Politics of The American Kaiju Renaissance

For discussions covering more than one Toho film or show that span across more than one “era.”
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SoggyNoodles2016
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Politics of The American Kaiju Renaissance

Post by SoggyNoodles2016 »

I don't even care if this makes sense as a full topic or you merge it, or whatever. This video is just so good, I want to see discussion on it.



I'll start of by saying I love seeing talk about some actual thought about American kaiju's politics. I especially love his praise of some of my underrated favorite kaiju renaissance pieces like Cloverfield and Skull Island and his deep look on why Uprising doesn't work.

What are your opinions?
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MrGoji1999
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Re: Politics of The American Kaiju Renaissance

Post by MrGoji1999 »

Thank you for sharing this incredible video! The amount of depth he goes through the American Kaiju films is outstanding, giving the films more depth that people give them credit for, showing that American Kaiju films also have political commentaries in their films just like the Japanese Kaiju films.

I'm not a huge fan of the first Cloverfield film, but I do admire how they used the camera to make visual allegories about the 9/11 disaster, the found footage style does a nice contrast with how Gojira went for a more documentary-style of camera work to make visual allegories about the WWII atomic bomb incidents. Also, the way they did the viral marketing with Tagruato as a backstory for the film was brilliant, it also showcased a interesting amount of lack of confidence towards the American military trying to solve the problem, which I think it did a good job in that.

I love the first Pacific Rim film because how masterfully manages to add Ishiro Honda's theme about teamwork, using various pilots from other countries teaming with scientist in order to close the portal instead of using full-on military force, something that makes me so disappointed that Uprising decided to heavily ignore by feeling like a military recruitment video just like the Bay Transformers films and even G98, that being one of the main reasons of why PR:U dosen't work.

I really liked the way he explained how the military was portrayed in G14. A lot of people seem to call it pro-military, but I don't think that's how they were portrayed in the film. They were decent human beings trying to do their best on a crisis like giant monsters destroying everything in San Fransisco in their path, but the way they do their plans in order to destroy them is wishful thinking at best, given that their actions have a lot of potentially bad consequences with doing more damage to the city that the monsters themselves, showing that they are not capable to control forces of Mother Nature like Godzilla or the MUTOs. I also loved how Skull Island can be seen as a metaphor for Vietnam War, showing either people's thoughts about the military and war or how American forces try to invade something they understimate, but at the same time can't not understand its opponents, and how they carry their mission with reckless destruction.

I admit I haven't seen Colossal, but the interpretation that the user gives it is interesting enough to make me want to see it. I never thought about Rampage having themes about biological weapons, and that makes me want to give it a rewatch, I found it a lot of fun but this interpretation can make me like it a bit more. Also, glad to see more praise (altough in a non-politically charged way) for the 2017 Power Rangers film. I loved that film and I find it very underrated, and the way they treated teenage issues in the film was compelling.

So all in all, it was a fantastic video, I hope it gets more views and it can lead to very interesting discussions about the Ameican Kaiju films! Hope to see more content of his in the future! :D
Now I have become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds- J. Robert Oppenheimer.

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