sealchan
Well-Known Member
I just saw Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) in the theater. This movie very much reminded me of the classic Godzilla movies which featured, at times, a dizzying array of topics that would often bewilder the average movie goer. In fact, this large array of topics often detracts from the story because it simply opens up too many threads and never deals adequately with any of them in a satisfactory way. This was clearly a "feature" and an "issue" with this latest movie.
However, I am a long time fan and would enjoy discussing the mythic motifs related to Godzilla in this movie and the others. Godzilla is "a thing", a meme, an enduring idea and story.
Omnipotency (Weak Form)
For me the primary motif of Godzilla is his representation as an ultimate force. His initially apparent unstoppability suggests that his origin is well beyond the scope of the most modern technology we mere humans have. He is a force of nature, god-like in his/its/her(?) capabilities. Godzilla is also fairly indestructible being subject to getting knocked out, but never defeated finally defeated.
Divine Ancestor
In this movie he is described as a Titan which I take to be a reference to that ancient Greek tradition of a race of beings which preceded the gods which in turn preceded humanity. As such Godzilla and the other monsters come from a cross-cultural tradition of the myth of the origin of human beings from more powerful and more divine races. We can see a hint of this in Genesis in the story that sets the stage for Noah's flood. In this case the flood is a worldwide catastrophe that also represents God as an ultimate force.
Corruption of the Generations
The motif of the gradual diminishment of the races (or the generations) into that of the human is a common theme across epic myth. it is an interesting inversion, perhaps, of the theory of evolution which describes the progression of species from simpler forms. In the current age of such myths the superior powers of the previous age are diminished and the weaker.
Goddess
Godzilla has aspects of the Goddess as he/she brings both the power of nature to destroy but also the power of balance against destructive forces (humanities' development of nuclear weapons and other invasive practices). As such Godzilla represents the balancing force of nature that responds to that of humanity and demonstrates the natural way of creation as a superior force and one in which we must become attuned. The Goddess also presides over the amoral reality of the life-death-rebirth (aka resurrection) cycle.
Resurrection
In many Godzilla movies, including the latest, there is often a moment when Godzilla is "defeated" only to be seen rising again like a phoenix. This is true of Godzilla but more evidently true for Mothra whose nature, in one early movie, was actually compared directly with the Christ myth.
However, I am a long time fan and would enjoy discussing the mythic motifs related to Godzilla in this movie and the others. Godzilla is "a thing", a meme, an enduring idea and story.
Omnipotency (Weak Form)
For me the primary motif of Godzilla is his representation as an ultimate force. His initially apparent unstoppability suggests that his origin is well beyond the scope of the most modern technology we mere humans have. He is a force of nature, god-like in his/its/her(?) capabilities. Godzilla is also fairly indestructible being subject to getting knocked out, but never defeated finally defeated.
Divine Ancestor
In this movie he is described as a Titan which I take to be a reference to that ancient Greek tradition of a race of beings which preceded the gods which in turn preceded humanity. As such Godzilla and the other monsters come from a cross-cultural tradition of the myth of the origin of human beings from more powerful and more divine races. We can see a hint of this in Genesis in the story that sets the stage for Noah's flood. In this case the flood is a worldwide catastrophe that also represents God as an ultimate force.
Corruption of the Generations
The motif of the gradual diminishment of the races (or the generations) into that of the human is a common theme across epic myth. it is an interesting inversion, perhaps, of the theory of evolution which describes the progression of species from simpler forms. In the current age of such myths the superior powers of the previous age are diminished and the weaker.
Goddess
Godzilla has aspects of the Goddess as he/she brings both the power of nature to destroy but also the power of balance against destructive forces (humanities' development of nuclear weapons and other invasive practices). As such Godzilla represents the balancing force of nature that responds to that of humanity and demonstrates the natural way of creation as a superior force and one in which we must become attuned. The Goddess also presides over the amoral reality of the life-death-rebirth (aka resurrection) cycle.
Resurrection
In many Godzilla movies, including the latest, there is often a moment when Godzilla is "defeated" only to be seen rising again like a phoenix. This is true of Godzilla but more evidently true for Mothra whose nature, in one early movie, was actually compared directly with the Christ myth.
