LegendZilla wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 8:39 pm
I remember a thread someone started around here discussing how this movie exposes a hypocrisy with this fandom. They addressed that people complained when GINO reproduced asexually in '98, yet Shin Goji does just that in the end of the movie and everyone was fine. In light of that, I want to give my two bucks in addressing a double-standard of the fandom of the fandom regarding this film.
For almost as long as I have dwelled the internet, I have seen most people zealously complain about how in the Heisei films, most kaiju, including Godzilla himself are overly bulky, immobile and constantly spam beams. Yet again, in
Shin's case, those attributes apply just as much to its own version of Godzilla. Say what you will about the Heisei films, but at least in those films, Godzilla was given personality to make up for what those films' special effects which may not have aged well in your eyes.
I know you've posted about this again since, but I wanted to respond to this version of the post, since it's the one in which you specifically bring up the bizarre notion of hypocrisy.
I'm gonna focus on your second point, about the Heisei bulk/beam spamming, although the principles I'm applying here could also largely apply to the asexual reproduction subject.
So, first off, you're starting with the premise that
Shin's fans and the people who complain about Godzilla's bulk and beam spamming in the Heisei series are essentially the same group. If these aren't by and large the same people, then the whole "hypocrisy" thing is a non-starter. So, are you confident that the two groups of people you're conflating are actually the same people?
I do think it's safe to assume there are at least
some people who fall into both groups. And I still don't think those people are being hypocritical in the slightest. Let's dive deeper, shall we?
So, next up, these people need to specifically being saying that the Heisei movies are bad movies in large part
because of Godzilla being bulky and beam spamming. If they like the Heisei movies despite this aspect, or if they dislike the Heisei movies but this is just one smaller factor in the bigger picture, then there's certainly no hypocrisy in their being willing to overlook the problem in
Shin if they feel that it is in other respects a better movies/presentation of the character than the Heisei series. Many would argue that
Shin has more incisive scripting, more dynamic direction, and better cinematography and editing than all or most of the Heisei movies; should they ignore all that to focus their assessments
only on Godzilla's fighting style?
So, can we establish that there is a significant percentage of
Shin lovers who would argue that Heisei Godzilla's bulk and beam spamming alone are sufficiently disastrous elements to significantly undermine a movie's quality regardless of any other aspects? That they are giving
Shin a complete free pass on something that they would treat as unforgivable in another movie, regardless of any other factors?
We also have to consider context. As somebody else pointed out, Shin doesn't fight any other monsters. Shouldn't Godzilla's portrayal depend on the specific needs of the story? And, as such, isn't it perfectly reasonable for the "right" choice in one context to be the "wrong" choice in another? Godzilla's bulk/limited mobility and emphasis on his beam for combat isn't something people criticize in
Return of Godzilla, for example, because the movie doesn't call for a more agile Godzilla, any more than
Shin Godzilla does. In fact,
Return's methodical, somber storytelling benefits from its big, lumbering Godzilla. On other hand, when a huge percentage of a movie's runtime is dedicated to monster-on-monster action, as in the case of
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, kaiju that can engage in a wider variety of combat offer a clear advantage.
And there's the greater context of the movies surrounding them. Complaining about the redundancy/monotony of something that is a running aspect of 6 or 7 consecutive movies (depending on whether we talk about the Heisei series as a whole of just Kawakita's portion) does not mean that one cannot appreciate that same approach if it is an aspect of
one movies, which comes out of an era when other productions are providing a wildly different take.
There's just no case to be made here for hypocrisy, except by distorting people's perspectives and willfully ignoring every bit of relevant context.
Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world.