Side Note About The Story Line:
At the beginning of this Godzilla animation, we learn there are two alien races that have arrived to earth, apparently, around the same time time period. There is the Exif alien race whose purpose is apparently to convert humanity to their religion. (Religion is about controlling people and extortion of believer's money - whether you want to believe this or admit to this, or not.)
And there's the Bilusaludo race, who wanted to emigrate to Earth, since their planet was destroyed. If humanity would allow the Bilusaludo race to emigrate to Earth, in return, they claimed they would defeat Godzilla with their mechanized Godzilla, called Mechagodzilla. However, the Bilusaludo's failed to start Mechagodzilla quickly enough and Godzilla destroyed mechanical Mechagodzilla.
Item 1
The God thing (or religion) in this Godzilla series is frankly, quite stupid. (Unless the Exif alien race is actually pretending their religion is real when they know in reality that it's fake and their actual purpose is to take over and control the people on Earth. We don't know if there is a sinister purpose for the Exif race to push their religion on humanity at this point in the series or not.)
Back to critiquing this series and to do this, I need to provide a little scientific and religious history of humanity. As of 2018, humanity is 300 to 400 years past the Age of Enlightenment. For those who don't know, the Age of Enlightenment was when prominent scientists and great thinkers in Europe collectively pronounced that humanity needs to stop basing society on mythology (which includes all religions and all religious belief) and superstitions, and start basing our society on science, knowledge, facts, evidence and the Scientific Method.
Fortunately, today, we know that the fastest growing religion in the world is no religion.1 Atheism. Even though Atheism is not a religion, by saying that the fastest growing religion is no religions, is about the easiest way to write this particular point. Studies have shown that the more education a person has, that in general, they become less religious.
Remember, the definition of an Atheist is: A = Not. Theist = A person who believes in a god. (Or better put, a theist is a person who believes he has a real invisible friend.) An Atheist simply means that person has no invisible friends. Atheism does not describe the morals or ethics of any person. Just as being a Christian or Muslim does not describe how moral or ethical that person is.
All religions are creation myths. Welcome to the Scientific Age.
An alien race such as the Exif, capable of interstellar space travel, would be far enough advanced to realize that all religions are creation myths and would not believe in any religion or superstition.
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| Even Godzilla knows that all religions are creation myths. |
There are lots of books about how we can easily fool our brain and therefore fool ourselves. There are also plenty of logical fallacies that help us better understand the reality of the world, as well.
Claiming to know a god is claiming the impossible. Sin is a myth. Knowledge is not humanity's downfall, knowledge is humanity's greatest asset. (For those who don't know. In the beginning of the mythology of the Bible, Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge and that's when became "sinful." Knowledge made them sinful. How billions of people on our planet could think that knowledge is inherently bad, is what is called being brain washed.) People do good and bad things but there is no such thing as sin. We are the top species on the planet. No one needs to ask for forgiveness for being born a human being. Salvation from what? Rational thought?
Heaven and hell do not exist. How could finite sin equal infinite punishment? Where's the justice? Prayer never works because god is imaginary. If prayer worked, cancer would be cured overnight, starvation and poverty would be ended overnight, rape would not occur, there'd be no car or jet crashes and there'd be no war. Faith is not a virtue, reason is a virtue. People don't fall from grace, they rise to reason.
All religions are failed sciences. If any religion was true, that religion would be taught in all major universities and colleges explaining to engineers how the world works. Why isn't religion the basis for any engineering degree? Because religion or religious belief, does not explain how the world and how the universe works. Religious belief is called belief because it's not knowledge.
Religious texts do not help us understand how to be moral or have good ethics and they certainly do not help us understand things such as love and relationships. Science, philosophers, great thinkers and ourselves - is what provides us with good morals and ethics, and is what we use to explain love and relationships.
Morals and ethics preceded all religions. If modern religions were the first to provide morals to the human race, we wouldn't be here today because the human race, without any morals, would have killed itself off.2 Christopher Hitchens stated, "Morals and decency is not derived from religion, it precedes it." He also said, "We keep on being told that religion, whatever its imperfections, at least instills morality. On every side, there is conclusive evidence that the contrary is the case and that faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid."
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| Christopher Hitchens quote. Religion does not instill good morals on society. |
Two quick examples. Many people will quickly claim that the Golden Rule, "To treat others as you want to be treated," is a great rule and most believers will act as if this rule is as good as it gets. Believer think: "This proves that the Bible was written by a god! Nothing is better than this rule!" Wrong. The "Golden Rule" is not that golden. There is the Platinum Rule, "Treat others as they want to be treated." That means one would actually have to get to the other person, to know how they want to be treated. The "Golden Rule" is much less personal and does not take into the account of someone else's needs or desires. Some people simply want to be left alone. If you are trying to help someone who wants to be left alone, you are in reality, not being nice to that person.
The second example. Believers claim that "Love thy neighbor" is a firm and good ethic which could never be debated. Unfortunately, this ethic simply does not work and cannot work for people. It's an ethic no one can achieve or uphold. If you actually believe in this teaching, you'll always fail at following this nonsense. What if you don't like your neighbor? And who is your neighbor? Those who live on your street? Your town? Your city? The entire world? Honestly, no one can love everyone.
Look at the divorce rate. It's 50%. People getting married can sometimes take years to plan a wedding, they sometimes spend lots of money getting married, "Go tell it on the mountain" to everyone they know, make it a very public event, will claim love for each other until death do they part, for sickness and in health, and for better or worse, and that they have been married by the blessing of god, yet about 50% of these people get divorced. If people who spend lots of money on marriage, publicly declare their love for each other and actually sign a legal document confirming their love yet about 50% of these marriages end in divorce, then how can anyone be expected to follow such a rule that states you have to "Love your neighbor?"
Of course, ultimately, the "Love they neighbor" rule does not work because god can't even do it. What happens if you don't love god back? You go to hell. If god can't ultimately love his neighbor, how could god expect us to love our neighbors? (Of course, we know that heaven and hell is mythology.)
The entire point here, is that any race that has the capability of interstellar travel (or galaxy to galaxy travel capability) would have advanced far enough to understand that all religions are creation myths.
Better morals are based on science. Science, great thinkers and politicians know that we have a better society when people try to work together. For example, if everyone is running red lights, there would be lots of car accidents and deaths.
A better moral than "Love your neighbor" would be, to try to be nice to people, if you are up to it. Morals and ethics depend upon the well-being and suffering of humans - sometimes in the short run but most likely, morals can be evaluated better in the long run.
And morals and ethics will always be dependent upon the situation. If you live in a very small town and you walk down main street, you might say hello to everyone you see, since everyone knows each other. If you live in the city and you are walking down the street, you can't say, "Hello" to everyone, otherwise within the first city block, you'd be worn out from speaking to people. But holding a door for someone when entering a building is nice, if a person makes eye contact with you when walking - returning with a smile is nice. However, if you can't do this or are not up to it, you are not required to do these things. Maybe you are having a bad day and simply want to be left alone.
I Don't See Any Positive Use Of Religion Or Religious Belief In Most Sci-Fi Series.
Honestly, when we have a world torn apart by religious belief and our past is torn apart by religious belief, why would any self-respecting sci-fi writer pretend that space fairing people would believe in an invisible sky daddy? This is especially true when the science fiction based on our planet like Star Trek and Godzilla. Star Trek's vision of the future was that poverty was ended, war was ended, and that religious belief was at a bare minimum. Some of the characters in the Netflix TV series "Travelers" make brief comments about how everyone knows that religion is mythology, in the future. I am happy about that.
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| Isaac Asimov was a professor and writer of science fiction and popular science. |
Of course, we probably know the answer why people want to use religious belief in science fiction. There is a high probability that the people writing the sci-fi are probably religious believers themselves, on some level, and are writing this to gain some type of favors that they think they'll get from their invisible sky daddy, when they die and go to "heaven."
To me, Star Wars is an exception. Star Wars is a fantasy sci-fi series and the Force is something that no one worships but is used to explain the magical powers of the Jedi Knights and the Sith. I think the Force works in Star Wars. However, in my opinion, sci-fi stories when they are related to our own Earth where magical powers really don't move the narrative along, then they ruin the story when they add a religious element. Take Firefly the TV show. It's supposed to take place in the year 2517 and yet people still believe in religious mythology. Bad idea.
And yet people will always say things such as, "What's the harm that people believe in religion?" or "What's the harm that religious belief is in sci-fi?" Well, here's a graphic below which answers that question.
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| What's the big deal? What did the religious ever do? |
Why is science and science fiction important? Science is the best method we have to date, to explain the world and universe around us, including explaining the human condition including but not limited to love and friendships. Science is also the best method we have to date, to keep from fooling ourselves.
Many times, science fiction becomes scientific fact. Science fiction, as well as many other movies, help keep us entertained and allows us to have fun. But more importantly, science fiction can look towards a better future, a better humanity and with new ideas for technology. There are many scientific advances that originated from the Star Trek TV series in the 1960s. We got the cell phone and needleless medical needles. Tricorders or instruments that can detect things have been made for many years but to fit multiple detectors in a cell phone, is what scientists and researchers are working on now.
Science fiction has allow a company to make "communicator badges" by Vocera. It's not as small as a Star Trek insignia pin yet it allows hospital workers to communicate better than using an overhead loud speaker. The military has already made laser weapons. There is also a company that makes a language translator (in Star Trek, it's called a Universal Translator). The company is called, iTranslate. You use ear plugs which work using blue tooth and your smart phone. As of January 2018, their technology can translate up to 40 languages in real-time.
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" from the late 1980s to the 1990s had tablet computers. They had a type of tablet, even in the 1960s Star Trek TV show which recorded things by writing on a screen with a stylist. We now have plenty of tablet computers that people worldwide use. Even though prototypes and simple tablets started around the 1980s, it was Apple that is credited with debuting the first user friendly tablet, the iPad, in 2010.
Replicators haven't been made exactly yet like Star Trek, but we have 3-D printers that make a variety of things from aircraft turbine engine parts to making food. Replicators like Star Trek, will most likely be made in the future. Scientist have even "transported atoms." Again, we are far away from making 100% reliable transporter technology but it will probably happen in the future.
Is science important? Is science fiction important? Hell yes, to both questions. You couldn't read my blog without science. You probably would not being using a smart phone or iPad without science fiction thinking of it first. And you certainly would have a shorter life-span without modern science and modern medical science. In conclusion on religion in science fiction: If writers of science fiction love religion so much, then why not simply go back and live like they did in the Bronze Age. If you love religion, then stop using all technology.
Item 2
I believe that it's Haruo who is narrating at the beginning of the film that traveling on the alien space ship, the Aratrum, that people from Earth were cold and had a lack of food. Conditions on the space ship were so horrible that some people committed suicide. This seems very unlikely to me. If an alien race could travel at warp speeds, they should be able to travel through space providing heat, rooms and food for all people aboard their space ship.
Item 3
It would be nice if the main character would be gay. In the first scene when Metphies is visiting Haruo Sakaki in prison, there were some sexually charged moments. One example is shown below where Metphies put his hand on Haruo's shoulder, in his prison cell.
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| The sexually charged prison cell scene where Metphies put his hand on Haruo. |
Japan is very a progressive country but I think there's lots of progress that needs to be made concerning human sexuality. Case in point, porn from Japan by law, has genitals censored by using a filter over them, to make the genitals look fuzzy.
One of the most famous sexual equality events that happened in the USA started with transgender people in the USA with the Stonewall riots. While riots aren't always necessary for social change, by having gay characters in a Japanese Godzilla science fiction movie will start people realizing that sexuality and diversity is real and will eventually, in the future, help social change in Japan and around the world.
Item 4
The Netflix English translations are wrong, wrong, wrong. Here are just a very examples of how the closed caption translations are wrong.
One Netflix closed caption reads, "In the frozen, black space," however, the actual words spoken are, "In the frozen void of space."
Another Netflix closed caption reads, "Our brethren's numbers plummeted in the blink of an eye." However, the actual words spoken are, "Our population numbers took a nose dive."
One last example of the Netflix closed caption reads, "Kindness and pride are now long-gone stories of the past." However, the actual words spoken are, "Kindness and pride were nothing but a memory now."
I'm not sure how the closed captions on Netflix are completely wrong but they are. If you take a look at Star Trek closed captions, they are almost 100% correct for all the TV shows and movies on Netflix. Unfortunately, most movies and other TV shows have incorrect closed captions. It's obvious to me that people in charge of closed captions are not doing their job.
Item 5
If earth's plants have formed into the same material as Godzilla's body, then wouldn't the earth be uninhabitable for humans? Unfortunately, I don't know how Haruo or the two other alien races can change almost 20,000 years of Evolutionary Biology turning earth into a Godzilla-based lifeforms, back to normal plant and animal life? If they can change the plants back to normal, then maybe that would be the solution to ultimately destroying Godzilla. But if they can't figure out how to reverse the damage done by Godzilla to evolution on earth, then hope of repopulating earth won't happen.
In Summary
I think that everyone one of us, owe it to the future of humanity, to understand that all religions are creation myths, to realize the importance the dangers of religious belief to individuals and to society and to understand the importance criticizing religious belief. Billions of people on earth actually believe their is an invisible sky daddy is up there, somewhere. It's time for all of humanity to wake up and do their part and ushering the Scientific Age and stop promoting ancient Bronze Age and Iron Age immoral religious teachings.
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| Sam Harris, neuroscientist and philosopher on criticizing religious belief. |
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| Christopher Hitchens, writer, great thinker, on on criticizing religious belief. |
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| Christopher Hitchens on criticizing religious belief. |
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| Richard Dawkins, Evolutionary Biologist, on why we now criticize religious belief. |
1. "The World's Newest Major Religion: No Religion". National Geographic article online here:
www.news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-nones-rising-religion
1. "New Study: Worlds Fastest Growing Religion? No Religion". Anonymous article here online: www.anonhq.com/recent-study-worlds-fastest-growing-religion-no-religion
2. "Frequently Asked Questions About Evolution". PBS has some information about Evolution Biology here: ww.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/faq/cat06.html
(This FAQ section states that the human race has been on earth for about 100,000 years. I've heard some scientists estimate that homo sapiens have been around for about 200,000 years. Of course, it took millions of years for Homo sapiens to develop.)
2. "Human" On Wikipedia: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human
(In this Wikipedia page, they cite an article that the human race has been on earth for about 315,000 years. Obviously, as carbon dating or more accurate types of dating become developed and more archaeological studies are made, these figures are likely to change.)
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