You know what's great about democracies? Anyone who wants to vote has the right to.
You know what's not so great about them? A lot of people feel obligated to vote.
I'm just going to come right out and say it: the worst thing to happen to American democracy is the idea that everyone is obligated to vote. Really, those "Rock the Vote" ads represent so much that's wrong with our society. Because think about it, if somebody needs flashy commercials and peer pressure to convince them to vote for the future, should they really be voting in the first place?
Yeah, it's important that a good number of people vote. But not everyone has to vote. Quite frankly, only the passionate individuals who really care about governance should vote. Only the political junkies, or people with a solid enough understanding of America and its principles, should be allowed to vote.
Does that mean America would become an oligarchy? No. It'd simply mean that only those who care about government--those who invest time and energy into thinking about it--would vote. Only those who cared about the American government would try to influence it.
It'd certainly be better than people choosing our leaders based on looks, or who's on the ballot first.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Godzilla, A Review
As of late, I've found myself getting more and more captivated by two things: Asian culture and B-Horror films. The Asian culture thing isn't really all that surprising. I'm taking a course in Asian Studies, I'm reading Journey to the West (one of the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature. I think I'll save discussion of that for another post), and in general anime has become quite the subject of discussion among my friend group. I suppose the B-Horror film thing isn't that difficult to figure out, either. Melodramatic cheese has pretty much always been up my alley, and I've always known I liked the genre ever since I saw The Blob in Middle School. Today, I finally watched the movie which manages to combine those two interests. For those among you who felt this post's title was a bit unclear, I watched Godzilla. And you know something, I really enjoyed it.
Basically, the plot of the film is that atomic testing has removed Godzilla from his underground lair. Therefore, he has begun to attack boats and generally prove to be a nuisance to maritime trade. It's not so bad until a storm comes and Godzilla is pushed out of the water, onto an island. People aren't quite sure, but a couple think they saw a monster of some sort. People are generally confused about what's going on, but the next day this scientist named Dr. Yamane goes to the scene and notices a giant footprint which suggests all the damage "caused by the storm" may in fact have been caused by something more... worrisome. Quickly thereafter, Godzilla appears again and everyone freaks out, understandably.
Though Yamane wants to learn about the creature, most everyone else wants to kill it. Underwater depth charges, electric fences, and the like prove futile and no one can figure out how to kill it. Dr. Yamane mopes around about how important a discovery the monster could be, while his daughter Emiko flirts with Ogata the sailor. Her love for Ogata makes her break it off with her fiance, a scientist named Serizawa.
But in abject truth, nobody is paying attention to any of that: the reason everyone's watching the movie is to see Godzilla break stuff. And break stuff he does. Angry about the underwater charges, he ends up making a wreck of Tokyo. Though the special effects are clearly a bit on the dated side, they're still a lot of fun to watch, if simply because they're a curiosity. Growing up in an animated, CGI sort of world, it's fun to watch Godzilla make an absolute mess of miniature models. Quite frankly, it's nothing you'd see in modern-day film-making.
But all good things must come to an end, so after Godzilla makes a mess of miniature-model Tokyo, people are understandably pissed. Emiko reveals to Ogata the sailor that Serizawa the scientist has created a device which could defeat Godzilla, but she was the only one he showed it to and he swore her to secrecy. The viewer flashes back to Serizawa's demonstration of his device--the Oxygen Destroyer--which essentially sucks all the oxygen out of water and asphyxiates the creature. It's a pretty cool device, though I admittedly have no idea how it works scientifically.
But that's alright, because I'm rather quickly distracted by the tension that ensues between Ogata and Serizawa. It's a battle of the wills as the sailor wants to use the device to destroy Godzilla, while Serizawa wants to keep the device secret, fearful of what people would do if they got their hands on such a cataclysmic device. Ogata wins in the end. However, Serizawa burns his notes and makes it explicitly clear that this is the only Oxygen Destroyer man has. Ogata thinks that's a good idea, so they go to the bottom of the ocean, carrying the only Oxygen Destroyer known to man. They set it off near Godzilla and Ogata leaves, being heralded as a hero. Serizawa, on the other hand, wishing to keep the Oxygen Destroyer as secret as possible, dies with Godzilla, thus assuring that no one has any knowledge of how the Destroyer was created.
Like I said before, it was a pretty good, enjoyable movie. Other than Godzilla smashing things, I think my favorite part might have been all of the mildly blatant symbolism going on in the movie. I walked in knowing that there was going to be some allegory for the way that the atom bomb changed so much about the human experience and the way that the monsters somehow reflected the fears of the people, but the execution of the symbolism actually surprised me.
Misconceptions being one of my favorite things to hold onto, I thought Godzilla was going to represent the nuclear bomb. However, as I watched the movie, it quickly became apparent that it was the Oxygen Destroyer which represented the nuclear bomb, while Godzilla actually represented the traditions of Japan. You see, early on in the movie, they're talking about how Godzilla was a myth among the older tribes of Japan. Therefore, whenever the fishing was bad, the fishermen would sacrifice a few girls and the fishing would get better again. Thus Godzilla, being an ancient creature and all, is a tie to Japan's past. In particular, it represents the ideal of putting the society before the individual.
Even as Godzilla ravages Tokyo, in my mind he is still connected to the ideals of the past: the Japanese ideal of fighting to the death was causing quite a few needless casualties in World War II, just like Godzilla is causing so many casualties in Tokyo. Therefore the question becomes, should a scientific, modern device be used to destroy those ideals? At what cost are those ideals being left behind?
In the end, I don't really know the answer to that question, but I've got to thank Godzilla for asking it.
Basically, the plot of the film is that atomic testing has removed Godzilla from his underground lair. Therefore, he has begun to attack boats and generally prove to be a nuisance to maritime trade. It's not so bad until a storm comes and Godzilla is pushed out of the water, onto an island. People aren't quite sure, but a couple think they saw a monster of some sort. People are generally confused about what's going on, but the next day this scientist named Dr. Yamane goes to the scene and notices a giant footprint which suggests all the damage "caused by the storm" may in fact have been caused by something more... worrisome. Quickly thereafter, Godzilla appears again and everyone freaks out, understandably.
Though Yamane wants to learn about the creature, most everyone else wants to kill it. Underwater depth charges, electric fences, and the like prove futile and no one can figure out how to kill it. Dr. Yamane mopes around about how important a discovery the monster could be, while his daughter Emiko flirts with Ogata the sailor. Her love for Ogata makes her break it off with her fiance, a scientist named Serizawa.
But in abject truth, nobody is paying attention to any of that: the reason everyone's watching the movie is to see Godzilla break stuff. And break stuff he does. Angry about the underwater charges, he ends up making a wreck of Tokyo. Though the special effects are clearly a bit on the dated side, they're still a lot of fun to watch, if simply because they're a curiosity. Growing up in an animated, CGI sort of world, it's fun to watch Godzilla make an absolute mess of miniature models. Quite frankly, it's nothing you'd see in modern-day film-making.
But all good things must come to an end, so after Godzilla makes a mess of miniature-model Tokyo, people are understandably pissed. Emiko reveals to Ogata the sailor that Serizawa the scientist has created a device which could defeat Godzilla, but she was the only one he showed it to and he swore her to secrecy. The viewer flashes back to Serizawa's demonstration of his device--the Oxygen Destroyer--which essentially sucks all the oxygen out of water and asphyxiates the creature. It's a pretty cool device, though I admittedly have no idea how it works scientifically.
But that's alright, because I'm rather quickly distracted by the tension that ensues between Ogata and Serizawa. It's a battle of the wills as the sailor wants to use the device to destroy Godzilla, while Serizawa wants to keep the device secret, fearful of what people would do if they got their hands on such a cataclysmic device. Ogata wins in the end. However, Serizawa burns his notes and makes it explicitly clear that this is the only Oxygen Destroyer man has. Ogata thinks that's a good idea, so they go to the bottom of the ocean, carrying the only Oxygen Destroyer known to man. They set it off near Godzilla and Ogata leaves, being heralded as a hero. Serizawa, on the other hand, wishing to keep the Oxygen Destroyer as secret as possible, dies with Godzilla, thus assuring that no one has any knowledge of how the Destroyer was created.
Like I said before, it was a pretty good, enjoyable movie. Other than Godzilla smashing things, I think my favorite part might have been all of the mildly blatant symbolism going on in the movie. I walked in knowing that there was going to be some allegory for the way that the atom bomb changed so much about the human experience and the way that the monsters somehow reflected the fears of the people, but the execution of the symbolism actually surprised me.
Misconceptions being one of my favorite things to hold onto, I thought Godzilla was going to represent the nuclear bomb. However, as I watched the movie, it quickly became apparent that it was the Oxygen Destroyer which represented the nuclear bomb, while Godzilla actually represented the traditions of Japan. You see, early on in the movie, they're talking about how Godzilla was a myth among the older tribes of Japan. Therefore, whenever the fishing was bad, the fishermen would sacrifice a few girls and the fishing would get better again. Thus Godzilla, being an ancient creature and all, is a tie to Japan's past. In particular, it represents the ideal of putting the society before the individual.
Even as Godzilla ravages Tokyo, in my mind he is still connected to the ideals of the past: the Japanese ideal of fighting to the death was causing quite a few needless casualties in World War II, just like Godzilla is causing so many casualties in Tokyo. Therefore the question becomes, should a scientific, modern device be used to destroy those ideals? At what cost are those ideals being left behind?
In the end, I don't really know the answer to that question, but I've got to thank Godzilla for asking it.
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