Always on the lookout for a new controversy, I’ll be checking out the new Godzilla: King of the Monsters tomorrow (the 35th Godzilla movie!). The hottest question going in: Is Godzilla the latest in plus-sized models? Film blogger Jeffrey Wells declares G-zilla a lardbutt and smells a conspiracy of silence not to mention his Late Elvis look:
Five years ago Japanese film enthusiasts were fat-shaming Godzilla, and for good reason. Compared to the original Toho Godzilla of 1954, Gareth Edwards’ super-reptile was definitely Raymond Burr in the mid ’60s. But the new Godzilla is flat-out obese — a kaiju Orson Welles. And no one, it seems, wants to even take note of this. Not even in passing. Not even as a joke.
The reason (and I’m not kidding) is that critics and think-piece writers have sensed that the monster’s expanding belt size is a subliminal gesture of kinship and comfort to the obese community, which of course reps a significant portion of the moviegoing public, and no film writer wants to be accused of fat-shaming. Because in today’s p.c. environment a fat-shamer is indistinguishable from a racist or a homophobe.
I’m no shamer, but I am saying “is anyone besides myself going to look this thing in the eye or what?” All I’m doing is saying (a) “look at him” and (b) “why do you think that is?”
Has Big G been skipping the sushi and seaweed in favor of bacon-double-cheeseburgers? Is his belly distended by radioactivity? Is this all some kind of Dove soap marketing campaign? Should Godzilla heed Marge Simpson’s sage advice, when Homer turned into King Kong, “Maybe you should eat more vegetables and less people?”