Godzilla on My Mind

Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters by William M. Tsutsui

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This 2004 book coincided with 50 years since Godzilla’s first appearance in 1954’s “Gojira.” William Tsutsui, University of Kansas Professor and huge Godzilla fan has put together a breezy trip through those 50 years. In that time, 27 movies were made, and the character has made an indelible impression on popular culture throughout the world.

What started as a semi-serious metaphor for post-World War Japan soon settled into camp, featuring cheesy monsters and improbably conceived monster children. This was in part due to the need of the Japanese film industry to turn a profit by making movies that appealed to children, a process that Tsutsui discusses.

What Godzilla means to many people may differ from culture to culture, but for millions of fans throughout the world Godzilla is a beloved symbol of strength, individuality, and wanton destruction. Godzilla is remembered for breathing fire and smashing buildings without a second thought.

The chapters cover the “birth” of the monster, the franchise, and how his (or maybe “her”) influence has spread into language and television and literature. It is a survey, not an in-depth look, but nonetheless I feel that I have learned more than I knew before.

The mildly innocent lament for an earlier, simpler time in American culture may seem a little dated in this hyper partisan world we live in now (one reference to Donald Trump seems odd, in retrospect) but overall, this was an enjoyable trip into the King of the Monsters.




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