Godzilla, that cheesy monster movie
was Americanized from Gojira.
The original’s director, Ishiro Honda
traveled through
as a returning Japanese soldier
saw the devastation of nuclear war
and decided to make a film
about the horror of atomic bombing.
The A-Bomb’s fire storm
became Godzilla’s deadly radioactive breath
became
The first boat Godzilla destroys
was based on the Lucky Seven
a tuna boat too close to the first H Bomb test
(Americans in the area were warned
but Japanese were not so…lucky.)
The boat’s radio operator got sick
American doctors would not help
his agonizing death took a year.
He was the first victim of the H Bomb.
Japanese audiences watching Gojira
saw a nuclear allegory about
Americans watching Godzilla
saw Japanese killed by a monster.
Talk about your culture clash.
Isn’t that funny?
Why aren’t the Japanese laughing?
Victor Schwartzman
victors@mts.net
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