Comparative Literature

Monstrous Meltdown: Analyzing Contemporary Godzilla Films Through Theoretical Lenses on Climate Change and Environmentalism

This paper discusses two recent entries in the long-running Godzilla franchise and analyzes them through theoretical frameworks related to the conceptual modern Anthropocene era of substantial human impact on nature. In addition, this paper also details the history of Godzilla in Japan and the United States and the series’ thematic progression over seven decades. Parts of this paper are based on an earlier version that I completed during my undergrad, for which I was nominated for Georgia Tech’s LMC Writing Award in 2018. While writing this paper, I had a chance to speak with Dr. William Tsutsui, an accomplished scholar on Godzilla’s history and cultural impact, and we talked about themes and symbolism in Godzilla films, as well as the future of the franchise.