ranty9000:a-method-in-it:pizzamozzerella:frankbelloriley:I’m a dumb idiot who needed Hurricanes Harv
ranty9000:a-method-in-it:pizzamozzerella:frankbelloriley:I’m a dumb idiot who needed Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria to hit in the same month to realize Kaijus in Pacific Rim were a metaphor for climate change and hurricanes and, like, the movie isn’t even subtle about itthere’s a very long tradition in monster movies (and kaiju eiga if you wanna be specific) of monsters as allegory for natural disasters, pollution and climate change. Godzilla vs Hedorah is a really good example where the enemy is literally sentient pollution, and pacific rim does the same thing it did in taking widesweeping environmental issues and linking it DIRECTLY to the appearance of these monsters, both with the above examples and newt’s dialogue after he drifts with the kaiju brain and points out that climate change and co2 emissions means we practically terraformed our planet for these aliens to come BACK and take over. Monster movies are a LOT of different things and can be very silly and absurd but they can also be built around very serious and specific messages about the condition of our planet, and in many ways messages about human impact on the environment has been built into modern monster movies since the very beginning (looking at the impact the original ‘godzilla’ had on pop culture and monster movies the world over)(its also worth noting that this probably extends into many other monster films and franchises from many other countries that i havent seen)The original Godzilla film, when released in Japan in the 1950s, was largely about the terrible aftereffects of nuclear warfare. In the end, Godzilla is destroyed, but in the Japanese version (which I think was changed when it was released in the US? can’t remember), the people treat it as a somber tragedy, recognizing that the monster was the result of the actions of humans and that even though they needed to kill it to protect innocent human life, doing so was still the unfortunate result of unfortunate human arrogance and meddling in the natural world. All of that is part of why it resonated so much in a post-WWII Japan and became such a beloved film and franchise. The American version of Gojira changed a lot, the ending was somber but more hopeful in that serazawa’s sacrifice gave the world a second chance. Definitely has more American optimism to it.The original film was made because at the time Japan wasn’t allowed to discuss their role in WWII, this film was meant to be a way to deal with the pain and loss caused by the war and their participation in it. This sort of metaphor involved with the movie continued off and on throughout the span of Godzilla’s films. The most recent allegorical use of Godzilla was Shin Godzilla, using it to criticize the Japanese government and their inability to handle a disaster quickly, in this case the tsunamis that caused nuclear reactors to meltdown.Godzilla vs Hedorah is….weird. Yes it’s heavily anti-pollution, but also the kid dreams it all up after wandering around in a trainyard by himself. The message of pollution is far less subtle than in Pacific Rim as well, Beyond the similar messages I wouldn’t compare them too heavily imo. The design of the Kaiju in PR Where the monsters in PR are super varied in design and have glowing blue blood, and those themes are something you discover on multiple watches. Hedorah is just a walking blob of sludge that pollutes the air around him and they mention multiple times that pollution is bad as if that’s a revelation. I’d argue Pacific Rim does a better job as it’s message is more subtle in its metaphor like Gojira or Shin Godzilla. These kinds of morals are always better if the story isn’t beating you over the head with the obvious, especially since that detracts from the enjoyment of the films.You can watch Gojira and just enjoy it as a film where Japan has to deal with a nuclear monster, Shin Godzilla with a similar premise but focusing more on the government side of things, or Pacific Rim as a film where a man must overcome his past to stop these creatures invading their world, as I did with PR until this post.The extra layer of the commentary adds rewatchability, and therefore more enjoyment. -- source link