Did viewers actually taken Godzilla / Gojira as a nuclear war film on a
meaningful emotional or intellectual level rather than as just using the
back story as a premise for entertaining monster mayhem? For the most
part I think not, though the emotions in postwar Japan plausibly were
raw enough that that could have been the case in that context. (I'm
basing that a bit on an observation of a procession to several
firehouses in my neighborhood, all of which experienced very serious
losses, the weekend after 9/11: some people started spontaneously
singing "He ain't Heavy He's My brother"and I was amazed that in that
particular context even such a trite song could be the vehicle of
genuine emotion.) This isn't a criticism of a series of films I retain a
degree of affection for; but for most audiences, including myself as a
cold war ducking and covering kid, the premise did not go beyond being
just that.
j
Hans Heydebreck wrote:
>> =20
>> Monstrosity, then, would suggest a paranoiac
>> misunderstanding of the animal world. We fear what we
>> don't understand, and label as ugly that which looks
>> extraordinary. These, decidedly, are not French traits. For
>> example, in the early seventies I saw "The
>> Exorcist" in Paris; only to witness catcalls, hisses
>> and boos. Indeed, this indicates active avoidance of puerile
>> imagery stuck together with religious mumbo-jumbo.
>> =20
>> As it's spoken of in English by native users, The
>> Nuclear Holocaust never happened. On the other hand, if
>> you're referring to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, you're
>> correct in stating that the official photos were suppressed
>> for a decade.=20
>> =20
>> Please remember, however, that images of the Nazi
>> concentration camps were likewise kept under lock and key;
>> and for a very good, and clearly-enunciated reason: Occupied
>> Germany was under threat of starvation for five years after
>> its surrender. Allied officials rightly feared that
>> releasing images of German atrocities would result in an
>> attitude that, shall we say, would have prevented you from
>> ever having been born.
>> =20
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