# What do the Godzilla movies represent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641 "2002-07-06T16:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641/1 "2002-07-06T16:14:52Z")
Seemingly, every Saturday after MST3K, the SciFi channel runs a Godzilla/Japanese monster movie festival. Watching the first one, _Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah_, I started thinking about what these movies symbolize and why there are so many of them. Many American sci-fi movies from the 50’s and 60’s represent fears of nuclear holocaust, which must have seemed assured at the time (_Day the Earth Stood Still_ and of course _Dr. Strangelove_ come to mind). But did the Japanese really believe that radiation would cause giant monsters to rise out of the sea and [stomp Tokyo](http://www.stomptokyo.com)? Also, the movie listed above was made in 1991. Are they _still_ making these? Just another of the many reasons I need to find something constructive to do with my time. ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641/2 "2002-07-06T16:38:44Z")
I think they symbolize the dangers of nuclear energy/bombs. More knowledgeable dopers can inform you and me if there are any similarities between these movies and _no_ drama. I don’t have a lot of knowledge of no, but to my vulgar perceptions, there are similarities. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641/3 "2002-07-06T19:44:16Z")
Are you saying the Godzilla films have no drama at all? _:d&r:_ [sub]JFYI, it’s _noh_[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641/4 "2002-07-06T21:12:28Z")
The first film, called _Gojira_ in Japan, used the monster as a symbol of the seemingly unstoppable advance on Japan of the US military in World War 2. Later films had Godzilla reprsenting the “inevitable” nuclear war between the US & USSR. The creature has also been a metaphor for the threat of global pollution, & just a fun flick for the kiddies. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641/5 "2002-07-06T21:33:16Z")
And so they just kept making them, up to the 90’s? Kind of like Hollywood, Japan’s equivalent knows people will shell out the cash to see them, so they keep making them? Does that also explain Mothra, Ghidrah, Gamera, and all the others whose names escape me? ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641/6 "2002-07-06T21:50:06Z")
I think the nuclear paralells are simplifying things a little. Certainly that is an element of Kaiju movies, but it goes deeper than that. My guess is that living in an island nation would cause a people to have more of a sense of awe at natural disaster- Those of us Americans who live in tornado alley know what I’m talking about. My guess is that being bombed made big monsters hit a psychic nerve, but that there was something there to begin with which explains why they are still around. In the cold war era _every country_ made big monster type movies- the Japanese are still at it, but in a lot of Kaiju films the monster is presented as being more of a force of nature than a _man-made atomic monster_. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641/7 "2002-07-06T22:46:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by av8rmike \* > And so they just kept making them, up to the 90’s? Kind of like Hollywood, Japan’s equivalent knows people will shell out the cash to see them, so they keep making them? Yep. You gotta remember, though, that despite the contradictory messages and silly special effects and goofy plots, Godzilla is revered by the Japanese as a national icon. Dismissing Godzilla as just a rubber-suit monster movie in Japan is like dismissing Superman as an adolescent power-fantasy in the United States. Words cannot begin to describe how _totally pissed off_ the Japanese were when they saw Devlin and Emerich’s emasculated _Godzilla_ remake – the horrific reviews that movie got in the U.S. were nothing but love letters by comparison. The mess of the Sony movie was what prompted Toho to re-launch the Japanese _Godzilla_ movie franchise, and the latest American release ( **Godzilla 2000** ) is a thinly-disguised slam on Devlin and Emerich’s movie career (most notably _ID4_ and _Godzilla_). > [@](#): > > Does that also explain Mothra, Ghidrah, Gamera, and all the others whose names escape me? Wanna-be copycats. 😉 Gamera is IIRC the closest to come to Godzilla’s popularity. ---
**Author:** ![phartizan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba8739/32.png) [@phartizan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phartizan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-godzilla-movies-represent/117641/8 "2002-07-06T23:17:36Z")
I recently watched Godzilla (1998-- Matthew Broderick & Jean Reno) & thought it was about 9/11.