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Godless Godzilla and Godzilla at 50
pjones writes " Monster Zero reports that Toho has taken the God out of Godzilla leaving us with the affectionate if diminished name of 'Zilla.' But only the American Godzilla will become godless. 'Godzilla' is reserved for our suitmation favorite, while his rival, now called 'Zilla,' is the name for the computer generated star (?) of Godzilla 98. And yes we will see the two in mortal combat with 10 other monsters in Godzilla: Final Wars. In the meantime, Godzilla at 50 events are beginning world-wide. Leave it to Kansas to hold an academic conference, 'In the Footsteps of Godzilla'. In San Francisco, the plans are more gala where more films and more Godzilla involved personalities are part of the plans for GodzillaFest which will feature 20 films (not all feature Godzilla). Any other Gojira/Godzilla/Zilla events?"
Wasn't there a story last year saying they were putting G into semi-retirement, due to long term overexposure?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I summon... Rent-a-Zilla
-jim
No one, can retire Gojira. No one!
Anyway: Godzilla is believed to have originally been intended by Toho (productions company) to represent the United States of America (being superior in its destructive capability)The name "Gojira" is a combination of "gorilla" and kujira, which means "whale" in Japanese." -wikipedia
The article is slashdotted already, but perhaps Toho has gotten over its fear of destruction of America? Or conversly, perhaps they are more scared of America and removed the "Gorilla" as not to offend a certain American who looks somewhat like a.... oh nevermind.
The Japanese name, "go-ji-ra", is being re-translated into english for future films as "Zilla" instead of "Godzilla" since, for some reason the target audience has been pegged as being the sort to be offended by this type of thing. Personally I can't see how those two groups would ever cross paths, but whatever.
I'm also at a bit of a loss for why we can't simply call it "Gojila"
Next time you see the great popcorn adventure "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (I highly recommend it), watch the newspapers that flow on-screen early in the movie after the first attack in New York.
One Japanese paper shows a very familar outline of our favorite destroyer, ostensibly taking on the robots.
Next to Sir Laurence Olivier finding work in the movie (despite being dead), it was one of the many funny in-jokes of the movie. The link above details more.
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
Yes, that's the list. Funny thing about it, though...
There are advertisements available on the Internet which show clips of each of the monsters. Minilla, the much-hated "Son of Godzilla" in the awful G-films of the 60s, is not shown. A monster that is shown, however, is GINO -- the nickname given to the Hollywood Godzilla (Godzilla In Name Only). So this leads to an interesting idea: is Toho going to refer to the Hollywood Godzilla as Minilla in "Godzilla Final Wars?" That would be an incredible "fuck you" to the bastards at Tri-Star who took Japan's most pervasive contribution to world culture and turned it into a brainless, typical Hollywood summer blockbuster.
Perhaps it is too much to hope for. But consider these facts. First, Toho has already said this is going to be the last film for a long time. No need to worry about retribution from offended TriStar studio executives. Second, Toho seems to be making this film as a legitimate thank you to all their fans. The budget for this film is several times larger than in a typical film. What better way to tickle their fans then to mock GINO?
GMD
watch this
Crusades. Witch Burnings. The Spanish Inquisition.
The Albigensian crusade, where the 'wonderful' quote "Kill them all - God will recognize his own" comes from.
Slavery justified in the name of God.
You misunderstand the problem, which is that any totalitarian regime cannot tolerate any independent thinking as this is a threath to the power structure of said society. Thus independent or "different" thinkers get Gulag'ed, jailed, burned, tortured to confess, what have you.
Or they get Guantamoed.
Yeah, you were on the right track when you invaded Afghanistan, I was cheering your guys from the sideline and crossing my fingers that you'd get the bastards - I was damn happy when my government sent the special forces contigents US Command asked for. I was a bit concerned when your government started dragging people halfway around the world for the express purpose of violating the Geneva Convention on the treatment of captives.
The US Army deserves better. They're the good guys, for crying out loud!
And what's with letting the CIA near people in Abu Ghraib? The Army ought to have smacked the civilian spooks into next week and let their own intelligence people handle it - you know, the real military professionals.
I think a lot of your problem stems from having civilans at the top who think Chain of Command is an inconvenience and somehting they can safely ignore, instead of doing it the right way which is to tell the Pentagon the desired result and let them work out how to do it without stupid-ass interference from civilians on battefield tactics and strategy.
Damn, I'm rambling today - and off topic to boot. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.
You're not at the point of Guantamoing internal dissidents, and (most of) the people currently held there probably aren't lily-white innocents. I'm just a tad concerned that the USA seems to be violating their own values in the face of an attack on those very values. The more you become like your despotic and tyrannical enemies, the more you let them win. I really hope you guys step back from the brink on this one - I'd hate to see you waste the greatness of the USA in response to the terrible things done to you that day. If you do, the terrorists will have won - and I really hope you'll see their attack and stop reorganizing along the lines they want you to.
Because I think the Guantanamo prison is perhaps the most insidious attack on your culture and nation since the internment camps of WWII - if I had my tinfoil hat with me I'd star wondering just who it was who suggested that it was a good idea in the first place. Because no matter who wins the battle, you lose the war if people start thinking that it's okay to "deal with" the enemies of the State outside of the legal framework.
And man, I will be weeping for you all if that gets to become an acceptable way to deal with people under the War on Terror.