Abstract Does the horror genre reflect the fears of current culture? If so, what characters and themes are used to represent that fear of the current cultural climate of that era? Looking at the genre through the theoretical lenses of semiotics, queer theory, and postcolonialism through the Godzilla films and major incarnations of the monster and how they connect with the Cold War, nuclear bomb, and disaster themes, and 80's slasher and the themes of sexuality and the connection to parental ignorance and fear. Horror as a genre has permeated literature, television and film, but is often overlooked by the critical eye because it is seen as lowbrow, shoddy and vulgar. But this perception overlooks the hidden meaning behind many horror classics. There will be a deep dive into two drastically different decades and how the fears of that era reflected the cultural climate. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Jumping into the 1950s, the Cold War was on the minds of many North Americans, and the idea that there would one day be an atomic attack terrified many. So horror in the 1950s showed films with giant insects, aliens or atomic experiments gone wrong. One of these films from the 1950s comes not from America, but from Japan with the film known as “Gojira”. Directed by Ishido Honda and with special effects by Eiji Sugurya, the two had worked together at Tomoyuki Tanaka and Toho studios to produce a political film presented in the guise of a creature feature. "Gojira" was meant to reflect the Japanese's lingering fear of the destruction of the atomic bomb and the effects of radiation as many scars were still healing from previous events. That reflection was the result of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which had left an empire in ruins and brought about the American occupation. Although the United States had attempted to create a new foundation of democracy in Japan, this also led to strict censorship rules involving propaganda and an outright ban on military images. Although “Gojira” was released two years after the end of the American occupation, unfortunately Toho studios still faced pressure from new censorship regulations implemented by the Japanese government, which had been heavily influenced by American censorship policies. This led to a refined use of images and suggestions of Honda's vision in what he wanted to show. This included Godzilla's creature design. Scales are missing on his body, despite his lizard-like appearance, this is because his grooved textured skin was meant to reflect the scars of survivors who encountered the nuclear explosions, along with this, Godzilla's head is a shape similar to that of a mushroom cloud. Additionally, the opening scene of “Gojira” shows a boat with a life preserver with the number five on it, a reference to the Lucky Dragon 5 incident a few years earlier involving American nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands (FSD Productions, 2017 ). . The film was supposed to tell the point of view of ordinary people who had to face such a horrible disaster, how they reacted and how they dealt with it. However, that prospect was not taken into consideration when the Transworld Releasing company obtained the distribution rights in 1956. The film's message was deemed unsuitable for American audiences, resulting in many scenes being cut and the plot rewritten to include an American actor . . The idea of ​​a Japanese film with a perspectiveJapanese was deemed unsuitable for North American audiences because Americans supposedly were not ready to face what the U.S. military had done and did not want to face the pain and destruction through the eyes of ordinary Japanese. civil. Then “Gojira” was renamed “Godzilla:King of the Monsters” and had actor Raymond Burr in the title role as an American reporter covering the destruction of Japan's capital and was filmed alongside Japanese-American actors who were chosen as cast lookalikes to appear as if they were originally part of the production Along with this, any notion of American nuclear weapons testing was completely removed or distorted, including the subtext involved as it was not translated at all or is. was lost in translation and with the thirty minutes that replaced the twenty removed from the film, the dubbed lines were done poorly or not at all, erasing any deep dialogue present in the original. As expected, the version released in Nord America was a critical flop due to unfortunate circumstances. The original "Gojira" had themes of oppression, tragedy and showed how the Japanese dealt with that tragedy, only for it to be censored, trivializing that tragedy and introducing an American perspective into a story. experience so strongly Japanese, like Americans I had never dealt with that type of nuclear disaster before giving no understanding to that experience. Godzilla only gained popularity in drive-in theaters, and the context and symbolism of Godzilla went from war, to destruction, and suffering, to something as simple as Godzilla fighting other large monsters like Mothra and King Ghidorah. Due to American censorship, it swept away everything that Godzilla symbolized and had now been domesticated and reduced to nothing more than a tourist mascot and depicted in later films as supposedly the "savior" and cultural symbol of Japan. (KaptainKristian 2017). The main thing that all cultures do is take something inherently terrible and turn it into something funny as a means of coping, we see many examples of this with the US and Vietnam wars and the counterculture era. Since young people were dissatisfied with the current situation in the United States, horror directors tried to create something that reflected this discontent. The movie “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” was meant to show that anger, how ugly violence can be, and how young people feel about that violence. “Gojira” is just a Japanese way of showing tragedy and using entertainment to deal with the contrast with American horror. . It was meant to be a means of release and healing from the war and disaster that befell Hiroshima and Nagasaki and allowed them to learn from wartime. However, with the end of the war and the improvement of relations between Japan and America, Toho studios felt it was time to change Godzilla to a more lighthearted and camp tone, appealing more to younger audiences. However, in recent years, Godzilla has once again transformed from a mascot symbol to a natural disaster symbol and will continue to change and evolve as time passes and changes. We are witnessing, for example, the transition from the tourist figure to that of a symbol not of nuclear waste and the danger of radiation but intertwined with themes of nature and natural disasters. In "Godzilla 2014" the film uses images reminiscent of disasters such as Pacific earthquakes and Hurricane Katrina, shows that humanity does not necessarily triumph through ingenuity and creativity, but shows that humanity is powerless and incapable of stop disastersnatural, in this case with two giant monsters fighting in the middle of San Francisco. “Shin Godzilla” is a film that hardly breaks out of the new Godzilla phase to hit you over the head with meaning and symbolism, instead, it focuses as a critique of Japanese politics and how Japanese politicians act in the event of a crisis. dire situation, like every action Godzilla takes, the audience is then brought to the scene of a conference room full of politicians debating what to do next before they can decide to move forward with their decision. Does Godzilla in “Shin” symbolize the dangers of a nuclear disaster or a natural disaster? In a way it is a bit of both, as there are still images of the use of gas masks and radiation tracking after Godzilla uses his radiation breath, but also images of natural disasters, particularly those relating to the Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred in 2011. However, there is a new, new interpretation of the symbolism of the creature, and that is the life cycle. At the beginning of “Shin” Godzilla is nothing more than a tadpole in the middle of a bay, before rapidly growing and evolving, landing, flailing and crashing clumsily into buildings until he becomes bipedal and even more seemingly aware of his identity. surroundings. Only to roar at the Japanese army and retreat, just like an infant or child discovering the dangers of life. However, Godzilla returns, fully formed and recognizable as the creature we know. At the end, when Godzilla is standing there frozen like a statue due to the blood coagulant he was force-fed, it is evident that in a last resort effort, the creature attempted to divide itself into smaller organisms, giving the audience a idea sense of terror, as these organisms appear vaguely humanoid, in turn giving a sense of uncanny valley. Part of the title “Shin” also has symbolic connections, as it roughly translates to God. So in turn, “Shin Godzilla” has themes of science and religion that are woven together as Godzilla symbolizes evolution and metamorphosis, but also a wrathful god since in the film, he doesn't go out of his way to kill people until the bombs are dropped. on him, in turn, he takes revenge. Even the musical cues in the film contain deep gothic hymns whenever there is a dramatic shot of the beast. Godzilla is important because it shows how humans deal with and react to disasters at certain times, and these three incarnations show a deeper, more moral and philosophical side, Godzilla is more than just a giant lizard destroying a city, Godzilla serves as a catharsis for the Japanese and serves as a symbol of how humans react to near-apocalyptic events. A flashback to the 1980s, in that period in the United States politicians recalled the oldest traditions and American values. However, many felt that Reagan-era politicians were trying to gain control over their rights and freedoms. During this time, it gave rise to the slasher film of the 1980s, with the "Friday the 13th" franchise giving rise to iconic assassin Jason Voorhees. Many argue that Jason represents a force of nature or divine intervention, as many of those who end up dead in Friday movies are teenagers who use drugs and engage in premarital sex. In turn, something that many parents were concerned about what their children were doing. Expanding on parents who fear sex and adolescent sexuality, the first film "Nightmare on Elm Street" delves into this aspect, as the film deals with deep themes of the moral play between promiscuity, sexual themes, and the danger of sex. Teenagers who dosex are the ones who die first, and the film tends to make a connection between sex symbolically connected as a gateway drug to evil, with the use of the symbolism of the telephone scene, the scene where Nancy is in the bathtub and the suggestion of Tina's death in the first act of the film. Because negative connotations towards sexual activity are intertwined with the naivety of adolescents as they are on the brink of adulthood, society at large and parents tend to use the label of danger in association with sex to keep their children away from sexual activity and online. The adults on Elm Street tend to fear this, as Nancy's parents show more concern about whether or not their daughter is engaging in such activity than more obvious and pressing issues that should be addressed. Wes Craven wanted to show his vision of the impact hypocritical adults had on vulnerable teenagers, but also the dominance of Freddy Krueger. As in life, Kruger was a man who preyed on children, in a sense an adult who used his dominance as a means of abuse. In death, he is a demonic serial killer who uses domination in his victims' dreams as a mechanism for his success. The main difference between Kruger and other slashers of the 70s and 80s is that Kruger has an exploitable weakness compared to Jason and Michael Meyers, who are mute and seemingly invincible monsters. The problem with Freddy Kruger is that he does not have the characteristic of being seemingly invincible, but with the way he provokes, plays and manipulates his victims, his need to prove that he is bigger, worse and tougher than anyone else, the which is just another means for Freddy to assert his dominance and instill more panic and fear in the children he preys on. This puts the main cast in a difficult situation to deal with, because, in reality, Freddy asserts his dominance over them through their parents, as the Springwood parents had taken the law into their own hands by killing Kruger alive and all of them . being guilty of it and keeping that source of guilt hidden from their children, ergo, the dream world manifests itself in the source of the parents' guilt, the boiler room where Freddy would kill the children. In turn, driving the theme of the next generation who will have to clean up the mess of the last generations. The overall metaphor of the film is that once we show our fear, we will lose control and composure, and the cause of that fear will take over that we have lost. Once Nancy drags Kruger into reality, Craven emphasizes how vulnerable Kruger is only to subvert the idea that he can be killed by indicating that he is not essentially real. However, the ending shows that the trials of responsibility and adulthood will never disappear and since Kruger is the embodiment of fear and nightmares, he cannot be completely erased as Nancy's dreams will always be a part of her and seeing her mother symbolically being dragged away symbolizes that her parents will not be there to protect her forever from the dangers of life. (Ryan Hollinger, 2017). Expanding on the concept of teenage sexuality, another main thing that parents feared was that their children were gay too. Many fans had debated whether or not "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" was a gay film, as many people involved in the production either outright denied it or stepped aside giving a definitive answer. This has left many fans and critics watching and analyzing the subtext of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” sequel. Only recently did the actors and screenwriters involved admit that the sequel had a gay subtext, as screenwriter David Chaskin claimed that the film was made in the post-AIDS era and that the idea of ​​men being insecure aboutown sexuality was actually, a little scary. Robert Englund also mentions how the sequel rocked the boat in Europe, as many had picked up on the homoerotic subtext, and how Freddy represented self-hatred in the gay community. In addition to this, Mark Patton, who played the lead role of Jessie Walsh, was gay and brought pieces of himself to the character. The premise of "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" revolves around Jessie Walsh, a teenage outsider who has nightmares about a man taking over and controlling her body. Kruger, in turn, wants Jessie's body so that she can appear in reality so he can continue his work of killing the children of Elm Street. There are a multitude of overt examples of homosexual subtext, with one example being when Grady mentions to Jessie that their coach Snider is queer and regularly visits S&M bars, along with this, there are many ongoing themes in the film, such as shame from parents, seduction and fear of who we are becoming as people. All these themes were subtext, but why only subtext? Will Haze had been asked to head America's film and distribution division, an organization created primarily with public relations for movie studios in mind and to protect themselves from outside influences such as the Catholic church. In the 1930s, Haze generated the movement's Production Code that would allow the industry to self-regulate, however by 1934 the code became more stringent due to pressure from outside influences such as the Catholic Legion of Decency. The Catholic Legion of Decency had a grading system of A to C, where A was acceptable, B was morally questionable, and C was condemned. With organizations such as The Catholic Legion of Decency behind the industry, it was agreed that the film industry would follow this code. This, in turn, banned nudity, open-mouth kissing, swearing, references to abortion and sexual perversion, which were simply coded to prohibit the display of gay relationships on the big screen. This led the writers to blur the lines, using subtext as a means to get closer to being a gay film. Horror has also had to deal with this, for example, "Dracula's Daughter" featured a vampire coded as a lesbian, but it was never openly declared due to censorship. In the late 1960s, the Haze code was replaced with the first version of the modern classification system we know now. Gay relationships were "allowed" but were still subject to subtext or portrayed as monsters and villains, so having a character like Jessie in "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" coded as gay and sympathetic was an act of defiance against that code. Jessie may be scared and confused about her sexuality, but she's not inherently the monster the old Haze code would have her be. Jessie's struggle with her emerging sexuality is represented symbolically with Freddy Kruger wanting her body and jumping out of her body, possessing it. In terms of subtext, 1980s attitudes towards homosexuality were still something to fear as many individuals feared the destruction of the family unit and gender roles and the idea that homosexuality was linked to violence and child molestation. (Renegade Cut, 2018). When Jessie starts acting strangely, her parents react the way homophobic parents would normally react. Through the intense and harsh projection of toxic masculinity and a mix of condescension and false understanding. The first is symbolically represented by Jessie's father, who initially ignores any idea of ​​a problem, then when things become>