Category: Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

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[Reading Response 2] Oh No, There Goes Tokyo

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In the chapter, the author humorously uses ‘Oh no, there goes Tokyo… but it will be back, and it may be even better than before.’ to conclude the never-ending optimism of the Japanese towards apocalypses. However, reflecting on the newer takes in the franchise, I believe the optimism is starting to be questioned, and a new perspective is introduced in this parallel of apocalyptic imagery and real-life disaster. One iconic example is Shin Godzilla (2016) directed by Hideaki Anno. In the postwar ‘golden age’, the monster in films is merely a plot device that introduces the apocalyptic backdrop and renders

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[Reading Response 2] In Search of the Ghostly Context

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The author opens up the ghostly city of Chan’s films, shedding light on low-cost public housing estate issues and marginalized society living there. In Chan’s movies, lower-class housing is depicted as haunted and desolate, “evoking ghostliness, melancholy, loss, and nostalgia” in contrast to the promoted positive depiction. These hyper-dense estates with poverty, dysfunctional families, and crimes, remained home to many people, usually powerless with a strong feeling of homelessness. Chan uses the uncanny to convey this feeling in his films. Ghosts serve as reminders of past history that haunts places and people. Not all of his films directly address characters

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[Reading Response 2] Oh No, There Goes Tokyo – Anvesha Bajpai

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I was interested in exploring the deep psychological trauma ingrained in post-war Japan, particularly stemming from the experience of nuclear warfare which has a profound influence on Japanese popular culture, leading to doomsday cities such as Tokyo as recurring themes in films and media. Critics like Susan Sontag suggest these narratives serve as a means to address and cope with the collective trauma experienced by the population. Susan Sontag’s perspective on the appeal of postwar science fiction cinema, exemplified through films like “Gojira” (1954), illustrates the connection between trauma and storytelling. “Gojira” visually captures the destruction of Tokyo. Sontag argues

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[Reading Response] Hong Kong: Culture and the politics of disappearance.

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Reading respond to Hong Kong: Culture and the politics of disappearance from Abbas, M. A. This article discusses the vanishing Hong Kong culture and politics. It examines how Hong Kong’s unique urban environment and landscape disappeared due to government policies. The text analyzes how the built environment and architecture of Hong Kong reflect a sense of transience and impermanence, as the city continuously experiences demolition, redevelopment, and change. For example, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the clock tower shows an imaginary community but works to keep the colonial subject in place, occupied with gazing at images of identity. As

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Cat Links Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

[Reading Response2] Noir Urbanisms delves into the paradox of urban de

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Noir Urbanisms delves into the paradox of urban development and demonstrates how cities, often seen as innovation centers, can also become stages of differentiation and dystopia. This article critically examines the socio-economic inequality exhibited in urban space, using examples from cities around the world to illustrate the conflicting outcomes of urban progress. A central theme is the critique of the concept of “smart cities”. It challenges the assumption that technological progress fundamentally improves urban life. On the contrary, it indicates that these technologies can enhance monitoring and control, potentially infringing on individual freedom and privacy. This key viewpoint is crucial

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Cat Links Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

[Reading Response]-Abbas, M. A. (1997). Hong Kong: Culture and the politics of disappearance (pp. 63-90)

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The concept of disappearance is a recurring theme in Ackbar Abbas’s “Building on Disappearance,”which exploring how Hong Kong’s rapid urbanisation and modernization have resulted in the loss of physical structures, neighbourhoods, and cultural landmarks, leading to a sense of disorientation and collective memory loss among its residents. The author argues that the vanishing of architectural entities has shaped the city’s identity and social fabric and reflects on the complex relationship between architecture, memory, and identity. As I read “Building on Disappearance,” I was struck by the notion that disappearing structures can contribute to a sense of disorientation and loss of

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Cat Links Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

[Reading Response 2] Oh No, There Goes Tokyo, Leung Nim Yan

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After reading “Oh No, There goes Tokyo”, I would like to respond to the change of the image of giant creatures.  I agree with the point mentioned in the reading: the historical factor highly affects the image of giant monsters/ creatures in movies or TV series. During the WWII, Japan received two nuclear booms from the United States. I regard the original Gojira (monster) and the Ultraman (Alien) as two different perspectives towards unknown threats. They both represent the unhandled power in the Japanese perspective. Gojira, as a monster which has brought destruction towards Japan, was defeated by Japanese technology. This has

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[Reading Response 2] Oh No, There Goes Tokyo by William M. Tsutsui, Cheung Wan Suet

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There is a thematic parallel between Japan’s calamitous historical past and its visual culture and artistic creation, predominantly characterised by the doom-laden fictional apocalypses. From natural disasters to the nuclear threat, to the burst of a beautiful bubble of economic prosperity, the historical vulnerability led to the perceivable pessimism and unhealable trauma expression in most aspects of its cultural output.  However, the reading expresses an interesting point of view to challenge the very established notion of the gloomy “aesthetic of destruction” with a contrasting kind of optimism and hopefulness that lay underneath the seeming surface of pessimism. For films of

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Cat Links 2024 Blog, Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

[Reading Response] Oh No, There Goes Tokyo_Zhao Meijing

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Reading response 2 Oh No, There Goes Tokyo: Recreational Apocalypse and the City in Postwar Japanese Popular Culture Zhao Meijing 3036126991 This article mainly discusses the reasons and functions of the disaster culture in Japan from post-World War II to today. Tokyo has been permanently destroyed in many artworks. It mirrored Tokyo’s historical vulnerability to catastrophe, especially the trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the post-World War II period, the Japanese regarded life as complete insecurity. The successful resistance to monsters was the escape from failure in history. However, repeating the catastrophe made audiences less concerned about the reality. On

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[Reading Response 2] : Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance

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Abbas’s composition regarding the disappearance of historical buildings in Hong Kong raises concerns about preservation and integration. The “disappearance” is implied as a substitution for another, starting from waves of Chinese immigration and economic development changing the city into a vast network of interconnected architectural systems. The external horizontal pressures contributed to local and merely local places being demolished for vertical high-rise buildings. This is the case of the Shek Kip Mei, the first public housing estate to counter an urban crisis from the government acquiring valuable land. Simultaneously, these new spaces serve multiple purposes, mixing commercial and residential use.

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