The 4 Gayest Godzilla Movies
Listen, nerds, quit yer bellyachin’, and let me have my fun. For those living under a rock, Godzilla is one of the most, if not the most, iconic movie characters of our time, with over 30 movies, multiple shows, and countless other alternate media such as comic book series and video games, and no indication of stopping. While canonical queerness in such a long-running franchise is lacking, it still isn’t without its nuggets ripe for fan reads. Or, as my cinema professor would say, ‘queering the text.’
Notably, Japan has never gendered Godzilla, due mostly to the lack of gendered pronouns in Japanese. Then again even Haruo Nakajima, the famed suit actor of the original Gojira and beyond, confirmed that there is no gender for Godzilla. But here in the West, the giant atomic-breathing lizard god has been co-opted by a sort of macho-bordering-on-toxic masculinity. Growing up, I always took issue with this because I was a little girl who likened the angry dinosaur to her beloved protective wolf-German Shepherd mix pet—pissy, yes, but undeniably loveable and I suspect potentially cuddly (I also felt this way about Rexy in Jurassic Park and the Xenomorph in Alien).
As I’ve grown older, and come into myself as a loud and proud dyke, I’ve had a lot of fun rewatching Godzilla movies and finding little glimmers of a queer read. I also enjoy (playfully) queering things in the suffocatingly heterosexual media landscape, and if the internet is any indication, I’ve learned I’m not alone (there are plenty of Reddit posts and viral tweets about Trans/Nonbinary Godzilla). Here, then, is a fun list for the girlies, gays, and theys of the kaiju fandom. But hey, don’t be afraid, boys, you’re allowed in, this is a safe space for all.
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021, dir. Adam Wingard)
Did you know that Godzilla vs. Kong and Portrait of a Lady on Fire have the same ending? Kong stares with wistful longing as Godzilla goes back into the ocean, not turning back. It’s just like how Noemie Merlant stares at Adele Haenel as she watches the concert without turning. I’m a real hit at parties. Godzilla and Kong act like two halves of a relationship that ended without enough closure. While Kong may have found peace in chosen family, it’s clear Goji hasn’t done enough therapy to move on. Nothing says ‘drama’ like repeatedly showing up to your ex’s ocean cruise and hometown (er…home-hollow?) to start some shit, only to turn away in cool disinterest when said ex finally roars back at you. Anyone who’s dated a fire sign will understand.
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973, dir. Jun Fukuda)
Often cited in many queer Godzilla fan circles for the gay dads at the core of the story, it really doesn’t take much reaching to draw that conclusion. From the get-go we have Robert Dunham sporting a tiara and fierce sideburn/pornstache combo as he flamboyantly commands an underground civilization to take revenge against the surface dwellers. And then there’s Goro and Hiroshi, two heartthrobs with extremely flattering bootylicious pants that only have eyes and attention for each other while they raise Goro’s younger brother.
Conservatives piss and moan about kids not having a ‘complete’ childhood because of a lack of mom or dad with same-sex parents, yet I don’t see any of these bible-thumpers crafting a personal robot that can grow in size, call on Godzilla, and kick the shit out of the bomb-throwing, drill armed bug. Jet Jaguar must be really fun to have at home during sexy times. Now when do I get to have a strap-on that can fight a kaiju? Your move, Hitachi.
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966, dir. Jun Fukuda)
I recently rewatched this, and my goodness if it didn’t drip with homoerotic tenderness between our group of himbos, led by the devastatingly handsome Akira Takarada. That was certainly a long voyage across the seas. HowEVER did they pass the time? If you want more proof, name another movie of the past 60 years that introduces a scantily clad, ‘exotic’ female character to a group of young brash men and none of them make any advances or comments about her body. Ironically, it’s Godzilla that seems to take interest in her. But, this is because the script originally had Kong as our hero before a last-minute change. We all know early Kong had a weird obsession with the ladies that is based on American racist fetishism but that’s for another article.
Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975, dir. Ishirō Honda)
This is the one I like to tell people is the Godzilla movie with tiddies and whips, and the only Godzilla movie written by a woman. All joking aside, original Gojira director Ishirō Honda’s final monster movie has one of my favorite protagonists of the entire franchise: cybernetic babe Katsura Mafune who I’ve always read as transgender (and not only because of passing analysis with Donna J. Haraway’s “Cyborg Manifesto”). It’s a reach, perhaps, but considering how little queer and Trans media I had growing up, all I have are reaches, or rather, parallels to draw. There are often genre movies that don’t intentionally use pieces of Trans experience, but nevertheless stumble into it (Under the Skin, The Little Mermaid, and Hereditary have resonated with Trans writers) and Terror of Mechagodzilla’s human relationships do this, as well.
Like many ‘Other’ characters in fiction (mermaids, cyborgs, etc.), Katsura longs for love and a normal human life, particularly after meeting some handsome feller, in this case, Akira Ichinose. What makes it, for lack of a better term, ‘feel Trans’ is that, in these stories, there is a dramatic strain with the ‘normal’ human and some inability for a ‘normal’ (read: heterosexual) relationship due to a tail, robotic insides; basically a lack of a vagina.
Katsura experiences this, right up until the end when a bullet wound exposes her machinelike insides, and she very slowly and painfully covers them with her hands. And what makes it extra tragic is that Akira, sweetie in a turtleneck that he is, has never once cared about Katsura’s perceived ‘lack’ as a ‘complete’ woman. To him, she’s just a nice gal (with a 300-foot aquatic dinosaur, but what couple hasn’t had their arguments over pets). There is also the matter of putting so much focus on Katsura’s surgery, which only comes after her father does the bidding of evil aliens. Can you imagine having a parent so supportive that they agree to help malicious extraterrestrials with their world domination using giant kaiju, just to help you get the healthcare you need?
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