Alyssa Striplin Spills the Tea about Godzilla

Instructor of English Alyssa Striplin gave her lecture "Godzilla: King of the Metaphors" at East Hills Library today. The talk is part of the series "Pop Talks," a collaboration between the St. Joseph Public Library and the Department of English and Modern Languages that interprets popular culture issues for the community.

Ms. Striplin explained how Godzilla has become a popular culture icon over time since its debut in Japan in the 1950s. The movie covers a great deal of metaphorical ground, including how it handles literary plot conventions such as man vs. nature, man vs. nature, man vs. technology, man vs. self, man vs. man, and more.

It was concluded that Godzilla, despite his deceptively simple nature, is a pretty complicated creature.