of individuality is expression; the sense of dignity and independence is the soil wherein it thrives. Individuality is not the impersonal and mechanistic thing that the State treats as an “individual". The individual is not merely the result of heredity and environment, of cause and effect. He is that and a great deal more, a great deal else. The living man cannot be defined; he is the fountain-head of all life and all values; he is not a part of this or of that; he is a whole, an individual whole, a growing, changing, yet always constant whole.

-Emma Goldman

On Joy...

Is creativity not the device we create to help retain our individuality? Do we not then hold a supreme hatred for those who challenge our creativity? What truly romantic ideals to hold dear! Creativity binds us spiritually to creations spawned from the deepest parts of ourselves, then only to wish for the most profound disjunction, for which others may share the joy that we have created. Conversely, is it not also the device of our desire for domination? Our desire to direct the attention of others to our efforts and energies manifested in a rather mysterious fashion? We would not wish to make plain our desires and energies, for then, would others actually experience our joy?

Is it then, ‘war’, which belongs fundamentally to the social realm, which in turn dominates all other realms of human endeavor? Is it nothing but {nor merely} an act of joy and domination? Is there truly a dialectic force within us that we use to fight as the vanguard of our individuality? It is not a merely a dialectic, but a trinity. It lies in the dynamic forces of our emotion, of rational calculation, and most importantly, of chance. It is this fascinating trinity that forces us to fight with our creativity at times against ourselves, to save our romantic ideals. It is, however, this trinity that we use for ourselves, to destroy them.

-Genius Von Bubo