The monster I chose as my favorite (from a long list) was the the king of the monsters himself: Godzilla. At first, I did not think that Godzilla would follow any of the theses presented. To my surprise, Godzilla fits into all seven of Cohen's theses, further supporting my claim that Godzilla is the perfect monster. I will go through a few of Cohen's theses and elaborate.
1. The Monster's Body is a Cultural Body
Cohen states that a monster is born as "an embodiment of a certain cultural moment -of a time, a feeling, and a place" (4). This apply's to Godzilla, as the beast "gives life" to the tragedy of the atomic bomb that the people of Japan witnessed not even a decade prior to the release of Godzilla. This is especially apparent when Godzilla uses his atomic breathe (radioactive fire) to burn everything in his path, leaving people fried to a crisp, exactly like the atomic bomb did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2. The Monster Always Escapes
This point was a bit difficult for me to understand, and I am still not sure if I entirely get it (from my perspective it seemed like he was jumping between multiple theses), but the gist of it is that the monster may be killed but once, however, it will be reborn in another form based on a string of events. Again, Godzilla exhibits this because of all the recreations of giant monsters that he spawned. Godzilla may have been killed in his debut film, but the symbol of nuclear apocalypse that he represents appears again and again in the bodies of other monsters (most recently Cloverfield) and will continue to go on.
3. The Monster is the Harbinger of Category Crisis
Initially, I was not sure if Cohen was talking about classification based on the biological aspects of a monster or the mythology behind it, and after further reading he seemed to lean towards the biological, especially when he made his reference to Alien, talking about how the creature is a mix of all sorts of different parts. Godzilla definitely is an example of this, as the monster is mainly a dinosaur, but has the power of an atomic bomb, in a very traditional dragon type of way; not something that the average human sees in day to day life or could even begin to label.
4. The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference
Cohen uses the example of medieval France transforming "Muslims into demonic caricatures" to get his point across that monsters are made to represent something in the real world, again developing culturally. Godzilla, as stated previously, is the embodiment of a living nuclear weapon, a nuclear weapon that destroyed two of Japan's major cities. It could even be argued that Godzilla is a symbol of American carelessness regarding nuclear testing. Either way, Godzilla, once again, fits into Cohen's theses.
After reading Cohen's Seven Theses, I have looked at Godzilla in a different way. The reading basically took all the vague characteristics that I had said made Godzilla monstrous in my paper, and organized them into a universally applicable format. I knew that Godzilla was always a symbol of nuclear devastation and that it tied into the atomic bombing of Japan, but Cohen made it clear for me to see just how the Japanese culture gave birth to the king of all monsters.
~Ryan Lantz
(Sorry about the name, blogger won't let me change it so I won't be offended if you refer to me as Mechagodzilla)
1. The Monster's Body is a Cultural Body
Cohen states that a monster is born as "an embodiment of a certain cultural moment -of a time, a feeling, and a place" (4). This apply's to Godzilla, as the beast "gives life" to the tragedy of the atomic bomb that the people of Japan witnessed not even a decade prior to the release of Godzilla. This is especially apparent when Godzilla uses his atomic breathe (radioactive fire) to burn everything in his path, leaving people fried to a crisp, exactly like the atomic bomb did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2. The Monster Always Escapes
This point was a bit difficult for me to understand, and I am still not sure if I entirely get it (from my perspective it seemed like he was jumping between multiple theses), but the gist of it is that the monster may be killed but once, however, it will be reborn in another form based on a string of events. Again, Godzilla exhibits this because of all the recreations of giant monsters that he spawned. Godzilla may have been killed in his debut film, but the symbol of nuclear apocalypse that he represents appears again and again in the bodies of other monsters (most recently Cloverfield) and will continue to go on.
3. The Monster is the Harbinger of Category Crisis
Initially, I was not sure if Cohen was talking about classification based on the biological aspects of a monster or the mythology behind it, and after further reading he seemed to lean towards the biological, especially when he made his reference to Alien, talking about how the creature is a mix of all sorts of different parts. Godzilla definitely is an example of this, as the monster is mainly a dinosaur, but has the power of an atomic bomb, in a very traditional dragon type of way; not something that the average human sees in day to day life or could even begin to label.
4. The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference
Cohen uses the example of medieval France transforming "Muslims into demonic caricatures" to get his point across that monsters are made to represent something in the real world, again developing culturally. Godzilla, as stated previously, is the embodiment of a living nuclear weapon, a nuclear weapon that destroyed two of Japan's major cities. It could even be argued that Godzilla is a symbol of American carelessness regarding nuclear testing. Either way, Godzilla, once again, fits into Cohen's theses.
After reading Cohen's Seven Theses, I have looked at Godzilla in a different way. The reading basically took all the vague characteristics that I had said made Godzilla monstrous in my paper, and organized them into a universally applicable format. I knew that Godzilla was always a symbol of nuclear devastation and that it tied into the atomic bombing of Japan, but Cohen made it clear for me to see just how the Japanese culture gave birth to the king of all monsters.
~Ryan Lantz
(Sorry about the name, blogger won't let me change it so I won't be offended if you refer to me as Mechagodzilla)
I would first like to start out my comment by asking if you were the blonde haired guy in the front of the classroom on 9/16? If so, I have never really seen anyone get that excited about Godzilla before. I am also a fan of Godzilla, but you are definitely what someone would call a Super Fan. Well anyway, I also love the idea that Godzilla fits into all seven theses. I agree one hundred percent. I am assuming that you are also referring to the older Godzilla and not the Godzilla from 1998 and later. I do not see much of this in the newer movies. They seem more like a Hollywood version just there to entertain people, and to bring about nostalgia. Which for me really did not do that at all. All in all, I feel like you did a really good job on your first blog post.
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI was also wondering if you were the guy from the front of the class. I too love a good Godzilla film and I've been a fan since I was a kid. I think Godzilla is the perfect monster for fitting all seven theses and Dalton also makes a good point that what Godzilla is about does change quite a bit in the later films