Gone are the days when we view monsters as indisputable evil. True, a monster, by definition, is capable of terrible things. However, many monsters are simply misunderstood, scorned by society, and forced into a role they had no desire to assume.

One director who shared such an opinion was Ishirō Honda. The Japanese filmmaker was responsible for more than 30 feature films, with a career that rivaled many Hollywood greats. The director is perhaps best known for directing the 1954 film Godzilla. The kaiju film became an international success, and Hondo would return to direct later franchise films like King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) and Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975).

But with his careful hand in Godzilla’s beginnings, Hondo took a very sympathetic approach to many antagonists in film. “Monsters are tragic beings,” Honda said during a 1968 interview with Midi/Minuit Fantastique. “They are not evil by choice. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy; that is their tragedy. They do not attack people because they want to, but because of their size and strength, mankind has no other choice but to defend itself.” Hondo argued that such a narrative left the film audience no choice but to sympathize. “After several stories of this, people end up having a kind of affection for the monsters; they end up caring about them,” said the director.

Hondo went into greater detail, according to Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishirō Honda by Peter H. Brothers. “I don’t think a monster should ever be a comical character,” Honda said. “The public is more entertained when the great King Kong strikes fear into the hearts of the little characters.”