Godzilla Retrospective: A Look Back at the World’s Favourite Monster

Free Talk Event

September 25, 2024

Godzilla has from its inception been more than a giant monster. One can argue that Godzilla serves as a barometer for Japan’s cultural zeitgeist and the times in which we live. Godzilla remains intimately connected with the human experience, reflecting and representing the hope, joy, anxiety, anticipation, frailty and confusion that necessarily accompany existence. One might argue that this very attribute of Godzilla—that Godzilla is just as much human as it is monster—has lead to the 70 years of international popularity seen by the monster, as well as why the release of a new Godzilla film is always an auspicious occasion. Just as Godzilla only periodically rears its head within the fictional worlds of the films in which it stars, Godzilla appears to audiences only sporadically, presenting us an opportunity to answer an important question: Have we made progress as human beings? This is the standard set by the 1954 Japanese original film, Gojira, but is a question posed at various points throughout the monster’s history.

This talk will serve as a retrospective on the many forms of Godzilla, from the Japanese film cannon, to the Hollywood remakes and animated series. Join us as we revisit the allegories of the original film, reacquaint ourselves with the various iterations of Godzilla and attempt to respond to Godzilla’s pressing questions toward humanity.

Topics to be covered

Godzilla films
Monster movies
Post-war Japan
Nuclear transformation
Cultural adaptation

Additional Event: Godzilla Quiz

As an added bonus, we will be holding a special Godzilla quiz event! Test your Godzilla knowledge and win Godzilla-related prizes*.

*Prizes will be given to onsite attendees only.

SPEAKER

DR JASON JONES

Jason Christopher Jones is Lecturer and Coordinator of Japanese Studies at Monash University. His work centers on cultural adaptation as represented in Japanese film, television, animation, manga, and other texts. He has written academic papers on Godzilla adaptations, frequently given public talks on Godzilla and recently co-written a short article on Godzilla Minus One in The Conversation. His most recent research topics have seen him examining the world from the perspective of the Japanese sommelier in wine manga, (re)visiting the 1960s, 70s and 80s to investigate the image-creating capacity of US media products in Japan and viewing the Japanese horror film as a reflection of the Japanese cultural zeitgeist. He is also an active subtitler and scripter for a number of international streaming services. He is currently working on a monograph on Japanese body horror film and co-hosts the horror film podcast, Super Fun Scary Cast.

This is the first day of the talk event, Celebrating Godzilla: 70 Years of the Iconic King of the Monsters.