Godzilla

Let me begin with a short history of what Godzilla means to me, otherwise this whole thing won't have any impact.

I have always loved Godzilla, but that love has certainly grown with me. As a young child they movies were simply fun. As I got older they became interesting as well as fun. Some time around high school I began to realize that there was actually something deeper at work with the character despite all of the ridiculousness that had been piled upon it. By the time I entered college it had become a full-fledged obsession and I actually began philosophizing upon Godzilla. I became plugged into the American Godzilla community and started realizing that I wasn't the only one taking this seriously. In November 1997 I made the decision to permanently remind myself of the importance this character had to me and got him tattooed on my left arm. I have (and I know this worries some people) never regretted this. Near the end of my next-to-last year of college my undergraduate advisor, because my GPA was pretty good, suggested I do a senior's thesis. I decided to go all out and asked if it would be possible to do it on Godzilla and to my surprise he was all about it. He told me to spend the summer reading Emanuel Kant's Critique of Judgment as preparation and, to my surprise and the shock of nearly everyone I mention this to, it was right on topic. I ended up writing a 42 page paper on Godzilla and his position as a necessary image in the nuclear age. For my work I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Florida. It was now official. I was a Godzilla Fan.

Now, allow me to shift gears for a moment and discuss something totally different. I am also a big fan of martial arts movies. I love a great film as much as the next movie buff but when it's time to unwind and simply enjoy something nothing gets me as excited as a great martial arts flick. I also love movies about monsters, which should come as no surprise considering everything written above. So, when I was informed about a little movie called Versus I had to see it. It is an action/comedy samurai/martial arts/yakuza(Japanese mafia)/zombie movie which sounded like it would be right up my alley. Well, it was and the director, Ryuhei Kitamura quickly became one of my absolute favorites. Those of us who loved Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson's early work were elated to hear that they had been given the directorial positions for Spider-Man and Lord of the Rings respectively. These were great, somewhat unknown, directors who had been allowed to really enter the mainstream with major characters and major movies. So, when I found out that Ryuhei Kitamura would be directing Godzilla: Final Wars I couldn't have been more excited.

So now we reach the point of this whole post. Godzilla: Final Wars is the 28th Godzilla movie, making it the longest running film series ever. It is also ostensibly the final film, although when this was announced by Toho (the studio who makes the movies) they were sure to say that it was possible they might change their mind later. Still, it may very well be the last one ever and is certainly the last one in the current series and the last for some time to come.

It was released in Japan yesterday, Saturday December 4th. I headed into Sendai today to see it with four other people. I think my desire to see it during opening weekend is understandable and I am very happy that others were willing to come with me. One of those four people was an English teacher from my Junior High, a Japanese person. So, obviously he understood the whole thing. I followed nearly everything and actually understood about 50% of the dialogue. My other three friends know absolutely no Japanese so I kept them updated on what I was understanding. It really says something that they were willing to see the 28th movie in a series of which they had collectively seen 3 in a language they didn't understand at all. It says something even bigger that they all thoroughly enjoyed it. I on the other hand, had to remind myself to stop grinning. I know it's silly, but when I was officially accepted into the JET program one of the first things I was excited about was today. I would, for the first time ever, get to see a Godzilla movie, in the theater, in Japan, on opening weekend, in Japanese, and likely would be able to follow it. Honestly, I'm still sort of buzzing from the experience.

Although there are many reasons I decided to devote myself to the study of Japanese the one that got me started was the desire to watch Godzilla movies in their original language and be able to understand them. Today, that was realized. Sure, it's not over. I have a long way to go and I am fully enamored with the language and the culture here. But the simple and childish dream which got me to start down the road I find myself was realized in a small (and boy were we surprised when we saw it) theater watching the best Godzilla movie in 50 years, occasionally turning to the people sitting next to me to let them know what was being said.

I know that on some level this all seems ludicrous. I watched a movie where a guy in a rubber suit wrestles other guys in rubber suits today and I'm making a big deal out of it. But as I sit here typing what is quite honestly a rather emotional post for me, trying not to tear up, it doesn't seem ludicrous to me. Whether or not my love for Godzilla carries on for the rest of my life, I am having an absolutely extraordinary experience here in Japan, and Godzilla is what got me here. I have met some of the greatest people since I got on this program and the fact that a few of them were not only willing but excited to join me in this venture today only proved it further. What can I say? I'm a true fan.

And the movie itself? For me, the word awesome (in its truest sense) has never seemed quite so weak.