The Cry of Gojira
There
are some species, real and imaginary,
that refuse to die. One of our assumed tasks here at the Tamlinmediaco is to
track the evolution of the secondary form, the memes and myths by which
humanity operates. In fact it’s well to
bear in mind that the imaginary beliefs
very often outlast the real ones by several factors. Perhaps we ought not consider this unusual
when we consider that while what is
purported to be real is constantly being affirmed or denied, the unreal, or
mythical lives in the land of once upon a time – a place far more difficult to
access.
Shakespeare asks “to what can we compare a rose?” and even after long years of study I feel
much the same way about myth, which is to say the forms of myth however
constant in inner meaning are forever changing and as well the uber myths, of eternal return, of
the golden origin, of the underworld
journey, etc, also must resist firm characterization.
Today I’ll refer
to two myths, somewhat related, and both ancient and contemporary. At the risk of being trite they are of the
king and of the dragon.
In the
west the Arthurian cycle, or “The matter of Britain” seems to serve as something of a blackboard where
any old tom Dick, or Harry, sufficiently skilled , may add a few chapters. Having covered the tale extensively in other
places I mention briefly that it began as a Welsh Stone age male initiation
rite and it wound up a cautionary tale
about three way love affairs and many other things such as the
wounded/fisher king motif. ( Actually
to be correct, it comes into our awareness as an initiation rite – we must
assume the tale was around longer then that passed on to us.)
Tangential to that story is the Myrdem, or Merlin story that becomes a prototype for =wise old
wizards, but who begin as Satan’s spawn.
Interestingly the earlier Merlin figure
is not conflicted by his origin. Likewise , of particular interest is the
overall smoothness of the transition
from the earlier druidic religion
to Christianity. It brings up something
critical and often overlooked in myth studies, which is that very often
the mythical figures are transition
guides, from on set of beliefs or ruling class to another. Ithe same way the ancient
temples must be torn down and replace the old ones the oolder saints and
heroes are replaced.
This
provides us with clues, or markers. For instance in the United States, until the
1860’s slavery was the norm in the southern states. During the civil war riots ensued in New York City, driven by the
fact that recent Irish Immigrants did not want to fight for the freedom of
black people. After the war however the
prewar south was romanticized as a
glorious period when black people
reveled in the easy life they lived and were likely as not to express gratitude to the “kindly ‘ol massa”
for the fact of having enslaved them!
Absurd as it
sounds it is how the story went. As the general suggested “History will tell
lies” One could suggest that in myth we
pay homage to the past. So does Dante, a
man deeply involved in the politics of his own era, use the experienced ghost
of poet Virgil as a guide to the underworld. Of course since the homage we pay
is of our own choice it often a cut rate homage.
One last
mention before we move on.
Vigilius
Publicus was a favorite of emperor
Augustus because he emphasize those elements of the roman character that had
seemed to be most usefull in creating an empire, namely practicality,
austerity, self control, reason and even chastity. He is not read much anymore in part because
of the very relaxed nature of his poetry. His is the pastoral vision of fruit
ripe on the vine and cows gravid with milk. Virgil’s contemporary, Ovidus
Naso was in comparison a playboy, a man
about town and a briliiant tellerof the
often raunchy tales that made op the Roman version of the Greek pantheon. Suffice to say Augustos did not like Ovid and
in fact banished him to the north sea
where Ovid was miserable.
The story
of Dantes creation of the Commedia is fraught with risk. His fate. like that of
Ovids was to offend the powers that and like Cervantes we may speculate that he
wrote to keep his sanity, a purpose I certainly can find sympathy with. The irony of being an intellectual exile, of
being forced to live in garrets and rat holes and prisons when once one led a better life ( such as is
my condition) is that if the oppression were more overt I could perhaps find
comfort. One feels a little like Dostoyevsky – having come along a little too
early in the game. It is not good
however to dwell on such things and so I won’t.
To conclude
then myth often appears after loss. In the case of the girl who has been raped
this is absolutely clear. The mythical
guide is like a social services worker
who tries to help us get our lives back together again. In numerous animal cults around the world we
beg forgiveness of the animal that we
have slain, and offer them payments in forms of sacrifice. It is a curious psychological; proves that
isi involved and it seems to come into
play whether we are victim or perpetrator.
As is said
in Zen, one is as much the target as the bowman.
While it’s in
mind I can give you another example but
first I have to ask your forgiveness and that you not take offence at what I am
about to tell you. For the record I
received my first death threats at fourteen and by fifteen had been beaten up
by a homecoming soldier from the VietNam
war. I lived at the time in a
lower middle class neighborhood called Uniondale and in a place like that
people never questioned authority. This has not changed either. Referring to
doubts about the Iran war several people wanted me to “step outside and settle
things like a man.” In any case.
We can
identify several reason for the generation of popular delusions. The first two
are easy - delusions create mobs and one
can utilize the ob for personal gain, secondly illusions terrify the
disbelieving minority and they refuse to stand up for their rights. And the
third reason is the one with the psychological component – namely the invention
of a convienty illusion spares us the knowledge that we have either failed at
something or in some way created a debt.
For
example in the year 1975 on the flagpoles of thousands of cities and states in
the US, just beneath the Stars and Stripes was a black flag saying “We support Pows and MIAs’ We have not forgotten” Apparently I am the last person to remember
the POW’s and I didn’t even believe it. A logical mind might have wondered why
the North Vietnamese would have retained prisioners ( especially considering
the consequences if found out) but the
mythical process does not process on logic.
The POWS remain
in the same place that the Weapons of Mass Destruction remain - in delusions. That and suffice to say in Hollywood
movies Sylvester Stallone and even worse
actors. From the point of view of the mayors who raised the flags there was no
choice. It did not cost anything and it
made them look patriotic. Granted the
vast majority did not believe the tale of the forgotten prisoners and part of being an American is the
willingness to allow other people to believe what they want there’s another aspect to this however.
For me the
breaking point was the 80’s readers of these “missives” have heard it all
before I apologize for sounding like a broken record but one does clarify
thoughts with time and I realize now
that I was not so much angry with the Republicans. Reagan was not a Republican
in the usual sense, nor was he a crook, he was something far more dangerous
then either of them. He was a tyrant in the sense that he believed his own
nonsense and we paid and continued to
pay for that. He loved himself but self
sacrifice was not on his list of virtues.
What broke me up
most though was the Democrats. If a out of the loop kid from long island could
see what was happening it was difficult to believe that the party of the
opposition remained obvious. As a young
up and comer with aspirations I’d read the New Yorker avidly and then one day I realized it was no longer
about people wanting to know things – It had become about people wanting to own
things and to adopt that attitude was more
then I cared to do.
Right and the
genesis of the paper today is what may have beenm the final Godzilla movie,
which I saw thismorning. Though in many
ways it’s well made and very watchable – like a page turner – it represents the
final stage of the mythological franchise that was Gojira for the Japanese people.
The original
Godzilla was a masterpiece of
characterization. Part Noh actor, part Sumo fighter he was the undying
spirit of the Japanese people. They may have lost the war but they did not
lose their self respect. The original definition of Dragons was “Water
Lizards” and here you had a fire
breathing water living, airflying creature of apparently no blood. He was the
four elements in one – plus soul.
(While on the subject
of Dragons in actuality they do not play a large role in the historical type
things that I study. Likewise often dragons, as in the case of Beowulf, are
unfriendly but I did latch on to George
Martins Fire and Ice epic, early and and especially recommend the spoken
language version by Roy Dutrice. He was an old English character actor who
never reached stardom but for the sheer variety of voices he does an unbeatable
job. Unfortunately he died after the third volume. Martin’s not a fast worker
but you’re getting a lot of story under one roof.)
Getting back to
“Big G” after the first few films it
settled into a groove with enemies like
Mothra, Ghidra, the Smog Monster and
such. Considering the Japanese predilection for such things there are comparative
few robot adversaries. As well, not
being a Japanese speaker I’s difficult for me to judge the quality of the many
Godzillas released only in Japan and in Japanese.
Where I lived
as a young man, Long Island, Godzilla seemed to have a strong resonance. It was
not quite urban but it was a lot of people crammed together who’s main concern was working. (I may ad that local band Blue Oyster Cult wrote a tribute song called “Godzilla!”
In 1984 Hollywood
stepped in and released a big budget
film which, while being beautifully photographed simple was too much over kill. The soundtrack
was so loud it put you to sleep. By half way
through you’re wishing they cut to a quiet scene but they never do. Certainly the scenes with the children and even the Peanuts singing group were
outré, but they were a very effective way
of maintaining the level of
unreality. Plus the predominant auditory element in any Godzilla movie has got
to be the cry of Godzilla. It has to be
heard like the trumpets of heaven, coming from another world to establish
justice and vindicate the pure of heart.
By the time of the last
Godzilla the genre is totally devoid of meaning. It is well created and everything is professional. In the words of the old wise man – It stunk.
Briefly,
Godzilla has been transmogrified from
lovable huggy bear to a leftover from the set of alien, the alinazilla even appears in the form of leftover Raptors
from Jurassic park. Instead of one good ending we experience the horror movie
trick of several bad ones. They use the
cliché of a surviving zilla to lead on for another episode but
thankfully this was never made, even here however the filmmakers
ignorance of the tools of their craft is both obvious and appalling. Either the creature is put to sleep. Or,
far more often, it makes it’s
solitary march to the ocean where it will sleep until the next extra ordinary
threat to the way of life of the people arises.
This however allows me to speak further of the purpose of myth. We have
ascertained that myths at the least help us mask from consciousness un bearable
realities. The notion that upon death,
nothing happens , that we simply cease to be, sans thought, or affinity is
dealt with via the creation of an entire metaphysical world, heaven. The knowledge of this truth for many people
would render life meaningless. If I may speak of alchemical adepts such perceptions are alien to us. When one is
fighting a battle to the death one hardly concerns them self with how much gold
is in the winners trophy. There can only
be one goal – liberation from the chains of the conditioned mind.
This can be achieved by anyone, instantly. So the masters tell us and I am willing to
go along with what they say.
This in the empty and dark hours of the soul is perceived as
ritual. As we sit in our houses of the
holy and of the not so holy one may
easily determine what is known as the
spirit of the communicant. What you wind
up with if the procedure has be correctly performed is a resacralization of
the world of the celebrant, an at one ment with the divine as
it has been known.
is important to bear in mind that although we have a
reasonable amount knowledge pertaining to the behaviorist conditioning that
creates illusions that cannot always be
said of the operant side. In other words we are often too concerned with the
way behavior is forced to the detriment of that, or those, desires that seem to
spring up. Bad seed sometimes falls on
fertile ground.
A key to the origin of the psychic power of the messianic cult figure
can be seen in the fact that those not
in the sphere of influence do not see what all the huh bub is about.
For instance in Hitle they saw a military veteran of not very elaborate
or brilliant viewpoints. His followers
on the other hand saw in the fuhrer all that such service symbolized.. It is as
if we see the man and the believer sees the chi’ force.
Remember, you don’t have
to think of these ideas as literally true
as long as they provide meaningful explanations. Probably the best
explanation is the leaders is as a conduit -
a means by which the accumulated hopes and fears may be channeled in to
some sort of productive measure. By
productive, suffice to say I do not imply that the actions taken would have
positive result according to
humanitarian standards.
The
Japanese are a high organized society. The sexes have had different model behavior for
centuries. Nippon not only includes
red light districts in many of it’s
cities and prefectures but was virtually the only combatant in the
second world war to go out of it’s way
to provide slave prostitutes, captured from the enemy. Notions of pride and
honor are important.
The
creation of Godzilla (king of monsters)
allowed the Japanese to say to themselves “We were no defeated by the gaijin ( foreigners”) we
were defeated by the king of
monster – a direct child of nature herself. Notable almost immediately after the first
movie, the series continued in a modality where Godzilla became humanities
champion much in the manner of the many
altruistic programs Japan has funded.
As to .whether
the real Godzilla, or the real King Arthur
shall ever disappear forever? I
doubt that. Legends have a way of
hanging on. In deed it is thought that
one of their strongest markers is their abilities to appear when least
expected.
But the
big guy sure did make a mess of Tokyo – not that any trace of that remains
todayl. Fire Lizard, Flying Lizard, Earth money Water Lizard the elements create. And man forgets.
Ingmar Bergman once made a movie called “Sawdust and Tinsel”. In it the Master of Ceremonies was having an
affair with the girl bareback rider until the muscleman broke it up and stole the
girl away. The ring master was in tears.
Finally he went to the animal tent and shot his best friend – the brown bear.
People later on asked Ingmar “What’s this with the bear?”
He
replied “What else could the ringmaster
do?”
Thus destruction invites more destruction in the door and
annihilation crows victory without success.
