The reasons for this is that the trailer does
contain very strong references to violence as it shows people in distress and
fear and shows in-depth images of destruction. Whilst it does not show any
actual gore or blood, the trailer does quite strongly imply death with images
such as an airplane exploding and people running away from a tsunami. There are
also references to death prior to the trailer.
The impact and effect of this implication on
young children may cause them to become upset by the suggestion. However, young
children may not read too much into this and that they may forget about this
theme as the film progresses.
Older children, on the other hand, could like
the action that the trailer implies and admire the fast-paced fear and terror
as some children could enjoy the thrills of the actual action.
However, the context and realism
is somewhat toned down from more realistic horror films. This is because
Godzilla is not real and therefore he would not be encountered in real life.
The effect of this would harm young children as
they would not understand and grasp that Godzilla is a fictional monster and
this could potentially have psychological effects on them and could highly
frighten them.
As well as this, there are also extremely strong
references to conflict and injury. Especially, in the scene where two soldiers
are in a boat and an airplane falls from the sky and explodes into the sea and
the impact engulfs the screen. The conflict and injury is not very severe and
no one is visibly injured or killed, but the implications are strong enough to
indicate this.
There is also some references to landmarks and
the surrounding environment as, in the background of the scene, we can clearly
see the San Francisco Bridge with the bridge looking mostly destroyed and out
of place with one soldier looking on, possibly in concern.
This scene also implies that many innocent
civilians have also died in the aftermath of the destruction and that the
devastation is quite strong and unsettling.
The impact of this is that seeing this may
distress young children. However, the effect that this would have on them would
be somewhat softened by the fact that this film has a fictional plot to it that
would not occur in real life.
There is also a scene where we see a woman with
a small child running away from the camera whilst Godzilla roars behind them as
the scene disappears to black as doors close behind them.
The impact that witnessing such a scene would
have on young children is a negative one. It could give children who watch the
trailer nightmares or they may be greatly frightened or even disturbed by it.
Albeit there are no depictions of violence,
injury or even death in this scene, the scene still implies that there is about
to be a fight/war against Godzilla and that there will be quite a lot of
destruction and devastation as the aftermath and consequence of this.
Referring back to my above point about this
trailer, there are implications that people may become injured or even killed
due to the potential battle. As well as this, as typical in horror films, there
will also most likely be some graphic depictions or gore and severe from the
supposed confrontation with Godzilla.
The film may also focus heavily on the aftermath
of such injuries (e.g.: permanent disabilities), which may be inappropriate
viewing for younger audiences. The third scene of the trailer that I am writing
about implies this gore element.
The sound of the third scene also has the potential
to frighten and disturb young audiences. The two sounds that I am explaining
about are Godzilla’s roar and the overall music of the scene. These two sounds
were combined and could have impact on young viewers and could have very
profound psychological effects, especially those of Primary School age.
Whilst the trailer does not actually show any
real psychical aftermath in the trailer, there are very strong implications in
the trailer that those affected by the destruction or direct injury from the
actual battle could have very dark futures or lasting disabilities or
psychological damage. Whilst very young children may not recognize this and
just focus on Godzilla himself, older children (9 +) would most likely discover
this fact and become distressed.
