Brouillette- Ghost in the Shell: Looking Within

The first time I ever saw Ghost in the Shell was at a homecoming-ditch party at a friend's house a couple years back. After a few hours of anime marathoning we settled on watching this well-known classic.... I ended up falling asleep halfway through. Whether I was just tired or really uninterested, Ghost in the Shell wouldn't be a film I would come to appreciate until later on. It simply looked like another beautifully animated action anime. Upon a second- and full- viewing of the film I realized how much its themes had in common with other great animes I had seen before, like Serial Experiments Lain and even Fullmetal Alchemist, because of the very real, internal issues it deals with. This film takes the idea of questioning the soul, the identity, and the value of being human and examines it on a grand scale.

Ghost in the Shell's futuristic setting seems to be extremely plausible. The fear of machines taking the place of humans is not a new idea, but Ghost in the Shell takes it to a more philosophical level, rather than going the "robots are out to destroy us" route. The real threat in this film lies not in a true "enemy" but within a rapidly advancing society. The character of the Puppet Master is a curious being in itself; it describes itself as a sentient being because it can recognize its own existence, even though it was developed as an artificial being. There is nothing inherently "evil" or "benign" about it, only naturalistic as it acts in order to preserve itself and carry on by merging with Major Kusanagi's ghost.

One thing Ghost in the Shell does that I particularly like is leave the questions it asks open to interpretation. It never tries to fully resolve the Major's identity crisis- whether or not she is human or otherwise- or offer an obvious moral lesson. What it does best is provoking the viewer to question the existence and worth of the ghosts in our own shells. What, exactly, makes something human when you take away the physical wrapping? The film wants to draw awareness to a connection to something within ourselves that technology may be blocking out over time. If we begin to blur the line between human and machine, what consequences will that raise regarding our own identities and self worth? Since mankind is so constantly searching for ways to advance, special care should be taken that we don't lose that connection to the part of ourselves that truly makes us human beings- the soul.

Another anime that questions the relevance of the human soul/the human identity and does it incredibly well is Serial Experiments Lain. You could make an easy connection between Ghost in the Shell and Serial Experiments Lain; both confront the reality of technology's impact on the human "consciousness". In Lain, humans can upload their souls into this internet-like system called The Wired in order to abandon their "imperfect flesh" and further evolve. The main character thinks much like The Major in Ghost in the Shell, often times questioning who she truly is as she finds out more about what lies "within herself"; both stories also involve hackers and the main characters serve as keys to reaching their goals of ultimately bringing together the virtual and material worlds.

I am glad I finally got to finish watching Ghost and the Shell; while it isn't my favorite anime film of all time, it certainly is a landmark in the genre. No self respecting anime fan should go without seeing it, and the deeper questions it asks should not be overlooked.