Conclusion

The transformation of Gojira from marauding monster in early films to reflective Hollywood recluse obviously takes the nuclear metaphor beyond the point of 1950s anxiety and catharsis, and reflects the cultural diffusion of an "Other" monster to become a "Self" monster; which again reflects the incorporation of the American view of "Other." The original Gojira was a pure freak, an alien and monster. He is only viewed from a distance; his 'otherness' shown by Honda's low key, low angle camera direction (also used by later Gojira directors, Jun Fukuda and Yoshimitsu Banno). McConnell notes that "one seldom sees the monster from the point of view of the victim or the victim from the point of view of the monster" (McConnell). These perspectives keep the monster remote, preventing audience identification with the beast. In addition, as Sontag states, "In science fiction films disaster is rarely viewed intensively; it is always extensive" and such films are "one of the purest forms of spectacle; that is, we are rarely inside anyone's feelings" (Sontag).

American’s cultural adoption of Godzilla as one of our own institutions reflects a completely Japanese way of incorporating the Other into the Self, despite the traditional American viewpoint of establishing Other in relation to the Self, as it questions the boundaries between Self and Other in America’s relations to Gojira.

godzilla

introduction

genesis

evolution

conclusion