I want to get back to James' point about Gundam. I think it ties back
to an off-hand, but deep, comment by CGO. Just to remind you:
"Gundam depicts war through the eyes of characters like Amuro and
Kira, who are against fighting. These types of characters and the
cruelty of war lend themselves to anti-war themes." - CGO (Gunota
2006.12.01)
James Boren wrote:
But comparing
Gundam to what I saw in that movie...it makes Gundam seem so
ridiculous, perhaps even insulting. God, that movie really got into
my head.
According to the way I see Gundam, then I think you are completely
utterly wrong. Gundam is not less respectable as a commentary on war
and human nature then Letters or any war films I have seen.
For me the one most important Gundam theme is its view on war. CGO
calling it "anti-war themes" is inaccurate and distracting, but I
don't want to spell out a specific articulation of that view, and
thereby trigger another flame war, I just want to argue that there is
a universal message that stayed true even in such diverse SS/AU's as
0083, W, G, TA, Seed and igLoo.
Now I really don't want to get into a debate what this Gundam message
is, and ESPECIALLY, if this message is right or wrong, good or bad.
But I think it's there and it's radically different from what's
accepted as True in most cultures, by "most cultures" here I am
definitely including the West (both Christianity and Democracy-ism)
but also part of the East (Feudalism/Confucianism and Maoist
Communism)
If you think about the dialog between Amuro, Lalah and Char, if you
relish the last minutes of episode 43 (or Encounter in Space), if you
recognize 0080 as a Greek tragedy, if you find parallel between 0083
and SW ep.2-3, if your heart pounds listening to Queen Diana/Kihel,
then Gundam is not the least bit ridiculous or insulting.
But that's not the way fans see Gundam. For most fans, Gundam is a
Sexy Dystopia (tm) in which Evil threatens justice and freedom,
eggheads invent evermore amazing and powerful giant robots and worthy
men pilot them to shot and blow up stuffs to destroy the Evil; until
Evil spawns again (inevitably) and the cycle repeats itself. For them
Amuro and Kira are douche bags of angst and the biggest blemish in the
Gundam multiverse.
That's the other face of Gundam when CGO said "Gundam may be a single
word, but there are many Gundams inside." With a single innocuous
sentence, CGO embraced both the anti-war and pro-war (excuse the
oversimiplication) faces of Gundam. The Gundam hero will forever be
angst-ridden and "fight to stop fighting" at the same time spawning
mechas (and merchandise) along an exponential growth curve.
But the two opposing faces have always been tangled up since the
curtain closed on First Gundam. We the hobby fans carry the biggest
share of blame. Without us, there would have not been MSV, without
MSV there would be no Zeta and the rest of the generally inferior
sequels. But without the sequels the First Gundam also would not
maintain it's legacy and be forgotten along with Ideon etc. Tomino
himself recognizes the contradiction in an early GAce interview.
Without the merchandise Gundam would not reach a wide audience,
without a wide audience it's pointless to make anime with a deep
message (e.g. Turn-A), but with the merchandise the message is buried
and forgotten, or rejected. Along with the hobby fans, Tomino did the
most to dilute his own theme with endless mechas and sequels.
So, sincerely or cynically, Tomino and the rest of Gundam creators
bash fans over the head over and over again with "anti-war" themes and
the fans respond with bulletproof immunity.
In the end, people are stupid and everything is pointless and we are
left with blissful nihilism. So... what's the next HGUC again?
--
Dr. Core
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