In the 1950’s Japan reinvigorated the giant monster genre. Almost without exception, their giant monsters were either created or awakened by atomic radiation. An understandable fear for the populace, given that they’d had two atomic bombs dropped on them. Godzilla and Rodan were those bombs, laying waste to the cities. Those same movies succeeded in America, because we were just starting to realize how scary those weapons were. Sure, they were kind of awesome when they fell on our enemies, but eventually, there was some realization of what had been unleashed.
The monsters that weren’t the products of the Atomic Age came from space. I’m not sure that was so much about a fear of aliens, but I think it was anxiety from the Space Race. Everybody was very worried, not only about what was in space, but who was going to get there first. I like to think that in America, Gamera symbolized the Soviet space program, and in Japan, Gamera was America. Why he spent so much time with young boys in short pants is an analogy best left unexplored.
