Technology and protest in

Technology and protest in

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What is

?

A.K.A: 'GitS'

is a Japanese animated film based on the manga series of the same name written by Masumane Shirow.

Acquiring a huge fanbase, GitS has extended into a vast media franchise, Ghost in the Shell also

includes video games, a television series (subnamed "Stand Alone Complex"), a film sequel (2.0

Innocence, 2004), as well as a new tv series subnamed "Arise" being released in the summer of 2013.

Categorized as a cyberpunk ("a

genre of science fiction set in

a lawless subculture of an

oppressive society dominated by

computer technology" dictionary.

com) GitS is set a digitally

dominated society. Due to

technological advancements,

humans have begun relying on

cybernetic parts, that is human

and technology have come

together in the most integral

fashion. Because of this, the

cyborgs/dolls/humans that

inhabit this future define the

"soul" or the remains of their

humanity as "ghosts" and their

repairable and replaceable

bodies, their "shells."

As people have become connected

into this electronic network,

"ghost-hacking" makes way as

sort of cyber terrorist crime.

Ghost-hackers can erase memories

and implant new ones in order to

create an entire new guise to

commit crime (murder, espionage,

etc).

directed by Mamoru Oshii, 1995

Ghost in the Shell brings up

numerous points about

mankind's interaction and

dependence on technology.

Questions about how integrated

technology is within day to

day life, as well as the

possibility of technology

surpassing man as a superior

being. Thematically, the film begs the questions:

What is GitS trying to say?

What defines one's being and

existence?in the realm of artificial intelligence

How much should man depend on his technology?

Cultural Aspects

Ghost in the Shell (1995) is a Japanese anime science fiction film based on the manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow. The film is set in the future in the year 2029. The time of the film is very important to the storyline, mainly because the kind of technology the characters were using and were surrounded by do not exist today. Even the two main characters, Motoko Kusanagi and Batou are cyborgs, they are part robot. The entire plot is centered on the fact that most of the world is now ran by computers and even people are part computer as well. This is why the story works, because we are taken completely out of our present time and taken into the future where this film is set.

StorylineThe year is 2029 in Japan and the world has become intensively information oriented and humans are well-connected to networks. Crime has evolved and developed into a sophisticated stages by hacking into the interactive networks. To prevent this from happening, Section 9 a government group is formed to help prevent this hacks from happening. Lead by Major Motoko Kusanagi a female cyborg who is assigned the task of finding and apprehending the villain hacker known as the Puppet Master, who is a computer virus capable of taking over the minds of computer-enhanced humans brains and altering their memories. But during her investigation on the Puppet Master, Major Motoko Kusanagi finds out the Puppet Masters existence is more than meets the eyes and leaves her questioning her very own purpose and existence in life.

As the film progresses, we

discover the Puppet Master is

not a person, but rather an

entity that had accumulated so

much data that it gained its

own free will and self-

awareness, therefore giving

itself humanity. The Puppet

Master tries to track down the

protagonist, Kusanagi, in order

to "procreate" or merge his

data with her ghost, to finally

die and thus completing his

humanity.

& here's a short video clip,

http://youtu.be/YZX58fDhebc

Characters

Major Motoko Kusanagi

The main character in Ghost in the Shell. Major Motoko Kusanagi is a cyborg which means she is half human and half robot. Major Motoko Kusanagi is the squad leader of Public Security Section 9. Both beautiful and deadly, the major is both battle tested and proven. She has an androgynous looking face and barely shows any human emotions at all. Her body is completely robotic which gives her increase strength, speed and stamina. Her cybernetic enhancements also giver her optical camo abilities. Kusanagi is frequently played in the film as contemplative and brooding, a direct contrast to her down to earth partner Batou.

Batou

The main male character in Ghost in the Shell and second in command to Major Motoko Kusanagi. He is notably the most light-hearted out of all the characters in the film. He frequently jokes with Motoko and the rest of Public Security Section 9 being an outgoing joker. Batou is also more emotional and not as calm as Motoko. Batou shows anger at injustice and cruelty, to the point of seeming downright hot headed at times. Batou is Motoko most trusted ally in Public Security Section 9.

Togusa

The newest transferred member to Public Security Section 9. Having a good history as an uncorrupted detective is one of the main reasons he was selected to become a member of Public Security Section 9 (as well him being a family man), to add a newer element of variety and unpredictability to the team. Togusa is also the only member of Public Security Section 9 not to come from a military background which makes him feel insecure at sometimes. He is very fond of his old school Mateba Autorevolver opting to use it over standard issue Public Security Section 9 weapons. His fashion is rather noticeable, having a thick mullet and turtleneck sweaters with sports jackets.

Chief Daisuke Aramaki

Chief Aramaki is a strict chief of Public Security Section 9. He is referred to by others in Section 9 as the "old ape". He is fiercely loyal to the members of Section 9, and often put his own career on the line to ensure the survival of the rest of his team.

The Puppet Master

Also know as Project 2501 is the main antagonist of the film. The Puppet Master is an artificial intelligence program secretly forged and developed by rival Public Security Section 6. During an unknown time it developed a sentience and began a mission of independence from Public Security Section 6. The Puppet Master was created for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a tool that could stealthily manipulate politics and intelligence, altering databases and the memories of key persons for the benefit of select individuals organizations affiliated with Ministry, and is equipped with unparalleled computer and cyberbrain hacking abilities. Once discovered, the Puppet Master is assumed to be a human, most likely with mnemonic enhancements, who has incredible hacking skills. The Puppet Master imposes thought provoking questions that make Major Motoko Kusanagi question her being in the world.

Technical Film & Animation Info

Ghost in the Shell was directed by Mamoru Oshii, animated by Production I.G, and scripted

by Kazunori Itō and stars Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ōtsuka and Iemasa Kayumi. and is based off the manga created by Masamune Shirow. Production I.G have famously animated many anime films and series, and Ghost in the Shell was one of their first and most famous films. Mainly because of the use of groundbreaking digital production techniques. Ghost in the Shell was made with the use of digitally-generated animation mixed in with hand-drawn environments. Something that is very easily done now, but in 1995, it was a stunning sight to see for moviegoers. Apart of Production I.G’s mission statement is to make anime that can stand on its own without being derived from a manga. Which is something that is very hard in Japan, as much of it’s anime come from it’s original manga. That is why the Ghost in the Shell film stands out, yes it is based off of the manga created by Masamune Shirow but the film is very different.

Major Theme

What defines one's being and existence?

In GitS, one's 'ghost' is the remnant of the human soul that defines a living being. Major Kusanagi is largely cybernetic, thus her ghost is a smaller fraction of her being. However the Puppet Master gives himself self-awareness through an accumulation of data. As a sort of artificial intelligence, the Puppet Master has surpassed the human race, even this new cyborg race of GitS, in essentially becoming an immortal being. His entity or "ghost" cannot be deteriorated moving from shell to shell as a human's could in this world. This disturbs the balance of life in our world, even in the case of Kusanagi's replaceable shell: who deserves this immortality? Is it reserved for the elite? IBM's 'Watson' perhaps is a comparison to Puppet Master: having access to a large pool of data being able to answer questions independently. Should 'beings' like this exist or continue to be advanced and how useful is it to man? How autonomous does something have to be to have human qualities? However, something doesn't have to be human to be alive, do animals or plants have 'souls'? The Puppet Master as well as Kusanagi contemplate their existence: perhaps the awareness of existence grants one humanity or the possibility of a soul.

Puppet Master was originally just a program: is that 'existence' and 'being'? Does being entail a physical entity? Thinking of existing as a memory system, human memory isn't the only sort of existing. Data-sets themselves "exist" and are sometimes programmed to be active in processing that data, much like Puppet Master (see IBM Watson). Data is a kind of memory. Kusanagi has very little memory of her original self/ghost, but the data that is there defines her personality. Memory has value to whatever processes it: be it programs like Puppet Master or human sensibility like Kusanagi. The fact that we define Puppet Master as a character and not an inanimate object suggests that he is a being. Ghost in the Shell reminds its audience that things can exist without humans giving them meaning and acknowledging that they exist: there was a time before us and there will be a time after us. While humans created Puppet Master, he can exist now without them. Data will remain after us, so perhaps that is the future of our being and existence: the human race might only continue as a memory. Those memories are ghosts.

As a larger idea, technology is intended to aid man. But, as we come closer to allowing this technology to automate itself to do so, our fear of automation becoming awareness (and rebellion) increases, as displayed in the Y2K scare. Particularly during the Industrial Revolution where technology was big, and tangible, and intimidating, there was an outright vision of how destructive those inventions could be. Additionally technology began trumping man with human jobs being outsourced to modern factories or even just self-checkout aisles.

Looking at the sci-fi anime genre, it is generally reflective of the present Japanese culture. Astro Boy (1963) was an embodiment of the up and coming use of nuclear energy, using a small child robot to represent the clean friendliness yet instabilities of this new energy source. The Japanese were rightfully ambivalent as seen in the recent Fukushima disaster. Ghost in the Shell brings up this idea of the web, this intangible concept that has the potential to be totally subversive. Astro Boy is to nuclear energy as GitS is to the new internet age. Network and technological abuse is presented as an issue. As "ghosts" are stored in a network and are able to be

hacked, we in the present are storing more and more sensitive information online. While identity theft won't lead to murders and espionage as ghost-hacking does, our online personas are becoming a large part of human existence. We have created our ghosts: the data that makes up our identities or history in the cloud. Is storing everything online going to be dangerous? While we have seen Wikileaks release precious government information to the public, it hasn't caused direct harm. We haven't quite evolved the web enough to do damage (yet).

GitS tries to discuss technological ethics. Man wants to maintain his dominance over technology: that is where he draws the line. If we could make humans indestructible cyborgs, would we? With the varying levels of ghosts in the film, who would get access to a superior cybernetic shell like Kusanagi? Regarding the level of 'cyborg-ness' we would essentially be creating a successor to humans: is that ethical? Perhaps the Kusanagi / Puppet Master offspring would be our successor. Is that something we want? GitS ends on a rather hopeful, headstrong note, "The net is vast and limitless." Perhaps technology is part of human evolution, dependence and integration may be desired and inevitable.

How much should man depend on his technology?

Discuss

The film:

1) How does the Puppet Master's awareness of his existence justify that he may have a "ghost" or soul? Is he considered living if he is, basically, just a program?

2) Where do you think Major Motoko Kusanagi went to after she acknowledged that she is no longer Kusanagi nor the Puppet Master, but rather some combination of the two?

3) Why do you think that Major Motoko Kusanagi agreed to merge with the Puppet Master? Do you think it was the right decision for her as a cyborg?

The theme:

1) How do you feel society's structure and ideals have changed since our lives have grown more web-centric in the past decade?

2) What are your views on today’s current technological and social climate? Do you feel that technology has taken over on a dangerous level yet?

3) Is technology something to be worried about in the future? Do you think that our world could become something like the world of Ghost in the Shell?

Works Cited

Chi Hyun Park, Jane. "Stylistic Crossings." World Literature Today 79.3/4 (2005): 60. MAS Ultra -

School Edition. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.

Curti G H, 2008, "The ghost in the city and a landscape of life: a reading of difference in Shirow and

Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell" Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 26(1) 87 – 106

Miyao, Daisuke. "Before Anime: Animation And The Pure Film Movement In Pre-War Japan." Japan Forum

14.2 (2002): 191-209. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.

Rid, Thomas. "Think Again: Cyberwar." Foreign Policy 192 (2012): 1.MasterFILE Premier. Web. 27 Jan.

2013.

Schaub, Joseph Christopher. "Kusanagi's Body: Gender and Technology in Mecha-anime." Asian Journal of

Communication 11.2 (2001): 79-100. Print.

Presentation brought to you by

Lea Millay's Pop Culture UNST 254I, Winter 2013

Edward Chaney,Characters, Storyline

Jordan Hoagbin,Overview, Film Introduction, Major Themes, Presentation Design.

& Ashley ListerCultural Aspects, Technical Film & Animation Info