In this blog post, we’ll explore how Ghost in the Shell foreshadows the fundamental anxieties of human identity, technological dominance, and future civilizations through mega-networks and cyborg societies.
What is SF?
SF literally means Science Fiction, or science fiction, and a science fiction movie is a movie with a science fiction theme. In terms of “fantasy,” science fiction is a genre that is an extension of fantasy. Science fiction is one of the many branches of fantasy, and it occupies a unique position among fantastical and fanciful stories in that it is based on scientific evidence.
Two works that are often cited as influences for fantasy are Hoffman’s The Sandman and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In both of these works, we can see that “machines” made by human hands have a common feature: they behave close to or like humans. This is somewhat different from the story of “Frankenstein,” which has been adapted many times in modern times, but both works are still important despite the fact that the process of creating a “machine that resembles a human being” is not specifically revealed. The reason is that these works are the prototypes of the ‘android’ narrative within the science fiction genre.
It can be said that various genres of science fiction that deal with the existence and meaning of artificial humans, their conflicts and friction with humans, and furthermore, issues of technological development, ethical consciousness, and human alienation, all created through the development of science and technology, originated from these two works. Based on the ever-advancing science and technology, science fiction movies are films that fantasize about the possibilities of what could happen to humanity in the future.
Due to its fantastical nature, science fiction has a wide variety of subjects. Artificial humans, cyborgs (human-made machines attached to human bodies), robots (AI, androids, etc.), vast networks, and space wars are some of the most common examples. Ghost in the Shell is a work that centers on the issues of cyborgs, artificial humans, and mega-networks.
‘Ghost in the Shell’ combines animation and science fiction
Set in a technologically advanced society in the future (2029), the anime Ghost in the Shell reminds viewers of the various problems that technological advancement can cause. With the human self wandering in a vast network and the existence of cyborgs teetering on the edge of machine and human, the film raises fundamental philosophical questions. In this respect, Ghost in the Shell has been highly praised for its auteuristic vision.
Director Mamoru Oshii has excelled at bringing these themes and ideas to life through the form of animation. Animation can easily give the impression of being unrealistic due to its simplified representations or overly complex and distorted images, but Mamoru Oshii succeeds in overcoming these limitations and instilling in the viewer a sense of realism that is as real as, or even more real than, that of live action. He reorganized the narrative structure to make the thematic significance of the original more explicit, and was praised for “the combination of fantastic cel animation and Oshii’s unique blend of dreams and reality that resonated with the audience.”
The setting of the animation, the spatial and temporal backdrop of the work, was particularly important to Oshii, who photographed the real-life locations and sought to portray them as accurately as possible. The water city in Ghost in the Shell is based on real-life footage of Hong Kong. The technique used to combine the live-action with the drawings is called DGA (digitally generated animation), which is said to have been developed by the team behind Ghost in the Shell. For this reason, it has been called the “first digital animation”.
In addition, the scenes of bullets being shot and buildings collapsing were drawn based on the movements and results of actual experiments. The “natural movements of real people” that he sought to capture in the animation, combined with digital technology, color tones, and precise details, appear in the animation as another reality. ‘Ghost in the Shell’ combines animation as a tool for depicting reality with science fiction as a warning about the future of humanity.
Ghost in the Shell’s science and technology society
Massive networks, missing identities
“Ghost in the Shell” opens with the following sentence. “In the year 2029, the world is bounded by a net.” This sentence, along with the message “Project 2501: Overcome Humanity!”, leaves a strong impression. Ghost, a key concept that recurs in the work, can be interpreted as the human psyche, or a system of ideas. In a society where the human brain is being replaced, in whole or in part, by electronic brains through technology, what happens when a massive network of computers and electronic brains around the world are connected?
The technology developed in Ghost in the Shell has the power to manipulate human ghosts and alter or destroy them by injecting “near-death experiences” into their brains. Ghost in the Shell, or Section 9, is tasked with stopping these ghost hacks and tracking down and eliminating the hacker “puppeteers” who threaten human ghosts across the network. Major Kusanagi, a key figure in this organization, suffers from severe identity confusion throughout the film, and a conversation between her and Bato reveals this confusion vividly.
Kusanagi: Anyone who is a fully embodied cyborg like me thinks, maybe I died a long time ago, and the person I am now is a simulated personality composed of a whole brain and a body? Or maybe I never existed in the first place.
Bato: You have a brain inside your titan skull, and you’re being treated like a human being, right?
Kusanagi: No human being has ever seen their own brain. They’re just judging that there is such a thing as me based on their surroundings.
Bato: So you can’t trust your own ghost?
Kusanagi: If the whole brain itself creates the ghost and houses the soul, then on what basis do you think you should believe in yourself?
Bato: That’s nonsense… Let’s see what’s inside that body, your own ghost.
Kusanagi’s body is almost entirely made up of machines, except for parts of his brain and spinal cord. Midway through the movie, it’s revealed through Bato’s dialog that she’s using Megatron’s special cyborg body. As she tracks down the puppeteer’s true identity, she constantly struggles with whether she can be called human and whether her memories are truly human. The scene where Kusanagi dives into the ocean symbolizes this process of self-discovery.
Bato: What does it feel like to dive into the ocean?
Kusanagi: Fear, anxiety, darkness, solitude… and maybe hope.
Bato: Hope?
Kusanagi: Hope that when you surface, you can become something different than you were before.
Kusanagi’s reflection as she rises to the surface gives the viewer the impression that she is facing another version of herself. This serves as a device to suggest that she will discover another personality at the end of the work.
Kusanagi is not the only character to experience identity confusion. The janitor is another character who is seriously confused. He travels from place to place, following the instructions of a programmer, installing a hacking device in pay phones in order to hack into the brain of his wife, who is asking for a divorce. However, everything he remembers is just an implanted “near-death experience,” and he is actually a single man with no wife or daughter. He tries to deny the revelation, but he becomes deeply frustrated when it turns out that all his memories are fictional. What’s important to note about this scene is that people go through life unaware that their thoughts are being manipulated and used as a means to an end by an organization.
Ghost in the Shell is a clear warning about the blurring of the lines between reality and unreality, and the loss of true self and identity.
Cyborgs, no limits for humans
A robot is an automated machine that performs human labor, while artificial intelligence (AI) is a machine that can perform human intelligence. A cyborg is an artificial machine attached to a human body. In the world of Ghost in the Shell, there are very few characters who are not cyborgs. Even Tokusa, who is portrayed as the closest thing to a human being, has a partially electronic brain. The fast typists have dozens of mechanical fingers, Bato has a prosthetic eye, and Kusanagi has most of his body, including his brain, made up of machines.
The scene in which Kusanagi rips off the armor of a tank with her bare hands makes it clear that she is a cyborg of immense strength. The skin tearing off, the steel snapping, and the arms and torso disintegrating without bleeding dramatically reveal that she is both human and machine. With such a body, Kusanagi expresses skepticism about her mechanical existence, saying
“It’s so convenient, isn’t it? If I want to, I can break down alcohol with the chemical plants implanted in my body and become skinny… It’s like human instinct… It’s just a control of metabolism, a sharpening of perception, a quantum leap in motor skills or reflexes…”
Kusanagi is skeptical of his mechanical body, but at the same time, he responds to the mutant’s voice, which suggests a union with the puppeteer, and aspires to a new infinity. While referring to faces, voices, hands, memories, the vastness of information and networks, he recognizes that he is still trapped within certain limits and dreams of meeting another being who will allow him to transcend them.
Any self-conscious being can be called a human being, but in a high-tech society where even the human brain is dependent on machines beyond the body, it is difficult to define the species itself anymore. Ghost in the Shell points out this very point.
Technopolises and systems of domination
The term “technopoly” refers to a state in which technology dominates all aspects of human life, including human thought and behavior, culture and social relationships, and ultimately the subordination of humans to machines. The society depicted in Ghost in the Shell has reached this stage of technopoly. Those who possess advanced technology see it as the result of their superior wisdom, and those without it are used and manipulated by them.
The setting of the work is a high-tech maritime city, but the interior of the city is not. Slums contrasting with forest-like skyscrapers, trash and waste filling the rivers, and sewage running down the streets show that the domination and exploitation of technology has already permeated society. The victims of this system of domination include those who are unknowingly manipulated, such as cleaners, the countless citizens who do not know when and where they will become victims of hackers, and those who cannot afford to overcome their physical conditions through technology.
The faces of people walking up and down the street are lifeless. They wander the streets with unfocused eyes and indifferent expressions, unable to find joy in their dull lives. “Dolled-up humans, programmed Terminators, march in columns. “Could the world be any more nihilistic?” is the chilling diagnosis of the work. Is technology for man, or has man become technology for man?
Symbolism in Ghost in the Shell – water, tree of life, floating city, and fighter jets
Water
The movie begins by showing the process of the body being manufactured underwater. The recurring image of water throughout the film fulfills an important symbolic function. First, in Kusanagi’s diving scenes, water symbolizes her search for an alter ego and her longing to regain her identity. Second, water is connected to the image of the ocean, reminding us of the space that is the source of all life. It symbolizes the beginning of life and is also reminiscent of the amniotic fluid in the mother’s womb.
The Tree of Life
One of the most striking mise-en-scène in Ghost in the Shell is the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life symbolizes the evolutionary lineage of all living things, including humans, and life itself. But it’s not just a backdrop. In the scene where the tank is hit by a bullet, the bullet hits just below the part of the Tree of Life that represents Hominis, or humanity. This symbolizes a human identity that has not yet been completely destroyed, but is in crisis, and the precarious situation facing the human species.
The floating city
The setting of the work, the floating city, is literally a city that exists on water. As we have seen, water is the origin of life and the essence of all living things. The human city floating on top of it is a structure that symbolizes human existence itself, which seeks to find its identity in the sea of life.
Fighters and Bombers
In the military bombing scene that follows the union of Kusanagi and the puppeteer, the fighter jets that appear are in the shape of angels. It functions as a paradoxical symbol that is both angelic and non-angelic to humans, as a being that destroys the “non-human personalities” that are accidentally created within the giant network, alluding to the destruction of human identity. In addition, the large bomber flying over the underwater city, along with the music titled “Reincarnation” that plays at the beginning and middle of the film, symbolizes the network that monitors the entire society and the way humans dominate and guard each other through technology.
Conclusion
Ghost in the Shell uses a variety of symbols, wandering characters, and a high-stakes conflict structure to deliver a powerful warning about the future of humanity. The question of where technological advances will lead human dignity and identity is as relevant today, decades after its release, if not more so.
