Godzilla, Kong and Me

The new movie’s surprising take on “alpha” males wasn’t just professionally gratifying— it also had a personal impact on me at a vulnerable moment.

I was hesitant to plop down 20 bucks to watch the latest Godzilla movie the other day.

After all, the title invoked the conventional movie trope of a rivalry, a contest: “Godzilla vs. Kong”

As people familiar with my thinking know, I’m wary of excessive competition. I see it as a damaging aspect of the masculinity that has dominated our culture for centuries.

But I’m a sucker for monster movies. And the previous, recent Godzilla movies have had intriguing plots. So I figured I’d give it a shot.

I’m glad I did.

SPOILER ALERT: DON’T READ FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE MOVIE FREE OF EXTENSIVE PLOT KNOWLEDGE. I’M GOING TO GET INTO THE DETAILS!

Far from endorsing king-of-the-hill rivalry, Godzilla vs. Kong accomplished nearly the opposite. It amounted to a critique of hyper-aggression and a celebration of collaboration and egalitarian power sharing.

The conceit of the movie is that the real rivalry is not between the lizard monster and the giant ape. It is between the two titans and a massive, man-made robot — Mechagodzilla. That mechanical monster is the product of an out-of-control male ego. Walter Simmons, the CEO of Apex Cybernetics, can’t bear the fact that human beings aren’t the “apex” predator with Godzilla and other titan beasts on the planet.

So even though Godzilla defended humanity from a previous titan attack and peace has reined for several years, the business tycoon develops technology designed to destroy even friendly monsters.

To be sure, much of the movie plays out as a traditional monster battle royal — with Godzilla and Kong fighting on sea and land.

But it seems Godzilla has an inkling from the start that the Apex invention is trouble. And he is right. The hubris of the CEO leads to an out-of-control technological creation that threatens not just Godzilla and Kong but all of humanity.

And here is where the movie parts ways from those old ’70s monster flicks that simply pitted one monster against another. Or even from the ones that had tag-teamming buddies, like Godzilla and Jet Jaguar against Gigan and Megalon.

Because in this latest Godzilla saga, Godzilla and Kong bury the hatchet. Literally so. It appears an ax of great power once enabled an ancestor of Kong’s to defeat a forefather (or mother) of Godzilla.

This time around, Kong is unable to kill Godzilla with the ax. But Godzilla demonstrates mercy toward Kong. And when Kong recovers (from what must be the biggest ever dislocated shoulder), he joins Godzilla in the fight against Mechagodzilla. Godzilla was getting whupped by the giant robot. But Kong evens the odds. And in the climactic moment, the teamwork levels up. A down-but-not-out Godzilla trains his atomic breath on the ax, held by Kong. This super-charges the weapon, which Kong then wields to destroy Mechagodzilla.

There’s one final key scene as the two surviving titans regard each other. A kind of mutual respect is shown. No need to determine a single “alpha titan.” Godzilla swims off into the sea. And Kong returns to his ancestral home in the center of the earth.

Godzilla vs. Kong is the latest in a series of major movies and TV shows that have challenged traditional views of a masculinity. Other examples include Game of Thrones, the Sopranos and the Avengers movies.

These cultural products are playing a role in the shift under way from an outdated, unhealthy and dangerous ‘confined’ masculinity toward a “liberating” masculinity that frees men and those around them to live fuller, healthier lives.

But I didn’t just take professional pleasure in seeing Godzilla vs. Kong. The movie had a personal impact on me too.

The movie acted as a balm of sorts for me at a vulnerable moment. Last month, I experienced a mild heart attack. The heart attack, in turn triggered an anxiety attack.

Those health scares and the care I’ve received in the wake of them have raised questions for me about my fitness as a man. As much as I disavow the conventional, confined definition of men as simply strong, stoic, fearless and independent, those cultural influences still tug at me.

Mighty Godzilla and King Kong loosened those ties some.

Thanks, fellas. I owe you one.

Better put — you were worth the 20 bucks.