Ghost in the mother effin Shell

Diego Casillas

Cyberpunk

Ghost in the Shell

Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell is a film which asks the audience to redefine their idea of consciousness and self-awareness. The film is based off of the manga with the same name. In the film, a cyborg Major Kusanagi is part of Section 9, an enforcement department composed of cyborgs, androids, and humans alike. To understand the film, as well as to understand how the film is used as a tool to explore identity themes, it is important to grasp the idea of a ghost and a shell. It seems that shells are merely the physical body which encapsulates a ghost, a brain , soul, or consciousness. Because of this tool , Masamune is able to play around with the idea of deconstruction of not only self-identity, but more so, sexuality. Major Kusanagi was originally a male who chooses the body of a female for the benefits of the gained agility of the female form. This creates a unique situation in which characters unfamiliar with Kusanagi deal with her as a female rather than the ghost of a male that she truly is. Therefore, Ghost in the Shell functions as not just a critique on identity, but also works as a deconstruction of sexuality by having a male ghost inside a female shell. Doing so forces the audience to ask what it truly means to be female or male.

The confusing of genders is something that is not readily seen in the film. It is not until a scene on a boat where the dialog between Kusanagi and Batou, her associate from Section 9, reveals that Kusanagi was a human born male. In choosing to pick a female body, Major Kusanagi creates tension between herself and Batou who seems to be disturbed in seeing the major naked (female nudity). In certain scenes, Batou shies away from seeing the Major nude; if he could avoid it, he readily chose that option. This is interesting since Batou knows that the major has the ghost of a male. By revealing that Batou is not comfortable in witnessing the major naked in a female shell, the audience can guess that there is some type of respect or attraction of the Major by Batou. In deconstruction gender, Masamune asks of us to question: can there be attraction with someone of the same sex while being of the opposite sex’s body? Judging from the film adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, that definitely seems to be a possibility. Another interesting theme that arises from this deconstruction comes from a scene when the Major meets up with the puppet master. The puppet master appears to be a program that is self-conscious of its identity. The puppet master chooses the ghost of a male (although this could be a stretch considering it is a program) but also the shell of a female. This scenario mirrors that of the Major but once more befuddles gender when the puppet master explains that he must merge with the Major. His reasoning comes in the idea that he can experience all aspects of life, except life and death. In wanting to experience life (reproduction), he merges with the Major to create a new being. While the conventional idea of sexual reproduction requires a male and a female, this event between the Major and the puppet master is essentially creating a birth out of two male ghosts. Once more asking of the audience what it truly means to be male or female outside of biology. Deconstruction of gender in Ghost in the Shell allows for a deeper understanding of what gender is outside of the biological parameters of sex by using gendered ghosts and gendered shells in mismatched unions.