ACTS OF GODZILLA By Jim Knipfel

Jim Knipfel is the author of the riotous Slackjaw.

The suspension of disbelief—or rather, the inability to suspend disbelief—is another cultural difference that may help explain why these films get such a bad rap in the States. To American audiences, if something looks fake, the critics and moviegoers alike are going to call attention to it. These films are suddenly declared "bad" or "cheesy" because you can see the wires or because the monsters don't look real (think about that one for a second). They forget that these movies are fables above all, intricate fairy tales about nature lashing back at human arrogance. If Tanaka and Honda wanted, they could've shown the realistic effects of radiation poisoning on the population of a city. Instead, they embodied that fear in a giant lizard—one who, paradoxically enough, would be presented as an heroic protector of Japan as the series progressed.

(via GreenCine daily)