The Ghost in the Shell is a very beautiful and thought provoking film which raises many questions, but I think one rises above the others in importance. That question specifically is, “What does it mean to be human?” Although this question may seem a broad unanswerable entity argued about through all of time, The Ghost in the Shell presents it in a new light which strikes a chord very close to home.
Throughout the entirety of the film many themes and issues are touched on but I want to focus particularly on the emotions and development of the major characters throughout the story. We see Major Kusanagi, Batou, Togusa, and the Puppet Master all evolve not only as characters but as actual beings. The transformation from their normal, although incredibly cool, lives to their new states of mind at the end of their journeys is monumental.
This movie sets itself in the not too distant future in a world where the line between humans and androids has become a very, very gray line indeed. Not only do androids that look like humans exist, but humans that are part android are just as common. The important distinction in the minds of the people in the story is that you are still human if your “ghost” was originally human. Throughout the story the term “ghost” most closely represents the mind or soul of an entity. While this setting is unique and interesting, I think its relevance is more impactful because the audience can see that the ideas present are not too far off from our own world. Also since the people and androids all look human, we can relate further and the question begins to arise, “what does it mean to be human?”
The main characters of the story look particularly human, despite their countless robotic enhancements. Major Kusanagi’s pervading female sexuality is frequently displayed to portray this gray link between android and human. By having very “human” characters who happen to be mostly machine, the audience is pushed to question the definition of humanity.
The story itself unfolds naturally to the audience without a narrator to guide its way. The viewer is left to piece together all of the events which build on each other. Although numerous things occur in the story some of the major “kernels” include scenes where people’s minds are being controlled directly by a terrorist, then that terrorist being revealed as an artificial intelligence which has become aware of himself, and now has a “ghost” just like a human would. These developments not only rock the viewer’s world, but they flip the major characters’ world upside down. All of these events unfold rather quickly concerning the passage of time, and they unfold in an orderly manner.
Some major themes raised throughout the movie are sexuality, homosexuality, humanity, justice, religion, and love, to name only a handful. Because of this broad range of very serious issues, I think that the particular audience The Ghost in the Shell is aiming for is a bit hard to pin down. It is obviously targeted more towards eastern culture than western culture given its origin as a foreign film but this in no way diminishes its relevance for all kinds of people. To give a very broad but relevant answer, this movie is directing itself at all of humanity.
All of these elements come together to form a tale which challenges that which we take for granted. It shakes the very essence of being able to say “I am human.” Specifically in the case of the Puppet Master we are asked to reform our definition of humanity. If an artificial intelligence can possess a mind and soul then what distinguishes it from a human? This is the exact dilemma that the characters of the story begin to face and the Major takes this concept even further at the story’s finale. This main question in the film is one that has very deep philosophical impact but it manages to break free of the archaic stereotypes we usually give philosophy by presenting it in a freakish world which is almost identical to our own. Are we human?
