Since the end of our spring semester class, there have been two media blockbusters (the television miniseries Chernobyl and the film Godzilla: King of Monsters) that have made an immense impact on premium cable and the box office respectively. Chernobyl is an HBO historical drama miniseries that serves as a graphic and in-depth recounting of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the sequel to the 2014 Godzilla movie, but more than that it is a rather significant reboot of the new multimedia franchise and fictional universe, called the “MonsterVerse ” which also includes King Kong and his new movies.
Chernobyl is a five episode miniseries on HBO, a premium cable network, and was introduced right after the world-famous Game of Thrones series came to an end. The show itself is an excellent retelling of the specific events that happened in the early morning of April 26, 1986. The beginning of the show is the accident itself from the perspective of workers inside the nuclear power plant before, during, and after the explosion. It offers immense and accurate scientific background and information about how a nuclear power plant operates as well as what exactly went wrong inside the reactor to cause the disaster. Fortunately viewers will not get lost in a sea of nuclear physics jargon, because the scientific numbers and data get put in terms that everyone can understand for the sake of one of the main characters who is not a physicist but is a top bureaucratic official for Mikhail Gorbechev. In addition to the in-depth look we get at the nuclear power plant, we also get an equally fascinating view inside the Kremlin, the secret meeting spot for the top officials of the Soviet Union. It is here we get the full display of subterfuge, conspiracy theories, and the questionable decision making of the Soviet Union due to paranoia, pride and obsession.
One of the most significant aspects of the show is the in-depth perspectives of the main characters: an accomplished physicist with a terrible secret and a life-long bureaucrat questioning his lifetime of work. This gives us a chance to see inside two incredibly important communist institutions: the Kremlin, and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. However, arguably the best part of the show is the graphic detail put forth to show the damage and dangers of nuclear radiation. The special effects showing the catastrophic power of the exposed core are phenomenal. One moving example is when the first of the firefighters on the scene accidentally touches a smoldering piece of exploded core material and within minutes viewers see that the radiation has eaten through his gloves and has already severely burned his hand. Radiation sickness is gruesomely brought to a new and hideous light in the show, as horrible disfiguring boils, lesions, tumors and scars eventually make the characters unrecognizable and virtually inhuman in appearance. The Chernobyl miniseries gives new material vibrancy to nuclear radiation, a topic which many people may not be familiar with, and gives the general public a horribly vivid example of slow violence. The damage slowly caused by nuclear radiation sickness that torments the human body and horrifically changes down to the cellular level.
There is one rather significant drawback to the show: all of the actors are British and nearly the entire script of the show is in English. This takes away from the full immersion of being in the Soviet Union during the Chernobyl accident and gives the sense of a British reenactment rather than an authentic Eastern European account. There are some parts of Russian dialogue and announcements and more often than not they were not translated, leaving us foreign in a supposedly genuine Soviet retelling. This does not make the show unwatchable, but it is definitely something viewers will notice .
Godzilla has represented the seen and unseen damage of nuclear radiation and technology for more than 50 years. He has gone from rampaging monster to protector guardian several times and has had his appearance changed as well. He has often reflected the general understanding and consensus of nuclear power of the time. However the impact of nuclear radiation on the environment has been a very strong premise in the Godzilla movie franchise. Godzilla: King of the Monsters changes that and makes it one of the major plot points in the movie.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters starts right after the disaster in San Francisco that Godzilla caused in 2014. Since that attack, many of the “titans” or gigantic radioactive monsters have been discovered and researched by a quasi-governmental agency called “Monarch.” As the movie quickly progresses, other titans are awoken by various means: some wake up on their own and some are awoken by an Eco-terrorism group that believes the titans will bring environmental balance back to the earth, a balance they believe humans have disrupted. In support of this claim, there is scientific and physical evidence of nature flourishing and thriving wherever the titans roam or rest. The movie also mentions how the nuclear radiation given off by the titans accelerates natural growth and actually heals the planet. The plot picks up when the Eco-terrorists awaken “Monster Zero,” or “King Ghidorah”: a three-headed, two-tailed, lightning-emitting, flying monster. King Ghidorah eventually awakens the remaining titans and causes them to go on a destructive rampage wherever they reside. However, Godzilla ends up defeating him, and the other titans submit to Godzilla and become peaceful once again. This resolution provides evidence for the first time in this movie series that Godzilla may actually be here to help the earth and humans.
Overall, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a CGI-masterpiece thrill ride, but the acting and plot leave a lot to be desired. The struggle between Monarch and the actual government seems tedious and unnecessary, while the overall goals of the Eco-terrorism group is a bit one-dimensional. However, it brings a lot of new ideas and premises to the Godzilla “MonsterVerse.” There is a subtle yet powerful message of nuclear futurity and environmental humanities that cannot be ignored. Although the titans give off massive amounts of nuclear radiation and destroy entire cities, the simple solution of destroying the monsters is not a viable option as it only causes more destruction. The titans have become part of the planet and we have to learn to deal with the problems we create. The idea that we must learn from our past mistakes and work with them in order to fix them (like in the course text Staying with the Trouble) is a fundamentally important principle of Environmental Humanities. Hopefully this subtle yet powerful message is a recurring theme and message in the evolving “MonsterVerse” movie franchise.

Additionally, Dark just released its second season on Netflix today. So hopefully we will have more things to discuss about nuclear futurity.