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    Godzilla

    Character » Godzilla appears in 419 issues.

    The king of the monsters. He is mankind's greatest ally and enemy. Quite possibly the most unpredictable force on the face of the planet.

    Was Godzilla a symbol of America?

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    EganTheVile1

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    #1  Edited By EganTheVile1

    I was thinking about the fact that Godzilla was a monster born of nuclear power, that came out in the 1950's and ravaged a japanese city, Less then a decade earlier the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, so is Godzilla actually a metaphor for the USA?

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    Push

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    #2  Edited By Push

    Possibly, more than likely!

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    vance_astro

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    #3  Edited By vance_astro  Moderator

    No.Godzilla is a symbol of Japan.

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    shanana

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    #4  Edited By shanana

    I actually thought about that.

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    Push

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    #5  Edited By Push
    Vance Astro said:
    "No.Godzilla is a symbol of Japan."

    Yeah, we know that big G came out of Japanese culture, but I think the question being asked, is has it to do with America and the Nuclear bombing of the two Japanese cities! I would say the answer is yes, cause i'm not sure if they'd have gotten the idea for Godzilla any time soon after that had it not been for the bombing of those two cities.
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    bioghost

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    #6  Edited By bioghost

    weird metharpor but so true

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    Acheron

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    #7  Edited By Acheron

    I heard that Godzilla was the sort of metaphor for the bomb......since, in the movies, he destroys Japan as well as saves it, like a bomb can (depending on who's wielding it).

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    HobGadling

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    #8  Edited By HobGadling

    He's basically just an anti-nuclear weapons symbol.

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    Midnightist

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    #9  Edited By Midnightist

    more like a combination I'd say more like the hazards the Americans caused to the Japanese and the dangers of nuclear weapons

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    Push

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    #10  Edited By Push

    To rephrase: He's from Japanese culture that stemmed from WWII bombing of the two Japanese cities wich involved America, since they were the ones who did the bombing! As Acheron put it, he's a metaphor for the N-Bombe, which is America!

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    SuperGamera

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    #11  Edited By SuperGamera

    Godzilla movies of the 70's teach us bombs can be our friends

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    Acheron

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    #12  Edited By Acheron
    SuperGamera said:
    "Godzilla movies of the 70's teach us bombs can be our friends"
    I concur :)
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    inferiorego

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    #13  Edited By inferiorego  Staff
    eganthevile1 said:
    "I was thinking about the fact that Godzilla was a monster born of nuclear power, that came out in the 1950's and ravaged a japanese city, Less then a decade earlier the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, so is Godzilla actually a metaphor for the USA?"
    We discussed this ad-nausea in my Post WWII Japanese Film class. At one point, 50s-70s he was a metaphor for the American way of life; however, that has been lost over the years since America & Japan now work together decently well.
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    vance_astro

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    #14  Edited By vance_astro  Moderator
    Push said:
    "Vance Astro said:
    "No.Godzilla is a symbol of Japan."

    Yeah, we know that big G came out of Japanese culture, but I think the question being asked, is has it to do with America and the Nuclear bombing of the two Japanese cities! I would say the answer is yes, cause i'm not sure if they'd have gotten the idea for Godzilla any time soon after that had it not been for the bombing of those two cities."
    The Japanese claim him to their pop culture like they do Sentai (Power Rangers) and Ultraman.
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    inferiorego

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    #15  Edited By inferiorego  Staff
    Vance Astro said:
    "Push said:
    "Vance Astro said:
    "No.Godzilla is a symbol of Japan."

    Yeah, we know that big G came out of Japanese culture, but I think the question being asked, is has it to do with America and the Nuclear bombing of the two Japanese cities! I would say the answer is yes, cause i'm not sure if they'd have gotten the idea for Godzilla any time soon after that had it not been for the bombing of those two cities."
    The Japanese claim him to their pop culture like they do Sentai (Power Rangers) and Ultraman."
    At one point though, as I stated above, he was a symbol for the American way. Lots of pop culture icons in every culture's history are symbols for something going on during that time period.
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    AllNewOverseer

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    #16  Edited By AllNewOverseer
    Acheron said:
    "I heard that Godzilla was the sort of metaphor for the bomb......since, in the movies, he destroys Japan as well as saves it, like a bomb can (depending on who's wielding it)."

    Godzilla himself was a metaphor for the Atomic Bomb itself. Tanaka had no direct connection to the USA in mind when he made the original movie.
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    vance_astro

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    #17  Edited By vance_astro  Moderator
    inferiorego said:
    "Vance Astro said:
    "Push said:
    "Vance Astro said:
    "No.Godzilla is a symbol of Japan."

    Yeah, we know that big G came out of Japanese culture, but I think the question being asked, is has it to do with America and the Nuclear bombing of the two Japanese cities! I would say the answer is yes, cause i'm not sure if they'd have gotten the idea for Godzilla any time soon after that had it not been for the bombing of those two cities."
    The Japanese claim him to their pop culture like they do Sentai (Power Rangers) and Ultraman."
    At one point though, as I stated above, he was a symbol for the American way. Lots of pop culture icons in every culture's history are symbols for something going on during that time period."
    F#ck Godzilla.
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    AllNewOverseer

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    #18  Edited By AllNewOverseer
    Vance Astro said:
    "inferiorego said:
    "Vance Astro said:
    "Push said:
    "Vance Astro said:
    "No.Godzilla is a symbol of Japan."

    Yeah, we know that big G came out of Japanese culture, but I think the question being asked, is has it to do with America and the Nuclear bombing of the two Japanese cities! I would say the answer is yes, cause i'm not sure if they'd have gotten the idea for Godzilla any time soon after that had it not been for the bombing of those two cities."
    The Japanese claim him to their pop culture like they do Sentai (Power Rangers) and Ultraman."
    At one point though, as I stated above, he was a symbol for the American way. Lots of pop culture icons in every culture's history are symbols for something going on during that time period."
    F#ck Godzilla.
    "

    What jealouse that he's the most powerful thing to come out of the world?
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    EganTheVile1

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    #19  Edited By EganTheVile1

    I remember when I first brought this thought up 12 years ago to my friends and it blew their minds, of course they were stoners so that was not exactly a difficult achievement, lol

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    TheBlueAngel93

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    #20  Edited By TheBlueAngel93

    Hmmmmmmm...Atomic Bomb?

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    Arbitius

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    #21  Edited By Arbitius

    the atomic bomb in general.

    atomic breath? destroyer of cities? protector of places(US believed the atomic bomb could save many american soldier's lives, instead of invading Japan.)? originating from radioactive experiments?

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