1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,319 Speaker 2: Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 2: Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time. 5 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,159 Speaker 2: This week on Weird House Cinema, we'll be discussing the 6 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 2: classic nineteen sixty four Kaiju movie Mathra versus Godzilla, in 7 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 2: which the Great Divine moth comes to humanity's defense despite 8 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 2: humanity's obvious greed and corruption. Originally introduced in her own 9 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 2: self titled nineteen sixty one movie, Mathra has continued to 10 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 2: serve as a mainstay in the Godzilla franchise. In the 11 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty four film, we see that Mathra's physical form 12 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 2: continually experiences death and rebirth via the hatching of an 13 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 2: enormous egg. In fact, the egg hatches to reveal twins, 14 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 2: providing the Great Kaiju protector with a strategic advantage over 15 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 2: Godzilla in their final fight, despite the larval forms that 16 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 2: she is restricted to. Now this led me to wonder 17 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 2: if natural world moths ever hatch twins, while insects do, 18 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 2: on rare occasions produce genetic twins, but there are also 19 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 2: accounts of double cocoons among silk moths, as pointed out 20 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 2: by Weighing at All in the two thousand and three 21 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 2: paper Analysis of the Movement of two silkworms during the 22 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 2: construction of double Cocoons, published in the Journal of Insect 23 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 2: Biotechnology and Serachology. That's the study of silk. Two mature 24 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 2: larvae sometimes jointly spin a large cocoon called a double cocoon, 25 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 2: in which they both develop into adults. Furthermore, the practice 26 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 2: seems to be more common in certain genetic strains of silkworm. 27 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 2: Environmental factors such as crowded confines also seem to play 28 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 2: a factor. Double cocoons are not ideal for silk production, 29 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 2: but one can easily imagine why these occurrences might stand 30 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 2: out as interesting curious. The emergence of twin larvae in 31 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 2: Mathra versus Godzilla, of course, mirrors the Kaiju's twin fairy 32 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 2: priestesses the shobitchin, though the main reason for the incorporation 33 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 2: of human twins here was apparently to capitalize on the 34 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 2: international popularity of identical twin Japanese singers the peanuts Emmy 35 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 2: and Yumi Eto. The original screenplay draft for nineteen sixty 36 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 2: one's Mathra apparently called for no fewer than four fairies, 37 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 2: but it ended up being these two lovely twins instead. 38 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 2: When Mathra battles Godzilla, we see her make use of 39 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 2: an incapacitating dust attack on the King of Monsters. It's 40 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 2: a great sequence that seems to play on the common 41 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 2: observation of fine dust on the wings of natural world moths. 42 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 2: As pointed out by Lewis Villason for BBC Science Focus, 43 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:59,519 Speaker 2: these are actually tiny scales made from modified hairs, as 44 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 2: with butter flies. If handled roughly, the scales on these 45 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 2: wings will rub off on your fingers and appear as 46 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 2: some manner of fine powder. Perhaps Mathra really is making 47 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 2: use of some otherworldly dust, but it could also be 48 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 2: the power of her shed wing scales. Look, she's a goddess. 49 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 2: She can do it she wants. And of course, the 50 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 2: silk attacks used by her offspring in the film closely 51 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:27,079 Speaker 2: match up with the silk production of silkworms bombyx Moy, 52 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 2: which clearly served as the major biological inspiration for Mathra, 53 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 2: Queen of the Monsters. Tune in for additional episodes of 54 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 2: The Monster fact The Artifact or Anomalius stupendium each week. 55 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 2: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff 56 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 2: to Blow your Mind dot com. 57 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 58 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app 59 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. 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