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Royce Yang

Professor Jon Beadle

English 115

7 November 2017

Godzilla: The Symbolic King

Monsters are born too tall, too strong, too heavy, that is their tragedy. In this quote,

Ishiro Honda shares how he feels about the average monster and from this we can see the root

mindset to make Godzilla an unique, one of a kind type of monster. Godzilla first entered the

movie industry in 1954 with Ishiro Hondas first rendition of the monster. As the years went on,

Godzilla has been the focus of over twenty different films. Although each movie carried a similar

theme, they were also unique. In particular, the movie Shin Godzilla (2016) directed by Hideaki

Anno and Shinji Higuchi carried many similarities to the original Godzilla, but also many

differences that made the movie unique. Three major differences that stood out while analyzing

both films were the different perspectives within both movies, the viewpoints from America and

Japan, and the different nuances within both movies. The differences reveal not only how Japan

has grown throughout the years, but also how the central idea of Godzilla grows throughout the

years.

It is important to know the directors intended perspective of the movie. Godzilla (1954)

was seen from the publics point of view while Shin Godzilla (2016) was seen from a political

standpoint. The Godzilla that was viewed from the perspective of the public showed Godzilla in

a different light. There were many brief comments made by the public, but one particular cameo

by an unknown female character says, You have no idea if there are any survivors? (Honda)

This statement, roughly translated from Japanese, was during a time of confusion when the
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general public was trying to find out about what happened to the ships that went to sea. Although

this statement was brief it showed insight to what the people at the time might have felt during

the bombings. The Godzilla of this time was a direct relation to Japan after the nuclear bombings

of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ishiro Honda purposely showed Godzilla from the perspective of the

public to relate to the audience past the surface level. In an interview with David Milner from

December 1992, Ishiro Honda comments on the semi-documentary feel to the movie by saying,

The intention of not only the screenwriter, but also the entire production staff, was to focus on

how people would react if a creature such as Godzilla really did appear (Milner). Honda

purposefully showed the perspective of the public to show the reality of the Japanese publics

response to something of that caliber. He portrayed a reflection of how the Japanese public

responded to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They responded with fear and the public

was thrown into chaos.

In Shin Godzilla (2016) the directors focused the perspective more on the politics of the

catastrophe. In the movie, the Deputy Director of Nature Conservative Bureau, Hiromi Ogashira

said, Man is more frightening than Gojira (Anno). By this quote we can see the perspective the

directors decided to stress upon. In context Ogashira is referring to the amount of destruction that

the political powers could cause. We see politics as being the main perspective and one of the

reasons the directors decided to use this viewpoint was to show political satire. Every time a

government official spoke, the screen would display their title and throughout the movie the

titles would get longer and more ridiculous. One importance of switching to a political

standpoint is to explain things in a more logistic manner. It is a way to show the things that go

behind the scenes when a disaster occurs. Once the view switches from the publics point of

view to a political point of view it reflects how the government helps to contain the publics
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chaos. There is a clear difference in the levels of being able to relate to the movie. The

significance that the change in perspective shows in relation to Godzilla is that the monster

changes in response to how we see it. Seeing Godzilla from the publics point of view instills a

feeling of empathy within the audience while seeing Godzilla from a political point of view gives

us an idea of what happens behind all the chaos. The core idea of Godzilla however, does not

change even with the change of perspective. Changing the perspective merely gives more insight

to the totality of the situation. Instead of just purely the publics reaction to the bombings it also

becomes more logistic in how the government will have to deal with trying to contain the

situation.

Godzilla is a product of time and of perspective. The original Godzilla movie was seen by

the Japanese as a serious message about the harms of nuclear warfare. In the Godzilla (1954) one

of the political characters reference hydrogen bombs by saying, However, repeated underwater

H-bomb tests has completely destroyed its natural habitat (Gojira 1954). There are subtle

references throughout the movie to the bombings and the effects it had in Japan. Within the

movie the Japanese responded with comments such as Thats horrible.. (Gojira 1954). The

Japanese movies reflected how Japan was after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For

example, one scene was the evacuation of everyone due to the showing of Godzilla. In the

Japanese movies they referend the amount of radiation lingering in the air and how unsafe it was

to be in the area. In most of the Japanese Godzilla movies, the common theme of the dangers of

nuclear warfare is clear, however as American filmmakers started to create their own versions of

the films, things start to change. The Japanese had a clear understanding of the effects of the

bombing on their country. So much so that they made Godzilla as a response to the effects of

nuclear warfare. Nancy Anisfiled writes in a scholarly journal called the Journal of Popular
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culture where she states, The Japanese embrace the bomb/monster into their cultural

conscience, whereas Americans push it away (Anisfiled). The 1954 Godzilla film was received

very well by the Japanese which turned the big green King of Monsters into an icon.

Americans however, took a different approach to the central idea of Godzilla. They used

Godzilla to appeal to the younger generation. Godzilla is seen as a giant rampaging monster, not

just as a symbolic reference to the bombings. This American influence on the film shifts how we

see Godzilla. The monster has changed from a symbol of fear of nuclear weapons to a monster

who forces destruction to appeal to an audience. Godzilla started to appear in different toy stores

which shows how Godzilla no longer reflected the severity of the bombings, but was a way to

promote a new upcoming monster. While writers like Nancy Anisfiled tend to think that the

Americans pushed away the idea of the bombing, Japanologist William Tsutsui thought

otherwise. In his article Sunrise, sunset: Japan in the American imagination since World War II,

William writes, Many Americans viewed Japan with great admiration.. Japan was a model, a

vision, a threat, even a rebuke, that a United States down on itself could not ignore (Tsutsui).

He argues that the American impression of Japan was a very positive post World War 2. He also

brings up how Americans saw Japan as almost inferior before World War 2, but as Japan showed

off its ability to grow despite all of that, America saw Japan as admirable. He explains later in his

article that, The Japan of Godzilla was fragile and delicate, feminized in the eyes of an

American audience (Tsutsui). Godzilla tended to reinforce the stereotypes that the Americans

had of Japan because they saw Godzilla as irrational and aggressive, much like how the Japanese

soldiers were. However, Japan started to become one of the top imports to Americas markets

and they can no longer be seen as a weak nation. In Shin Godzilla, the way the American people

saw the Japanese was clear. They portrayed the Japanese to always be in need of help. They also
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showed America as the ones that are considered to be very strong and powerful, always lending a

hand to the Japanese. The significance of how the Japanese public viewed Godzilla and how the

American public viewed Godzilla is that there is a clear perspective change within how Godzilla

was perceived in the past and how it is perceived now. The original movie carried more weight

behind the presentation of Godzilla while the 2016 film showed the change of perspective within

the message Godzilla provided.

The two Godzilla movies contained many nuances that made each individual movie

unique. The first Godzilla movie was released in 1954, a time where movies were just starting to

gain popularity. The production was lacking in comparison to modern day films however, the

1954 Godzilla oozed with symbolism. In the original movie, the sound of bombs dropping was

evident with every step Godzilla took. In relation to the era that the movie was created in, the

movie was very well produced. It can be argued that Godzilla did not change from 1954 to 2016,

but merely evolved and came back stronger. The 2016 Godzilla was a remake of the original

movie, so they are very similar in style and storyline, however Godzilla was very different. The

2016 version followed a politically set route which later depended on the help of foreign nations

to defeat Godzilla. However, the original Godzilla was defeated by the Japanese alone which

symbolized the reconstruction period for the Japanese after World War 2. It showed how they

rebuilt their nation from nothing and turned it into what it is today. This version of the movie

also contained a lot of political satire within it. The movie focused on all the extra phone calls

that were made in order to make one order. In the 1954 version there were fewer steps needed to

take in order for an order to be executed. In the original film Godzilla was also very static and

did not change, but in the 2016 version Godzilla was able to evolve and grow. Significance was

shown through the growth from the original movie to the 2016 version of the movie. Not only
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did Japan change, so did Godzilla. The larger significance of these changes shows the overall

growth of Japan as a country. Japan grew into a country that is looked up to by its neighboring

countries as well. The significance between these nuances shows how the directors viewed their

nation during their respective eras. While Honda saw Japan as a nationalistic country, the

directors of the 2016 Godzilla saw Japan as a more politically run country. In the original

Godzilla, Honda portrayed Japan to be very nationalistic by showing the cultural unity the

Japanese people had. He showed how everyone would bond together in these times and they

would care deeply for one another. However, in the 2016 Godzilla, the directors saw the situation

to be taken care of by politics. They brought in the help of different nations to ultimately stop

another bombing and Godzilla.

Japan is a country that faced destruction and came out stronger because of it. Godzilla is

a symbol of the difficulties Japan had to go through. Godzilla is also an example of how we

respond to situations such as that. From the 1954 film to the 2016 film Godzilla experienced

change and growth. The original movie is a good representation of how Japan was viewed after

World War 2 however, Japan which was viewed as a lesser nation became a force to be reckoned

with. The significance of the difference between both movies is to show how Japan changed

throughout the years. When problems arise, the way the Japanese responded was the main

component that made them grow as a country. Both films were unique responses to the struggles

that the Japanese through and how they critically thought to solve these issues. A French

philosopher, Jean de la Bruvere once said, Out of difficulties grow miracles. What Japan

transformed into from devastation is nothing short of a miracle. Godzilla the Symbolic King is

ingrained into the minds of the people of Japan of the need to push through hardships.
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Works Cited

Anisfield, Nancy. Godzilla/Gojiro: Evolution of the Nuclear Metaphor. The Journal

Popular Culture, vol. 29, no. 3, 1995, pp. 5362., doi:10.1111/j.0022 3840.1995.00053.x.

Anno, Hideaki and Shinji Higuchi, directors. Shin Godzilla. Toho, 2016.

Honda, Ishiro, director. Gojira . Toho, 1954

Milner, David. Ishiro Honda Interview, Dec. 1992,

www.davmil.org/www.kaijuconversations.com/honda.htm

Tsutsui, William M. "Sunrise, sunset: Japan in the American imagination since World War

II." East-West Connections: Review of Asian Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, 2010, p. 1+.

Literature Resource Center,

libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=csuno

thridge&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA299760665&asid=b295da22c92e5f1d012d07792

cc3a60. Accessed 7 Nov. 2017.