WEBVTT - The Monstrefact Redux: Mothra

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 2>This week on Weird House Cinema, we'll be discussing the

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<v Speaker 2>classic nineteen sixty four Kaiju movie Mathra versus Godzilla, in

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<v Speaker 2>which the Great Divine moth comes to humanity's defense despite

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<v Speaker 2>humanity's obvious greed and corruption. Originally introduced in her own

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<v Speaker 2>self titled nineteen sixty one movie, Mathra has continued to

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<v Speaker 2>serve as a mainstay in the Godzilla franchise. In the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen sixty four film, we see that Mathra's physical form

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<v Speaker 2>continually experiences death and rebirth via the hatching of an

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<v Speaker 2>enormous egg. In fact, the egg hatches to reveal twins,

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<v Speaker 2>providing the Great Kaiju protector with a strategic advantage over

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<v Speaker 2>Godzilla in their final fight, despite the larval forms that

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<v Speaker 2>she is restricted to. Now this led me to wonder

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<v Speaker 2>if natural world moths ever hatch twins, while insects do,

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<v Speaker 2>on rare occasions produce genetic twins, but there are also

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<v Speaker 2>accounts of double cocoons among silk moths, as pointed out

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<v Speaker 2>by Weighing at All in the two thousand and three

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<v Speaker 2>paper Analysis of the Movement of two silkworms during the

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<v Speaker 2>construction of double Cocoons, published in the Journal of Insect

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<v Speaker 2>Biotechnology and Serachology. That's the study of silk. Two mature

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<v Speaker 2>larvae sometimes jointly spin a large cocoon called a double cocoon,

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<v Speaker 2>in which they both develop into adults. Furthermore, the practice

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<v Speaker 2>seems to be more common in certain genetic strains of silkworm.

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<v Speaker 2>Environmental factors such as crowded confines also seem to play

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<v Speaker 2>a factor. Double cocoons are not ideal for silk production,

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<v Speaker 2>but one can easily imagine why these occurrences might stand

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<v Speaker 2>out as interesting curious. The emergence of twin larvae in

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<v Speaker 2>Mathra versus Godzilla, of course, mirrors the Kaiju's twin fairy

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<v Speaker 2>priestesses the shobitchin, though the main reason for the incorporation

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<v Speaker 2>of human twins here was apparently to capitalize on the

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<v Speaker 2>international popularity of identical twin Japanese singers the peanuts Emmy

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<v Speaker 2>and Yumi Eto. The original screenplay draft for nineteen sixty

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<v Speaker 2>one's Mathra apparently called for no fewer than four fairies,

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<v Speaker 2>but it ended up being these two lovely twins instead.

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<v Speaker 2>When Mathra battles Godzilla, we see her make use of

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<v Speaker 2>an incapacitating dust attack on the King of Monsters. It's

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<v Speaker 2>a great sequence that seems to play on the common

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<v Speaker 2>observation of fine dust on the wings of natural world moths.

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<v Speaker 2>As pointed out by Lewis Villason for BBC Science Focus,

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<v Speaker 2>these are actually tiny scales made from modified hairs, as

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<v Speaker 2>with butter flies. If handled roughly, the scales on these

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<v Speaker 2>wings will rub off on your fingers and appear as

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<v Speaker 2>some manner of fine powder. Perhaps Mathra really is making

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<v Speaker 2>use of some otherworldly dust, but it could also be

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<v Speaker 2>the power of her shed wing scales. Look, she's a goddess.

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<v Speaker 2>She can do it she wants. And of course, the

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<v Speaker 2>silk attacks used by her offspring in the film closely

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<v Speaker 2>match up with the silk production of silkworms bombyx Moy,

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<v Speaker 2>which clearly served as the major biological inspiration for Mathra,

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<v Speaker 2>Queen of the Monsters. Tune in for additional episodes of

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<v Speaker 2>The Monster fact The Artifact or Anomalius stupendium each week.

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<v Speaker 2>As always, you can email us at contact at stuff

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<v Speaker 2>to Blow your Mind dot com.

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