The Influence of Science Fiction

The filmmakers’ main ideas are that the government misled and lied to the people of the U.S. so that they would believe that the atomic bomb would have no effect on their health and security, that we should question if the government should have lied to the American people, and to make us question whether or not the citizens of the U.S. would continue to be as naive as the people of the 1950’s.

World War II had just ended. Women that were working because their husbands were out fighting in the war came back home when the war ended. The 1940’s ended and it was time for a new decade. The 1950’s were looked as a state of mind or a way of living instead of another time in American history. The 1950’s were the most influential decade in American history because the civil rights act began, fashion was completely new and trendy there were more much advancement in entertainment and medicine, and suburban life was much more functional than any other decade in America.

In 1956, America released Godzilla, King of Monsters! This “Amercanized” version of the original changed the theme entirely. It was no longer a film with a deeper, underlying message. It was now just a cheesy scary movie about a giant lizard. “The Americanized version of the film, issued in 1956, cut out all the atomic bomb references, slashed some twenty minutes of film and replaced it with ridiculous scenes of an American reporter, Steve Martin (Raymond Burr) racing about Japan chasing Godzilla. The American producers decided that the U.S. was not ready for a look at the destruction of Japan through the eyes of the victims.” (Chadwick) The monster also has a new origin story now. It was the Japanese’s fault. In this version of the movie, the origin from radiated sand is just left out. The film ends by Steve Martin saying, "The menace was gone, so was a great man. But the whole world could wake up and live again". This is a much more upbeat ending. In the original, it ends with a warning of continual use, and the “Americanized” version ends with hope. By changing the tone of the ending, it gives the audience two diverging perspectives towards nuclear testing from the two

The film Godzilla’s release in particular brought some tension between the Americans and Japanese. The film caused contradictory views of Godzilla’s symbolism from either sides. One of remembrance and one of guilt suppression. In Japan the movie Godzilla brought along with it an anti – American sentiment. Whereas, in America it was a form of suppression of guilt from the deaths the U.S military caused towards Japans populace. In her article “Godzilla/Gojiro: Evolution of the Nuclear Metaphor.” Nancy Anisfield states the opposing views of Americans and the Japanese “The Japanese embrace the bomb/ monster into their cultural conscience, whereas Americans push it away.” (Anisfield, pg.53) The Japanese people used Godzilla as a form of coping

The films Godzilla and Them! contain many similarities and differences. The most significant similarities are there representation of the atomic fear during the ending of the Second World War. Both Japan and the United States knew the catastrophic damage any future atomic bombs might cause thus intensifying their fear. William M. Tsutsui refers to an argument from writer Susan Sontag

Also America had a boom economy and there is also another baby boo during the end of the 1950s America was also very conservative (ask Karen about the conservative Americans in the 50s) the civil rights movement also started in the 1950s which was the boar versus education (put with it is) and Rosa parks there was the Cold War also started to happen (the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union because Americans believe that the spread of communism anywhere threaten democracy and capitalism everywhere that idea shape American foreign-policy America started to take a turn for the worse because many people in the US worried that Communists could destroy American society from the inside as well from the outside which made sense of thousands of Americans lose their job as well as their families and friends in the anti-Communist red scare of the 50s Open parentheses what is the red scare) because of all that the 60s was a new time and everything that happened in America from the 50s and down changed forever because of the 60s The world was on the on the brink of nuclear war and society was not moving

With the dropping of the Atomic bomb that ended WWII and the beginning of the Cold War, there was an irony of stability and turmoil in the United States. The start of the 1950s brought about many changes, from the Red Scare and threat of the possible spread of communism in America, to changes in political movements, civil rights movements, and another possible war, there were many significant events and people during this time.

Science fiction is concerned with the exploration of new worlds. It’s weird and wonderful subject matter is fundamentally an examination of humanity and its concerns (Lavender 2011, 7; Jameson 2005, 13). When we apply cultural, political, and economic lenses to science fiction (Jameson; Lavender; Žižek 2008; Dick and Sutin 1995), allegories of humanities deepest concerns are revealed to be at the heart of science fiction. These aspects of science fiction make it an ideal platform to pose the question: Can humanity reach a utopia when it is constrained by its past ideologies?

The 1950’s had a lot of ups and downs and formed today's society. After the war many Americans thought the future was going to be full of peace and prosperity. About 4 million babies were born each year during the 1950s. Since many men went to war, women had to get jobs in factories for supplies for the war. After the war was over, many men were coming home to find that their wives

Many social changes occured in the 60’s. First of all, President John F. Kennedy was killed. After the murder, Lyndon was elected into office but it was hard for him to take step of the White house without facing protesters against the war in Vietnam. Lastly people started questioning their belief in God.

Today we have a big number of different versions of movies “Godzilla”. Godzilla is the favorite monster in Japan and which is embodiment of the culture desire of the powerful and strong country. The monster presents as the most famous pop culture icon of Japan whose role is to solve politico-social conflict. The early 50’s were extremely difficult time in the World history. At this time, after WOW II, in the world occurs worsening of the politico-social conflict between the major world powers. Japan becomes the place where the tragedy is occurred and as a result of which the Japanese civilians were bombed by the nuclear weapon in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Cohen “Thesis VII” from “Thesis I: The Monster’s Body is a Culture Body.”, the author explains, “The monster is born only at [a] metaphoric crossroads, as an embodiment f a certain culture moment-of a time, a feeling, and a place.” In fact, this conflict inspired to create Godzilla who is symbol of Japan tragedy and important part of culture tradition of country. "Thesis Seven: The monster Stands at the Threshold ...of Becoming." Monsters are our children, “claims Cohen. “They can be pushed to the farthest margin of geography and discourse, hidden away at the edges of the world and the forbidden recesses of the mind, but they always return." Godzilla is popular monster in the world. It is the relevant today though place, time, and fears

In a world where science fiction is said to be a dead genre, there may still be hope for it. Many science fiction writers have turned their heads against their own medium. There are many reasons why this genre of writing is still relevant to today. I analyzed "The End of Science Fiction" and "The Expostulation" for the evidence provided in this essay. In the following paragraphs I will discuss just some of the supportive claims I gathered from both texts. I will talk about how science fiction helps us understand our world better and how this type of writing will always sell. Science Fiction has also taught us how to see what we have been doing in our world, sometimes as human beings we become oblivious to the world and all that we have created.

Nuclear weapons are the most inhumane weapons invented. In the article “The Moral Instinct” Steven Pinker discusses the use of nuclear weapons, which has caused a controversy among individuals and their morals. In John Bergers, “Hiroshima” he also speaks about the use of nuclear weapons that have resulted in catastrophic damages of the city in Japan. Nuclear weapons have led to questioning the nature of science as seen in Richard Feynman “The Value of Science.” Nuclear weapons should be abolished.

According to the three articles, as well as messages conveyed in the films Akira and Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, the dropping of the atomic bombs has had a continual impact on Japanese culture and thought. The rise of science fiction and apocalyptic films can be seen as a direct way in which the atomic bombs impacted Japanese culture. These films explore the “traumatic fascination” with a nuclear apocalypse that so many people want to draw near to and understand (Lamarre 130). During the climax of Akira, Kei states that the final explosion destroying the dystopian Neo-Tokyo is “fantastic” since she is in awe of its power, just like how many are awed by destructive powers both in reality and film (Otomo). Japanese apocalyptic anime often portrays the message of the potential damage that science can do, such as mutation and unharnessed destruction, because of the harm caused by the atomic bombs (Napier 330). Science can be extremely dangerous if it is taken too far without moral constraints and should be handled

Despite decades between their writings, the similarities between H.G. Wells and P.K. Dick are numerous and include the fact that both authors were far ahead of their time, had aspirations regarding the universe and a future electronic era to come, had a theme revolving around a distant planet, and challenged humanity. Both science fiction authors were beyond their time. Wells had the capability of “lifting up our fathers’ hearts with hopes, exciting them with the feeling that a new world was at the point of being born and they were to inherit it“ (Dickson 17). Throughout all of his works, P.K. Dick “focused on conveying the truth of his many-faceted visions without regard for critical expectations and genre conventions” (Mackey 128). It is