The Godzilla Cringe Thread

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

On the subject of cringe and Godzilla 1985, the Dr. Pepper product placement in the American edit is pretty atrocious. And editing the nuclear launch scene so that the Russian Colonel deliberately fires the missile instead of trying to stop it is a pretty cringeworthy display of anti-Russian bias.

[Fish Cakes]

You guys ever been to G-fest?

[eabaker]

You guys ever been to G-fest?

Numerous times between 1996 and 2003, but none since then.

[Fish Cakes]

You guys ever been to G-fest?

Numerous times between 1996 and 2003, but none since then.

I went in 2015. It was pretty cringe. Despite that, I wanna go back, I hear it's gotten even more crowded though. The friend I went with refuses to go back because "why spend money to be surrounded by a bunch of sweaty old guys who collect toys?"

[eabaker]

You guys ever been to G-fest?

Numerous times between 1996 and 2003, but none since then.

I went in 2015. It was pretty cringe. Despite that, I wanna go back, I hear it's gotten even more crowded though. The friend I went with refuses to go back because "why spend money to be surrounded by a bunch of sweaty old guys who collect toys?"

There were definitely some people who tripped my "avoid at all costs" alarms, but others who I had a pretty good time chatting with, a few who are now at least Facebook friends (the kind whose posts I actually read and comment on sometimes).

[Fish Cakes]

There were definitely some people who tripped my "avoid at all costs" alarms, but others who I had a pretty good time chatting with, a few who are now at least Facebook friends (the kind whose posts I actually read and comment on sometimes).

There was this one cringelord in a weird striped hat when I went who was super loud and obnoxious (reminds me of that guy who filmed the corpse in Aokigahara in retrospect, except he was in his late-thirties), and some dude with a Minilla puppet he was walking round with and doing voices for. Also saw 5 year olds smashing SHMAs together in the lobby while their parents were on their cell phones. The dealers' room was horribly crowded. There was no indication you could go downstairs to watch movies either, I skipped that entire floor. They had REALLY good calamari in the hotel's restaurant though. Chatted with some cool online friends, brought home some nice souvenirs.

[eabaker]

and some dude with a Minilla puppet he was walking round with and doing voices for.

Okay, this I wish I had seen.

[2009MECHAGODZILLA]

some dude with a Minilla puppet he was walking round with and doing voices for

oh god, was it this guy

[MinorBone Good]

I've always wanted to go to G-fest, but really don't have the money to travel.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

I grew up going to G-Fest with my Dad and a couple of friends. Went almost every year between 2003 and 2011, then high school and college happened. I went back for the first time as an adult this past year and had a great time. But yes, there is definitely some cringe. Lots of unattended spoiled kids hitting each other with toys and plenty of morbidly obese neckbeards, as is the case at any convention. Dealer's room is definitely crowded, but I'm used to it.

[UltramanGoji]

I've been to G-FEST four times and can't say there's really anything super obnoxious about the attendees. Every time I go, I go with friends and just hang around with them the whole time. There are plenty of problems with the staff and general management of the convention, though.

[Fish Cakes]

some dude with a Minilla puppet he was walking round with and doing voices for

oh god, was it this guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROAjPosgUSU

Yes. That was it. Thumbnail is enough, you can't make me watch that.

Also, being used to, being a part of (me), or turning a blind eye to the cringe of G-fest doesn't make it any less cringe. Uwu

I mostly just chilled with friends too fwiw, I wouldn't go again unless I had at least two people to go with.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Anytime you exit your house you run the risk of seeing crazy people or weirdos. Don't worry though, the Japanese fandom is way more cringey.

This might seem a little strange for me to say, but the aspects of the western fandom that are more "weebish" (as in they see Godzilla as cool because it's Japanese, or some insecurity that they're 'inferior' fans because they're not Japanese) probably the worst thing ever. I've encountered it a few times and it's amusing because a lot of you are all way more chill then what I've seen.

[Fish Cakes]

Anytime you exit your house you run the risk of seeing crazy people or weirdos. Don't worry though, the Japanese fandom is way more cringey.

This might seem a little strange for me to say, but the aspects of the western fandom that are more "weebish" (as in they see Godzilla as cool because it's Japanese, or some insecurity that they're 'inferior' fans because they're not Japanese) probably the worst thing ever. I've encountered it a few times and it's amusing because a lot of you are all way more chill then what I've seen.

I think the worst was when Kotaku reported that Japan as a whole thought G2014 looked fat based on a few 2chan posts and seemingly everyone here just believed that.

Or the constant cries of nationalism in Shin Godzilla because they wanted to handle their problems themself but then we get ours JUICED UP with a nuke spoon-fed by Serizawa.

Or the people who say Gojira and Mosura instead of Godzilla and Mothra.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Anytime you exit your house you run the risk of seeing crazy people or weirdos. Don't worry though, the Japanese fandom is way more cringey.

This might seem a little strange for me to say, but the aspects of the western fandom that are more "weebish" (as in they see Godzilla as cool because it's Japanese, or some insecurity that they're 'inferior' fans because they're not Japanese) probably the worst thing ever. I've encountered it a few times and it's amusing because a lot of you are all way more chill then what I've seen.

I think the worst was when Kotaku reported that Japan as a whole thought G2014 looked fat based on a few 2chan posts and seemingly everyone here just believed that.

Or the constant cries of nationalism in Shin Godzilla because they wanted to handle their problems themself but then we get ours JUICED UP with a nuke spoon-fed by Serizawa.

Or the people who say Gojira and Mosura instead of Godzilla and Mothra.

Yeah. It's like "Whatever the Japanese fanbase says must invalidate our thoughts".

One thing that the Western fanbase has over the Japanese fanbase for sure is a bigger cultural context in terms of the western inspirations for Godzilla. This is really hard to summarize in one neat post, but for the most part many people I met or talked to don't really acknowledge Godzilla's western inspirations (such as Kong), and don't really talk about how a lot of early Godzilla films were joint productions with American companies. A lot of them are really obnoxious Heisei fans who jerk off to Mogera and SMG in the same way that traditional weeb Gundam/Evangelion fans jerk off mecha related stuff, and are completely oblivious to the fact that originally these series were intended to be Anti-War. One big issue I have with Japanese culture in general is how a lot of stuff that was originally intended and had a good message is hijacked by rampant Japanese capitalism and commercialism. A lot of it is also "consume product=good", which of course myself and many others are guilty of, but it's crazy.

Take what I say with a grain of salt, as I'm only talking about a few people that stuck out to me in a small duration. There were a lot of really older and awesome Godzilla fans I met at the Godzilla Night, that were really chill and understood. I don't mean to generalize, it's just something I noticed.

[KingKong2005]

I've been to G-FEST four times and can't say there's really anything super obnoxious about the attendees. Every time I go, I go with friends and just hang around with them the whole time. There are plenty of problems with the staff and general management of the convention, though.

Whoah, like what?! I've always wanted to go since I was a kid, it's been a dream of mine. So I'm curious as to what the problems are

[SoggyNoodles2016]

Only one I've heard is they're really like stuck in their ways. Like, they don't book any new people like Anno or the anime guys and they have made no consideration of upgrading to a bigger venue.

Curious what else there is

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

I've been to G-FEST four times and can't say there's really anything super obnoxious about the attendees. Every time I go, I go with friends and just hang around with them the whole time. There are plenty of problems with the staff and general management of the convention, though.

Whoah, like what?! I've always wanted to go since I was a kid, it's been a dream of mine. So I'm curious as to what the problems are

Timing of things is really bad. They're always running late, especially when it comes to screening the movies, where they have technical difficulties almost every year. I remember one year when I was a kid, they were showing Godzilla vs. Biollante; I was excited to see it on the big screen, especially since my friend was with me and he had never seen it before. Halfway through, it froze and they never managed to fix it. The big ceremony on Saturday night always seems to go on for too long as well. I will say that this past year's convention ran more smoothly than some I remember from my childhood, so maybe they've gotten better.

[UltramanGoji]

I've been to G-FEST four times and can't say there's really anything super obnoxious about the attendees. Every time I go, I go with friends and just hang around with them the whole time. There are plenty of problems with the staff and general management of the convention, though.

Whoah, like what?! I've always wanted to go since I was a kid, it's been a dream of mine. So I'm curious as to what the problems are

The problems really aren't enough to ruin the overall convention experience, it's just a few small things that can bug you (or at least, bugged me).

The first and biggest problem is the size of the con. It's far, far outgrown the Crowne Plaza O'Hare. You will be pushing through people at least twice during your time there. Because it's an actual functioning hotel during the rest of the year, the con staff have to make due with all the changes made to the place. There used to be a big ballroom area out in the main lobby area that was used for the Artist's Alley. A few years ago, the hotel converted it into a Caddyshack-themed restaurant which means Artist's Alley was thrown into the basement in a much smaller area that is extremely crowded, mostly due to all the people lining up for Matt Frank's stuff (no disrespect to Matt, he's a terrific guy). Panels with celebrity guests are almost always standing room only unless you camp out in the same room for three hours beforehand. The Dealer's room is a constant nightmare and the line to get in on the first day constantly stretches out past the lobby into the elevator area to go to the rooms. There's really no good reason why they can't just move the convention to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center across the street like they did in 2010 when the Crowne underwent some renovations. Maybe JD Lees (con's lead organizer) gets a better deal from the hotel? I'm not sure but it's going to become a massive problem in the next few years unless some steps are taken to remedy it.

Aside from that, the organizer's are also really out of touch with technology. There's almost always some technical difficulty encountered every year due to the organizer's refusal to use anything beyond 2005-era tech. To enter any of the video-related contests, you have to send in physical DVDs. At the Pickwick Theater during movie screenings, sometimes the films are literally just shown from DVDs and not actual film copies or anything. In a year with a kaiju-related film coming out any time before the convention's date, you can absolutely expect them to throw it into the schedule for films that year. That's a YMMV problem, but to me it's very annoying to have a slot wasted on a film I already saw in theaters a few months prior. This happened in 2018 with Rampage and Pacific Rim: Uprising and me and a buddy of mine literally just went to the AMC nearby and watched Ant-Man and the Wasp instead.

Lastly, the panel Q&A's are very hit and miss. If a repeat guest has a panel and you've attended one of theirs before, you're likely going to hear the same information. Akira Takarada's panel last year was very good but it wasn't a whole lot of new information. Sometimes, the interviewer at the panel will ask the most idiotic stuff like what happened last year with Kaneko when the guy asked him about power levels for some of the GMK monsters or whatever. The informational panels on the films themselves are usually very good though and Q&A's with first time or infrequent guests are still fun.

Like I said, these are all mostly minor nitpicks and not really enough to ruin the convention, at least for me. I still enjoy hanging out with friends, shooting the shit, browsing the dealer room and buying cool new stuff, watching the Jeopardy matches, the costume parade, and the theater showings are a blast to attend (last year's showing of KOTM was actually enough for me to change my opinion about the movie itself). It really is the closest thing an American Godzilla fan has to a Mecca, aside from Japan and Toho Studios itself.

[goji89]

I've been to G-FEST four times and can't say there's really anything super obnoxious about the attendees. Every time I go, I go with friends and just hang around with them the whole time. There are plenty of problems with the staff and general management of the convention, though.

Whoah, like what?! I've always wanted to go since I was a kid, it's been a dream of mine. So I'm curious as to what the problems are

The problems really aren't enough to ruin the overall convention experience, it's just a few small things that can bug you (or at least, bugged me).

The first and biggest problem is the size of the con. It's far, far outgrown the Crowne Plaza O'Hare. You will be pushing through people at least twice during your time there. Because it's an actual functioning hotel during the rest of the year, the con staff have to make due with all the changes made to the place. There used to be a big ballroom area out in the main lobby area that was used for the Artist's Alley. A few years ago, the hotel converted it into a Caddyshack-themed restaurant which means Artist's Alley was thrown into the basement in a much smaller area that is extremely crowded, mostly due to all the people lining up for Matt Frank's stuff (no disrespect to Matt, he's a terrific guy). Panels with celebrity guests are almost always standing room only unless you camp out in the same room for three hours beforehand. The Dealer's room is a constant nightmare and the line to get in on the first day constantly stretches out past the lobby into the elevator area to go to the rooms. There's really no good reason why they can't just move the convention to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center across the street like they did in 2010 when the Crowne underwent some renovations. Maybe JD Lees (con's lead organizer) gets a better deal from the hotel? I'm not sure but it's going to become a massive problem in the next few years unless some steps are taken to remedy it.

Aside from that, the organizer's are also really out of touch with technology. There's almost always some technical difficulty encountered every year due to the organizer's refusal to use anything beyond 2005-era tech. To enter any of the video-related contests, you have to send in physical DVDs. At the Pickwick Theater during movie screenings, sometimes the films are literally just shown from DVDs and not actual film copies or anything. In a year with a kaiju-related film coming out any time before the convention's date, you can absolutely expect them to throw it into the schedule for films that year. That's a YMMV problem, but to me it's very annoying to have a slot wasted on a film I already saw in theaters a few months prior. This happened in 2018 with Rampage and Pacific Rim: Uprising and me and a buddy of mine literally just went to the AMC nearby and watched Ant-Man and the Wasp instead.

Lastly, the panel Q&A's are very hit and miss. If a repeat guest has a panel and you've attended one of theirs before, you're likely going to hear the same information. Akira Takarada's panel last year was very good but it wasn't a whole lot of new information. Sometimes, the interviewer at the panel will ask the most idiotic stuff like what happened last year with Kaneko when the guy asked him about power levels for some of the GMK monsters or whatever. The informational panels on the films themselves are usually very good though and Q&A's with first time or infrequent guests are still fun.

Like I said, these are all mostly minor nitpicks and not really enough to ruin the convention, at least for me. I still enjoy hanging out with friends, shooting the poop, browsing the dealer room and buying cool new stuff, watching the Jeopardy matches, the costume parade, and the theater showings are a blast to attend (last year's showing of KOTM was actually enough for me to change my opinion about the movie itself). It really is the closest thing an American Godzilla fan has to a Mecca, aside from Japan and Toho Studios itself.

That was beautiful man.......

Take me with you