Figure 1.-- Here we see Japaanese children on the Godzilla set, we think the first film (1954). These children look a little uoung for the films. Children as young s thelittle girl here do no fully understndtht costumes are nor rel, Rember readingh that Drew Barrymore when she made 'ET' was not fully aware that ET was not real.

We are not sure, but we do not think it was just children who attended these films, although we suspect tht they are especially popular with Japanese children. And the films are notable for children often playing major roles like with the Giant Robot here (figure 1). We are not sure why so many children are in these fims. Pehapsd it is the dramasticv pairing of the pure innosence of childhood with the animal violence of a monster. It may have been a business decision, but we do not think the films, at least the first Godzilla film. The audience in the West was mostly children, but we are less sure about Japan. For most people outside of Japan, the monster film are the only Japanese films they have ever seen. This certainly is the case for children--at least before the films became some of a cult experience. We say children, but we think these movies were much more interesting to boys rather than the girls, at least in the West. We do not know for sure about Japanese girls who are more interested in characters like Hello Kitty-type charactrs than monsters. We supect that is the case, but hopefully our Japanese readers can probide some insights on this. The films seem a bit too violent for reall young children, but school age boys really liked the whole monster story linge and Goidzilla even mixed in their interest in dinosaurs. Of course Jpnese children had nobe of the Workd war II bavk tory, but as hey got older the naratibe of Japan as a victim appeals just as it does to adults.

Created: 9:08 AM 5/31/2022
Last updated: 9:08 AM 5/31/2022