ENGFLM 1534 - GIANT MONSTERS AND KAIJU FILMS

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Long Description "Giant Monsters and Kaiju Films" explores a wide range of issues relevant to the use of the giant monster as a staple of science fiction and horror films, and the giant monster movie (or kaiju film) as its own genre. Such issues include: the origins of the genre; various cultural critics' and historians' responses to it; the intersections between kaiju narratives, audiences, and the cultural and historical contexts that produce them; the form and structures of the genre itself; the international distribution and influence of kaiju films and their transformations across audiences; the central roles of special effects, spectacle, and fantasies of disaster and destruction in creating meaning in the films. The course will also use the giant monster to examine how the concept of genre works to shape the kinds of entertainment we enjoy and to influence how we interpret and understand popular texts, as well as how the changing representations of iconic popular culture figures such as Godzilla and King Kong have intersected or reflected larger concerns in the history of global cinema. This critical studies course is a Category II elective in the Film and Media studies major and minor.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis

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