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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 * * Film-Philosophy salon After hitting 'reply' please always delete the text of the message you are replying to. To leave, send the message: leave film-philosophy to: [log in to unmask] Or visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html For help email: [log in to unmask], not the salon. * Film-Philosophy online: http://www.film-philosophy.com Contact: [log in to unmask] **