Ghost in Shell, directed by Mamoru Oshii, is a movie about a female cyborg. This female cyborg , known as Major Kusanagi, is made of 95% metallica. She is only 5% human, though that small percent makes a big difference and sets her apart from the rest. One of her loyal companions, Batou, appears to be a cyborg as well. Throughout this movie, they are searching for someone or something known as the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master is famous for hacking into numerous systems. It appears as thought the Puppet Master is beginning to deal with affairs close to Section 9- which is the section Kusanagi and Batou work with. The movie portrays the struggle to grab a hold of this mysterious character. The reason why is becomes such a struggle to track and contain the Puppet Master is because his technology is far advanced. The net is so vast. The one thing about technology is that it has the potential to surpass humans. This is what makes cyborgs and other systems a danger. The Puppet Master merely started off as a virus, and spread and spread. The only way to contain the virus was to place it into a body. Though, with the new body, The Puppet Master was able to access more and more, such as section 6. One of the reasons why the Puppet Master has gone from system to system though was so that he could find Kusanagi. Kusanagi, as started before, is 5% human. Kusanagi is special in that sense; she was once human- the Puppet Master on the other hand was never human. The Puppet Master wishes to merge with Kusanagi to have children on the net, and to become something limitless.
Overall, I liked the movie. The soundtrack of the movie was really nice and moving. As usual, there was nudity throughout the film. There were a couple grotesque moments in the movie that really disturbed me. The moment that disturbed me the most was when Kusanagi is attempting to reach The Puppet Master I believe, and she’s stark naked. Not only is she naked, but she become extremely and unattractively muscular. It looks as though her muscles begin to twitch and tear, and her skin tears also. Her arm and her leg rip from her body. Even the lighting during this scene was shone in a way that only made things worse. I honestly do not think the image will ever be completely erased from my mind. And, also- to be honest, the nudity in the films is becoming old and bothersome.
Oh Illy, I really love your blog! It made me giggle. I liked your summary because it gave me a take on the film that I hadn't really thought about. I knew that Puppet Master was a virus but the idea of containing it inside of a body to keep control is an interesting notion. I figured putting the virus inside a humanoid body would only make it more dangerous... I don't know... I just think it would be ever stronger now that it had a physical manifestation. But I do agree with you about that part of the movie being grotesque. It was pretty strange. I wasn't sure what was happening at that moment until her limbs started popping off. And sorry to tell you this Illy... but I don't think you'll escape nudity in anime... they go together like macaroni and cheese! Though there are some that don't, the nudity is part of anime culture... that's just how the Japanese roll! Haha! Anyway, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSo, do you think the lines between being human and being a machine are there now that most of the people are mostly cyborgs? Do you think the way cyborgs and humans interact is the same as the way humans interact with each other, or do you think that the cyborgs have a hard time interacting with the humans? There seems to be no indication that there is a major prejudice against the cyborgs or vice versa, but I help but think there has to be some kind of separation. Why do people need a cyborg body anyway? Why must they give up their humanness for the cold of mechanics? In the series, the major does not get naked, so perhaps you would enjoy that.
ReplyDeleteHey Illy,
ReplyDeleteI didn’t really find the scene where Kusanagi was attempting to reach the Puppet Master nearly as grotesque as you did. I thought it was kind of neat that they displayed such power in a female role too. Although I’m not really sure what her plan was, considering that she was helpless after. As for the nudity, well at least there was a reason for it this time. She’s only able to utilize her cloaking ability when she’s fully nude because her clothes don’t have the same ability. Concerning her losing limbs, I found that to be pretty important symbolically. When Kusanagi was hooked up to the Puppet Master I noticed that both of them were missing significant amounts of their bodies, enough to not be able to function properly. To me this stands out as a huge symbol for how neither of them was completely whole. That’s what I believe drew them together also, their sense of being incomplete.
---Logan