The Un-Dead Godzilla Walks!
Disclaimer: This is one of those blogs that is pure internal speculations and observation. If you don’t want to be bored by my own self examinations which are then presented on this blog (which does seem very self indulging and pompous) then read no further, because blah blah blah, blah blah... Then again, if you can relate, maybe you should examine yourself, as well...Lately it has occurred to me that I have a somewhat unhealthy fascination of living out an undead fantasy of being a Last Man On Earth (or fittingly called Lamoe, pronounced "lay-mo" in History of World War Z by Max Brooks) with the exception of having my loved ones and friends all helping me to carve out the brave new
tomorrow on the ashes of our old civilization. Of course it would be a Utopia based on left-wing socialist beliefs with an over healthy respect for the rights of the individual, but that’s another story. Where was I? Oh yes, survival fantasy. Anyway, this fantasy that perpetrates somewhere within my subconscious is because of some set of beliefs or ideas or feelings I have had about life, society or the world in general. I also have a love of Godzilla and zombie movies. This question was skipping from sub to actual consciousness while I was 
watching Godzilla 2000 the other day. Then it hit me! Right at the scene where Godzilla (having just defeated the alien menace Orga) walks up to the building where the humans, led by Katagiri (the shrewd government civilian commanding the military forces against Godzilla and Orga) are standing on the roof. Godzilla walks up then swipes the spot where Katagiri was standing. Godzilla proceeds to do some damage to the rest of the city leaving the rest of the humans to bear witness. Godzilla movies appeal to me because he is a force of nature that cannot be controlled, bargained with, manipulated or bought. He mostly seeks solitude but has no problems with letting humanity know when they/we have gotten too big for our britches. He is the 
ultimate individual with a healthy does of mindless god-like power thrown in. Ok, ok, but what does this have to do with last man on earth fantasies? Well, it stems from the idea that humanity, society and the world we live in has co-opted many of the things that make individuals what they are. In turn, zombies and (to a lesser extent) Godzilla are great equalizers. Godzilla reminds us that all of us are weak and fundamentally the same in the eyes of nature. Zombies, specifically, bring society down to it’s base roots. In the most popular and 
poignant zombie films, society is destroyed or in the process of being destroyed. They make the strong, weak and make the weak strong. All that is left is survival. What does all of this mean? Well, I guess I just don’t like society that much. Probably more to the actual truth is that I don’t like people that exploit others. From the lowly thief and mugger all the way up to Dick Cheney. A zombie holocaust that tears down the foundations of society would also tear down the corridors of power. It’s just escapist fantasy and not true (at least not yet) so we can only change society by first changing ourselves then changing our culture to one of mutual respect. And then, blah blah blah... Anyway, I guess that’s why Godzilla and zombie films appeal to me so much.
posted by Adam Smasher @ 8:07 PM
10 Comments
10 Comments:
To me, zombies are the fools who go to work and their everyday lives without realizing they're alive. Godzilla are people like us who are out there and march to our own pace and pretty much tells the world they can kiss our fucking ass because we will do what we want, and ain't no one's going to stop us - even if it's an oxygen generator!
I never really thought of Godzilla as being punk rock but you got a point. I’d like to think that I’m the flower monster because I’m a pansy! As for the Japanese why are they so surprised when Godzilla destroys their cities every few months? You’d think they’d get used to it, it’s like those people who get shocked when ever George Bush says something stupid or does something fucked up, that’s what stupid ass holes do & smashing cities is what monsters do, but wait George Bush smashed cities too. Maybe George Bush is a monster. Do they have monster movies in Iraq that feature a giant George Bush smashing cities?
It can be argued that zombies are the Proletariat. The masses but also those that drive society. Unfortunately we lack Godzilla's power individually, but maybe as a whole, hmm...
Well, if it helps, Karl, Godzilla did fight and defeat Hedorah (aka the Smog Monster) so he is all for the enviroment too!
Don't forget too - Godzilla destroyed somekind of evil space flower monster too! So basically we're back in the beginning - all we need to do is DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY and start over again!
That "evil space flower" was Biolante. Which was an experiment in genetic splicing of Godzilla/a rose bush/and the scientists daughter. So he clearly was attacking man's folly, yet again. Kurt, if your going to spout Dai-Kaiju Lore, do some research. Unless, of course, you mean Gamera, whom destroyed the alien space flower that became Legion.
dang kurt you got dissed big time and you call yourself japanese... i agree that zombies movies are the downright basic instincts of humanity, they just want to eat we just want to live, we created them as in return of the living dead and return of the liveing dead II they were military experiments.. that went horribly wrong, so maybe its a play on the dustruction we are doing to ourselves and that it wont stop until there is nothing but basic survival left... and then there is the original, the remake, dawn of the dead, day of the dead and land of the dead that say basically when there is no more room in hell the dead will walk the earth.. religious undertones, stateing between the lines so to speak that we are evil, and we destroy and we go to hell and there is to much of that so there is no more room in all of hell for all of humanities evils, so it turns back on us.. as for godzilla we really need a good ass kicking by a radioactive lizard bigger than the skyscrapers to make us realize we are not the top of the food chain we are not the smartist creatures on earth, infact we are the only creatures on earth that insist on destroying ourselves instead of advanceing ourselves.. so basically i agree with adam, i really liked this blog.
hell yeah I got dissed - but I don't give a shit anyways. I'm not Godzilla expert like Adam. I like the original Godzilla film and everything else that follows is just passing interest anyways.
you didnt have to be nasty!
get nasty? no, i was making a factual point - Adam knows a hell of a lot more about Godzilla, where as I only pick up Godzilla whenever I see it on cable... except the original Godzilla which I own. You butthead! argh!
See ya tonight, fucker!
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