Japan Times: Critics Get Frank When It Comes To Godzilla

Above, Richard Pusateri (right) and Armand with a GMK Godzilla prop at Toho Studios in 2001. Photo courtesy of Richard Puasateri.

The Japan Times has an interesting article on the differences of movie critics in Japan and in Western countries when it comes to subjects pertaining to Japanese pop culture.

It begins with:

Because Japanese media are incestuous in their inter-corporate dealings, those writers referred to as hyōronka (critics) tend to be less critical about popular culture than their counterparts in North America and Europe. They are more likely to engage in punditry or public relations, because complaining about the quality of a movie, album or novel risks upsetting someone in the same business — publishing, broadcasting, advertising — who could influence your professional life.

This appears to be the "norm" in Japan. Except for one subject: Godzilla. Why?

The article states:

But Godzilla is different. Godzilla belongs to Japan, as both a film series and a character, in a way that demands scrutiny whenever non-Japanese attempt to use the monster for their own ends. In 1998, the first time Hollywood made a feature starring the big lizard, the Japanese press was mostly silent, a reaction that indicated displeasure with the movie, which basically transplanted the monster’s famous disregard for urban infrastructure from Tokyo to New York without providing a story that was compelling. But what mainly bothered them was the transformation of Godzilla into a typical dinosaur. Godzilla may be cold-blooded and scaly and huge, but he’s nobody’s T-Rex.

To read the article, go here.