Godzilla Persuasive Speech

When we think of the 1956 classic “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, we think of a terrible black and white film about a lizard monster plagued with horrible overdubbing. The audience after finishing the film may feel as if they got nothing from the movie but what they don’t know is that what hides below Godzilla’s faults is an in depth analysis of humans, our shortcomings, and the concept of death.

The American remake of the film cut scenes from the Japanese film as a way to introduce Steve Martin to the audience, giving us someone to sympathize with, and minimizing the reason for Godzilla resurfacing and terrorizing the city due to the recent atomic bombings of Japanese cities Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II by Americans. Atomic Bombs are only mentioned once as a

Although he is the first person introduced to us, Steve Martin is not the main character of the movie but a bystander only added into the Japanese film to help the American audience connect more and play as a translator to the Japanese characters who do not have English dubs. Steve’s character represents how America was just a bystander to the destruction of Japan after Godzilla or the atomic bomb Godzilla represents. Similar to the time Godzilla was made, the film does not fairly portrait woman. They are often seen crying hysterically in every scene or surrounded by children giving into the stereotype of the 1950’s woman whose only job was to watch the children and act as a subservient housewife to the man who did most of the work. Emiko is the only woman in Godzilla with a speaking role and besides crying at the end of every scene is cheating on her husband with Ogata. Emiko falls not only under the damaging image of the over emotional woman but she is seen as a cheater who could not stay with her husband. Her accomplishments are ignored as she is the one who convinces Dr. Serizawa to use his “Oxygen Destroyer” because of her