Porter 1

Dillon Porter

Mr. Beadle

English 115

11/6/17

Godzilla Rising

When someone says the word kaiju (the Japanese word for monster), what comes to

mind is Godzilla. Godzilla, or Gojira in Japan, has transcended its original source material to

become one of the leading icons of 21st century Japan. His rise to fame can only be attributed to

the first of the many Godzilla films, simply called Gojira, which was aired in 1954. This movie

would later be butchered by the American remake of the movie, instead going more for an

American point of view, to an event that has affected the people in another country. In essence,

Godzilla as a monster has had to change himself to keep up with the times and with the ever-

changing climate of world politics and how kids see Godzilla himself. Even the ways that he had

to change is interesting as well, and he has changed in three ways: his mutation/birth, the

political view of the world and of Japan, and the way to actually stop or destroy the beast to

begin with. These changes are important to us because they all reflect the views and values of a

changing world, one where we can all work together to save the environment, fix political

relations, and make more peaceful resolutions to fighting.

First of all, one of the important changes to Godzilla is his origin story, but specifically,

to what woke him up in the first place. It isnt much of a secret that the original Godzilla was a

clear reference to the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of

WWII, since director Ishiro Honda experienced first-hand the devastating effects of war, saying
 Porter 2

in an interview, I wanted to make the radiation visible (Brothers 2). Thus, Honda resolved to

use the monster as a metaphor for the horrors of the nuclear bomb and the fears of a nation still

in shambles after the war. This version of Godzilla made sense to Honda and others because the

most lingering threat and fear at the time was the Nuclear Age. However, 2016s Shin Godzilla

chose a different way to show how he mutates, not by a bomb but by tons of nuclear waste on the

ocean floor. This is made clear by a scene in Shin Godzilla where the American representative

for the Department of Energy shows a group of scientists in Japan the seafloor littered with

barrels of nuclear waste, explaining that Godzilla came from that waste. The shift from bombs to

waste shows our fear for the potential damage that nuclear waste provides on the environment,

and in a way, Godzilla is the theoretical damage to the environment. A recent example was the

Fukushima Nuclear Plant disaster of 2011. After a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami hit

Japan, officials checked all of the reactors, most of which remained intact after shutdown, except

for the first 3 reactors. These 3 reactors had been damaged by the tsunami, and the next couple of

years or so was spent to try and contain the nuclear waste water and not contaminate the bay and

groundwater, but to no avail. While there were no serious deaths from radiation, some of the

waste breached the security measures and contaminated the groundwater with cesium-134 and

cesium 137. While the threat of nuclear annihilation is still lingering, the current fear is finding a

way to store all of the nuclear waste that nuclear power plants have created so that we can keep

the world a healthy place for generations.

Another change that is important to note in the history of Godzilla is the politics

concerning Godzilla and how to maintain his destruction. In the original 1954 film, Japan was

pretty much left to deal with Godzilla themselves, while the rest of the world simply watched

from afar. This portrayal of world politics of the time mirrors how Japan felt isolated and alone
 Porter 3

after the bombings, with no nation coming to their aid, and instead they had to fix it themselves.

However, in the newer film, that focus has shifted again. In Shin Godzilla, the Japanese

government is struggling to decide what the people want and are too busy sidestepping political

red tape to not focus on their nation in peril. This is actually a satirical look at how the politics of

Japan work nowadays, what with them making committees to make committees to make a

decision on what to do. The main protagonist is a young government deputy minister that works

around this red taping and making the shots which eventually end Godzillas rampage, while the

actual government doesnt do much. Along with the young minister is help from the U.S.,

Germany, France, and a small team of Japanese misfit scientists. According to Jordan Zakarin, a

writer for Inverse Entertainment, said that Shin Godzilla, calls for change in the face of outsized

and frankly frightening obstacles. Incompetent bureaucrats are replaced by clear-eyed, young

defenders of the realm, and the message is clear: The monsters of the past and present can be

defeated by heroes of the future. (Zakarin Paragraph 1). In essence, politics have changed to

where since nuclear waste and weapons are a major problem, we must work with each other

instead of against each other.

The third way that Godzilla has changed is how the country eventually brings down the

beast. Godzilla is a beast when it comes to how tough he is. In fact, in the original movie,

Godzilla could only be destroyed by the Oxygen Destroyer, which when activated can destroy

any living thing around it. Although, this was wildly ironic because in order to destroy the living

being of a nuke, they use another weapon of mass destruction to kill him. However, the reboot

takes a more passive approach, instead opting for the more peaceful method of freezing him with

a coagulant. This is better than the other plan to blow him up with a thermonuclear bomb, and

also helps to stop the spread of more violence with violence. Analyzing this, it is a safe
 Porter 4

assumption that Shin Godzilla was written to include a more peaceful way of getting rid of

violence, which reflects what most nations are doing as of writing this paper. According to the

Nuclear Threat Initiative, a website that dedicates itself to nuclear arms information, there have

been multiple treaties from both the U.S. and Soviet Russia since 1969 to combat the number of

nuclear weapons on both sides. Also stated was this: while there are still countries with nuclear

warheads, a majority of countries in the world are committed to remaining free of nuclear

weapons, including some countries that once possessed nuclear weapons (Nuclear Threat

Initiative). Those countries include South Africa, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine, all of

which have either destroyed or returned their nuclear arsenals to different countries. We still

have a long way to go, but it would be worth it in the end, because if we follow that kind of

doctrine, all would become one and share the world as one.

In contrast to what was just typed, many people would argue against each of my three

points with many of their own. For starters, the thesis would be put down with a reasoning that

Godzilla hasnt changed at all, and that Godzilla is just a silly monster movie meant to make

money. Well, to counteract that point, the original Godzilla was actually a very clever way to

hide an allegory for the nuclear bomb while masquerading as a creature feature. Because the

people still had the bomb fresh in their minds, Ishiro Honda made the monster to portray the

terror and horror of the bombs full effect. Another argument that person would make would be

that Godzillas origin story/ how he mutates isnt an important part of the film, nor ismutation to

the. Well, firstly, his mutations are one of the most recognizable moments in the movies, right

next to the Quantum mechanics of Rick and Morty. One episode could be related to the amount

of pages a phonebook have. My third reason was that countries are getting along better, and as a

result we must work together and stop anyone who tries to step in our way. Their point would be
 Porter 5

that countries have NOT gotten better. They would show me evidence about how there are still

wars going out and how there are a ton of skirmishes and fights happening around the world. If I

were in that scenario, I would say this: that while the nations of the world arent in perfect

harmony, to the point that it isnt a heaven on Earth, our relations with the rest of the world have

gotten better since WWII and since the Cold War. We have good trade relations with Japan, we

are on somewhat speaking terms with Vladimir Putin, and we are still considered a considerable

superpower in the United States. and the whole world. We should be grateful that we live in a

society with political-correctness and not stay for the ultra-violence of todays world. The final

point that they would try to make is that the people are getting restless. Why, because you are not

genetically apart of the furniture around the palace. If that is the case, than the hunan shave to

work the land to get their rewards. And I know, the Hevey is asking when it well be done , but I

wont be present for the reasing of the ceremony of a siz foot

In conclusion, Godzilla has left us all in awe, and rightly so. We are given the rights to

see between right and wrong, and it only takes certain events, say, Godzilla in real life, to bring

people together. The overall meaning is to build a more peaceful world through communication

and understanding.
 Porter 6

Works Cited
Brothers, Peter H. Japan's Nuclear Nightmare: How the Bomb Became a Beast Called

Godzilla. Monsters, edited by Andrew J. Hoffman, Bedford/St. Martins, 2016, pp. 51-59

Honda, Ishiro. Gojira. Toho, 1954

Anno, Hideaki & Higuchi Shinji. Shin Godzilla. Toho, 2016

Martin, James. Nuclear Disarmament Resource Collection. Nuclear Threat Initiative -Ten

Years of Building a Safer World, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies , 3 Apr.

2017, www.nti.org/analysis/reports/nuclear-disarmament/

Nuclear Threat Initiative Edited by Nuclear Threat Initiative, Radioactive Waste Management

, World Nuclear Association, 4 June 2017, www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-

fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/radioactive-waste-management.aspx

Zakarin, Jordan. The New Japanese Godzilla Movie Is Actually Super Political and Deep.

Inverse Entertainment, 11 Oct. 2016, www.inverse.com/article/22023-shin-godzilla-s-japanese-

politics-and-meaning-of-godzilla-films.