From natural disasters of typhoons and earthquakes to manmade disasters of atomic bombings and world wars, Godzilla acted as a visual representation of what Tokyo has faced over the past century. “Oh No, There Goes Tokyo” provides an interesting perspective in analyzing monster movies. Godzilla movies may have been made to serve as a recollection of the anxieties and fear Tokyo residents have faced. Yet, there is also an unexpected positivity and optimism shown behind catastrophes. Throughout the reading, it introduced the theme of “secure horror” – a safe type of horror. While horror elements can be presented through Godzilla’s reign of terror over the city, at the end of the day, the audience knows that despite all the chaos and destruction, humans and technology will prevail and the city will be rebuilt into something even better. The audience can still anticipate a sense of optimism at the end of the film. In that sense, Godzilla movies become less of horror, rather feel-good movies. This could explain the continuous remake and retelling of Godzilla movies.
Extending the popularity of Godzilla movies over to other monster films, for instance, Jurassic Park, and Jaws, the wide popularity of these films as iconic films of the 1900s show that these disaster films served less of a grim commentary of the social situation, but more of an optimistically grim film serving as a symbol of new beginnings.
Magenta Elizabeth Tan 3036063955
It is awesome that your discussion opens a dual way of interpreting monster-themed films in Japan. The last sentence “Oh no, there goes Tokyo…but it will be back, and it may even be better than before” might shed light on your understanding of “normalize the unbearable.” Regarding the destruction and reconstruction of Japan (especially, Tokoy), I would suggest framing your analysis based on the sentence that “Tokyo or Hong Kong—tend to be a mixture of all three kinds outlined in Isozaki and Asadas typology: they are real, surreal, and hyperreal all (P.77).” Hong Kong and Japan were facing “disappearance” even though they are under the distinguishable circumstance. So, how did films present these two sorts of “disappearances” differently and similarly (like the ghost film in Hong Kong Vs. the monster film in Japan)?