A rant: I hate Godzilla fandom

[Madison Carter]

Bear with me.

Reading over some other boards (I refuse to name names, it's not my intention to start flame wars), I have become increasingly alienated by a large percentage of G-fandom. I'm seeing grown men talking and acting like 5 year olds.

I'm almost 30. I love the Godzilla films, all of them. I love talking about them, discussing them, etc. But it embarrasses the hell out of me to see people who say things that make Trekkies look cool.

Outside of the first film, the Godzilla films, and most all other kaiju, are not "important" films. They are not masterpieces. They are not usually artistic in merit. What they are, though, are an escape, they are fun, and they are entertaining.

Complaining about how the "outside" world treats Godzilla's image is futile. To demand respect for a series of movies where a giant monster destroys cities, fights giant moths and does jigs after beating up other monsters is pointless. Fifty, a hundred, two hundred years from now, the Godzilla series will be seen the same way it is now.

My little diatrabe won't change the world, I know. I'm just venting.

[Xenorama ™]

here i thought this was about what is going on with some other boards (being taken over and all).

i tend to agree with you, but every fandom has their, er, more peculiar fans, sadly, and due to home video and internet it seems like now all they DO is limit themselves to one tiny genre instead of exploring the other parts of it, or even life.

i guess we can take comfort in the fact most of these types don't breed...

[stareater]

What the hell does rant mean?

Seriously, I hate you. I was just about to discuss the vast, deep expressionism of each Godzilla battle and show how they explain the vices of world society and, if analyzed correctly, answer the question, "What is the meaning of life?". Now you've ruined that!

No, really, seriously, I agree with what you're saying. This tends to happen with a portion of the fanbase of any given film, series, sports franchise, and so on. It's akin to people that get freaked out and offended when you don't take professional wrestling seriously. I get a good chuckle when I surf by the many boards where fans of something have heated, nasty flamewars over the silliest things. Family Guy, which I'm a huge fan of, is a perfect example. Fans out there have battles over the merits of the show as compared to The Simpsons, and will wish death upon those who don't see the show as the Holy Grail of animated comedy. It can get crazy.

The G films are fun, campy experiences for the most part. The original had very dark overtones, and was pretty much an expression of what Japan went through with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Beyond that, it's just a fun series with a guy in a rubber suit smashing scale model buildings, as you said. People tend to take things way too seriously. Look at the lunatics who are in Florida allowing their children to get arrested prostesting the Terri Schiavo ordeal. Fanatics are everywhere, taking things far too seriously.

Dennis Miller speaking on TV: "I don't wanna go on a rant here, but America's foreign policy makes about as much sense as Beowulf having sex with Robert Fulton at the first battle of Antietam. I mean, when a neo-conservative defenestrates it's like Raskolnikov filibuster deoxymonohydroxinate." Peter Griffin: "What the hell does rant mean?" - Family Guy

[Gwangi]

I must admit that in my younger days, I was truly passionate and use to get into pointless arguments (and not just Godzilla, but I use to argue about The Beatles as well, as them being the greatest rock group of all time and anyone who didn’t see it that way was just plain loony).

As you get older, you realize it shouldn’t explode into big deal and as David said, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to this one genre. I like to think that I’ve expanded my base and have seen and loved many other features I probably would not have seen only 5 years ago. Now, I like to think of myself not just as a Godzilla fan, but a big movie fan overall.

Yes, once in a while something will come up that I like to have a good discussion or debate (in a courteous manner of course). For instance, I just finished reading “Godzilla on My Mind” by William Tsutsui. It was well written, but there were some points that I disagreed with.

1 For the author, all the dubbing in Godzilla films was atrocious which is something non G-fans always like to keep saying. (For me, AIP and guys like Paul Frees, Peter Fernandez, Marvin Miller did a fantastic job. No, not all dubbing is bad).
2. Minya was an abomination. (That’s something I could have a difference on opinion as well).
3. And the first Godzilla movie was so good that it shouldn’t warrant any criticism unlike the rest of the features. (Again, I think the first Godzilla movie was fantastic and clearly the most darkest of all the movies, but for me it was not the best and why not discuss some fallacies it may have had?)

Again, it’s really no big deal. Those points are just a difference of opinion (though I wouldn’t mind having a good discussion with author about them). David, I hope you come out with your own book someday and hopefully talk about how good the dubbing was and other things like that!

[005]

I just don't see the point of hacking another man's website and calling him gay, as if that were a bad thing, and otherwise harassing him when you're BOTH FANS OF THE SAME sprockING FILM SERIES. Jesus Christ, this is hardly West Coast-East Coast, which was incredibly petty and stupid. I suppose at least they ain't shootin each other... yet.

(For those who haven't seen it: www.tokyomonsters.com/)

[Zone Fighter]

So we shouldn't take the murder of a woman by her adulterous husband and a corrupt judicial system aided by a leftist media seriously. That the right to life (with out which there are no other rights) no longer exists in this country isn't a serious matter? It shouldn't bother anybody that the judges ignored a congressional order, in violation of the Constitution. Or that we have a chief executive (president) and a legislature that are too spinless to stand up to the courts. Our system of 3 equal branches of government has been destroyed but we shouldn't take that seriously. That police in Florida are acting like the gestapo shouldn't be taken seriously? That Governor Jeb Bush is a coward, who refuses to do his duty, we should just ignore. What the heck is wrong with you? The day Terri Schiavo dies is the day this country dies.

[Torgaman]

I believe that Godzilla fans themselves alienate themselves even more by not liking modern Hollywood productions.Let's face it,even the new TOHO stuff is not
as technically proficient as what Hollywood is cranking out.I think this makes alot of fans feel threatened and they would rather say any modern big budget Hollywood film sucks because deep down they know that Toho's product fall short.Good example:Most fans will say how bad the STAR WARS films are.This certainly
isn't a good way to turn the vast majority of non genre
viewers to the Godzilla films.I have met alot of STAR WARS fans and believe it or not have actually been able to discuss NON STAR WARS stuff with them,wether it be GODZILLA,BLAKE 7,DR WHO,whatever.Unfortunately too
many Godzilla fans have unfortunately taken the bitter
road and have turned against other films and at times even each other.And as for those groups/message boards that don't allow flaming and mudslinging they are filled with daily meaningless tripe about the birthdays of even the most inconsequential actors in GODZILLA films and other geeky tidbits.It is a sad shame that GODZILLA fandom has devolved into a nightmarish crossbreed of Damon Foster and John Rocco
Roberto.I long for the ol' TRISTAR GODZILLA days when the fans united in common hatred.Splintered and fractioned hatred is no fun.