Prior to watching the original version of Godzilla, created by Tomoyuki Tanaka in 1954, I had portrayed the story and the character as something that was more comical and less meaningful, being that it was created simply just for the entertainment of the audience. However, after viewing it in class, I come to realize that the film had a serious and deep underlying message behind it that greatly resonated with the catastrophic events that had taken place in Japan; during and post-World War II. Furthermore, I believe the central theme and conflict that is being portrayed in Godzilla is man versus technology, and that Godzilla is a giant metaphor for the disastrous technological results of the atomic bombing in 1945.
After the United States dropped
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What is being perpetrated in Godzilla is that man had created and conducted deadly nuclear weapons and testing’s and for that reason, Godzilla came to life. This is being represented when Dr. Serizawa mentions if he were to use his oxygen destroyer just once, “politicians around the world will see it and of course they would want to use it as a weapon”. I believe that he is referring to the American atomic bomb leading the way to other countries following in their footsteps and thus possibly creating an even more powerful bomb that has the potential to destroy the world just like how the atomic bomb destroyed Japan (i.e. the Soviet Union). Supposedly, what is considered is that if this hadn’t had happened, the bombing wouldn’t have occurred, implying that Japan would still be intact, the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not be destroyed, and people would still be alive and not be living in fear of the radiation that was killing many of the civilians years after the bombing. Tanaka represents this notion through Dr. Yamane in the very last scene once Godzilla was destroyed, he says “If we keep conducting nuclear tests, it’s possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the
As a matter of first importance, the characters in the story are incredibly affected by the Hiroshima bomb dropping. The bomb being
Literature and film have always held a strange relationship with the idea of technological progress. On one hand, with the advent of the printing press and the refinements of motion picture technology that are continuing to this day, both literature and film owe a great deal of their success to the technological advancements that bring them to widespread audiences. Yet certain films and works of literature have also never shied away from portraying the dangers that a lust for such progress can bring with it. The modern output of science-fiction novels and films found its genesis in speculative ponderings on the effect such progress could hold for the every day population, and just as often as not those speculations were damning. Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and Fritz Lang's silent film Metropolis are two such works that hold great importance in the overall canon of science-fiction in that they are both seen as the first of their kind. It is often said that Mary Shelley, with her authorship of Frankenstein, gave birth to the science-fiction novel, breathing it into life as Frankenstein does his monster, and Lang's Metropolis is certainly a candidate for the first genuine science-fiction film (though a case can be made for Georges Méliès' 1902 film Le Voyage Dans la Lune, his film was barely fifteen minutes long whereas Lang's film, with its near three-hour original length and its blending of both ideas and stunning visuals, is much closer to what we now consider a modern science-fiction film). Yet though both works are separated by the medium with which they're presented, not to mention a period of over two-hundred years between their respective releases, they present a shared warning about the dangers that man's need fo...
In 1954, Japan debuted the world’s first radioactive “king of all monsters”, Gojira. Gojira director, Ishiro Honda, sets the first scene with a destructive power emerging from the sea that would ignite a burning panic throughout Japan and force catastrophe in its wake—much like the atomic bomb it was birthed from. Gojira had a single purpose, to rampage across Japan and decimate everything in its path. As much as they tried to stop the monster, Japan’s defenses fell victim to Gojira’s indestructibility. As Japan’s last resort, they found hope in Dr. Serizawa’s emergence of new science and technology to dismantle Gojira. In the end, the bittersweet success of defeating Gojira with Dr. Serizawa’s Oxygen Destroyer was not dared to be forgotten or thought of lightly. Because if placed in the wrong hands, nuclear weapons testing may continue and another monster might appear again.
In John Hersey's book, Hiroshima, he provides a detailed account of six people and how the bombing of Hiroshima affected their lives. John Heresy felt it was important to focus his story on six individuals to create a remembrance that war affects more than just nations and countries, but actual human beings. Moreover, the book details the effect the bomb had on the city of Hiroshima. “Houses all around were burning, and the wind was now blowing hard.” (Hersey, 27).
For instance take Godzilla, in “Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: How the Bomb Became a Beast Called Godzilla” author, Peter H Brothers tells us some history behind the making of the monster. “Godzilla was made in Japan less then a decade after atomic bombs devastated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Still reeling from the trauma of atomic annihilation and the subsequent effects of radioactive poisoning, a team of Japanese filmmakers created a monster that embodied the fears and anxieties in Japan resulting from Nuclear Warfare” (51). Godzilla is a prime example of monsters symbolizing a societies fears. “We create monsters as a reaction to the fears we experience and our inability to control the world around us” (Asma 61). Our inability to not have control of our fate and what other people are going to do will never change, but creating Godzilla gave the people of these
When looking at the aftermath of the atomic bomb in both Nagasaki and Hiroshima the devastation it caused is evident. The majority of the population in Japan could have never imagined such a catastrophic event. On August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 massive amounts of lives were changed forever when an atomic bomb fell from the sky and created an explosion as bright as the sun. These two bombs were the first and only accounts of nuclear warfare. (“Atomic Bomb is…”) The impact that the two bombs left on the cities of Japan was tremendous. The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima devastated the country through structural damage, long term medical effects, expenses, and the massive loss of life.
My sixteen week class in English 111. I was really nervous about this class. Because English has never been my strong point. This class has hard, but fun all at the same time. I learn a lot from this class. Meanwhile,the first day of class you handed a paper with a question on it. “The first thing I want to say to you who are students is that you must not think of being here to receive an education; instead, you will do much better to think of being here to claim one.” Even though putting my all in what I have learned, claiming my education with hard work because using the skills of the meal plan, as we write to different audiences and learning to be a Critically thinker as I start becoming a critically-Literate Citizenship.
Peter H. Brothers’ “Japans Nuclear Nightmare” compares the movie Godzilla to a devastating period in Japan’s history: The Atomic Age. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States destroyed Japan. In this article, Brothers wants to educate the audience and accomplishes this by using ethos and pathos. He uses ethos by appealing to ethics and to show right and wrong to the Japanese culture and community. He also uses the rhetoric of pathos to appeal to the audience’s emotions. Pathos is one of the easier ways to capture the audience and the author does that by using imagery and symbols. Brothers’ connects
Fear of a potential nuclear attack has been heightened by the media and its release of movies impacting on public opinion and fear of nuclear devastation. The lives lost after the detonation of the atomic bombs have become warning signs that changed global thinking and caused preventative actions. The Atomic Bomb The devastation brought about by the atomic bomb has caused fear among all the people that have realized the potential destructive power of its invention. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945 completely obliterated both cities (Lanouette 30).
Imagine waking one day to witness the tragic state of hundreds of thousands of homes being left in ruins, along with the ashes and rubble of major cities, and the casualties of millions of citizens. This was evident on August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan when the first ever atomic bomb dropped. A mere three days later, and Nagasaki, Japan was also bombed, and the world was taken by storm. Even though WWII is in the past, the long-term effects on Japanese citizens and the debate on possible outcomes of the war is still discussed decades after the events. According to Peter H. Brothers in “Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: How the Bomb Became a Beast Called Godzilla,” these events inspired film director, Ishiro Honda, to create the monster movie Godzilla,
In addition, the final decision was not informed or warned to Japanese authorities which, in that case, could have probably prevented the catastrophe, the dropping place of the devastating bombs were of limited military value and, finally, the decision was made partly thinking of the value of its development, the political intimidation that it would create in the Soviet Union and the rest of the world, and man’s natural but vicious need of power and leadership. The expensive nuclear attack was an unneeded method to win the war because, at the time, Japan was not strong enough to fight back the allies. More than sixty Japanese cities had been destroyed during the war by conventional bombing, the country lost potential help from Germany, the home islands were being blockaded by the American Navy, and the small islands in the Pacific Ocean once occupied by Japan were now under American control. In addition to its bad situation, the Soviet Union declared war against the troubled nation by attacking Japanese troops in Manchuria. The vast majority of the people around the globe knew that Japan had no possible way to win this war.
Killing thousands and thousands of men, The attack went down in history as one of the most horrific events by man in history, and also the day America lost its innocence. These are a few of the many reasons why producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay decided to make a film about this terrible disaster. Though when deciding to make the film they wanted to insure that the film was historically balanced, encompassing not only the American. perspective, but the Japanese as well. To make sure they managed to fulfill this idea, they had many Japanese advisors on hand throughout. the whole duration of the film, giving their opinions on how to do it.
Hiroshima shows the horriv human suffereings caused by the bomb. Humans are suffering all of the world, which plays a huge effect on many others. The events in life are unpridicable and always changing. The Hiroshima bomb dropping was an ongoing and lasting horrivle event on humans in 1900’s.
When the “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima in less than a second it the fireball had consumed 900 feet of land. The damage only got worse from there on. As time ticked by two-thirds of Hiroshima’s buildings were destroyed and a black rain fell down on places untouched by the bomb. Black rain is dirt, dust, soot and highly radioactive particles that were sucked into the air at the time of the fireball. At this point America knew what is was doing yet they continued to wreck Japan. When the second bomb, “Fat Man”, was dropped on Nagasaki the terror was just the same. In seconds 40 percent of Nagasaki was in ruins. Not only did it blow apart everything in sight, but it also haunted the crops and lives for years after the bomb. “Two years after the bombing plants growing at ground zero presaged the frightening
Ever since I was little I remember playing games where I would fight the bad guy and win the girl in the end. This never seem to affect me or make me wonder what small effect it had on my thought process. In games such as Zelda, call of duty, assassin creed, gears of war, Mario, and even halo you play as a white heterosexual male. The idea of playing this way never seemed to phase me as a young child. As I grew up and became more aware of the difference of people and the need for other as well as myself a need to be able to connect and find one 's self in different place such as games, movies, and TV shows. I became aware of the one sided views that video games seem to have. Then I realized that it was seen as acceptable to only have the one sided displayed due to the lack of speaking out on the need for change.