The 2014 Gareth Edwards Godzilla film recently came out, and I have to say I walked away satisfied. Where I was expecting a much darker tale of wanton nuclear destruction, the story itself fit into the niche role of being the fun classic monster vs monster archetype. If sequels are made, Edwards might consider a remake of the 1954 film actually set in 1954 Japan. He might also consider revitalizing a few classic Toho monsters. The MUTOs were awesome but could you imagine a redesigned modern-CGI King Ghidorah? That would be terrifying!
For those among you who don’t know me, I’ve been a Godzilla fan since the early days (around maybe 4 years old). Godzilla always represented to me the indestructible sense of self. Others will try to tear you down with little insults (missiles), and opponents will try to get in your way (monsters), but in the end, self-perseverance and a powerful inner strength let you dominate and win whatever challenges you might face. That’s how the gigantic fire-breathing dinosaur become an iconoclast hero instead of staying a terrific villain.
Godzilla fandom also taught me about the web. At 13 years old I started this website still hosted at tripod.com. I’m amazed it’s still up! I later built another site on Topcities, directly editing the HTML, but all that I can find left is this Wayback machine version. Which, back in 2003, a lot of sites used browser frames… so you don’t even get the full experience.
More than hosting information, I also used this as a media platform. After writing elaborate fiction in a fan-forum, I would illustrate my stories and those of friends who submitted content. I was big into illustration, I would draw monsters that people submitted under “create-a-kaiju,” as well as draw my own comic books and cover art. After using micron pens to ink a scene, I would scan my pictures and color them using Adobe Photoshop 6.0 (old school).
Then high school taught me the negligible social worth of having a fandom. I let go of Godzilla, and after high school, I let go of art. I let the monsters defeat me. I’ve since struggled to find a creative outlet to satisfy that itch, and I’ve been mildly successful. The true art of the 21st century is interactive media, which hopefully my team can help create with Asteroid.Ventures. Who knows, maybe I’ll even make a Kaiju game one day!
And lastly, if you’re interested, I’m selling some Godzilla stuff on ebay. I’m trying to reduce the amount of stuff in my life, which means digitizing as much media as I possibly can and discarding what’s left.
I’m really going to miss these babies! 75% of my childhood right here:
http://ift.tt/1mT4GDA http://ift.tt/1nklBxk Fandom, Life, 2014, childhood, fandom, film, ghidorah, godzilla, html, kaiju, monsters, movies, VHS, websites
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