Referring to the screening of Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Susan Napier's "Doll Parts: Technology and the Body in Ghost in the Shell," what is the position of the human or physical body in the film (for instance, the mostly human Togusa or the memory-hacked garbage collector)? How does Kusanagi's cyborg body (and its three "falls") become a vehicle for transcendence?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
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In the film Ghost in the Shell the position of the human or physical body is at the mercy of its technological surroundings. It is essentially seen as a “puppet or doll to be manipulated or transformed by outside sources” (Napier, 105). The memory-hacked garbage collector who falls prey to the Puppet Master is evidence of this. While this is a theme explored in other sci-fi films, Ghost in the Shell is different in that it embraces the Cyborg as a “liberating entity” (Napier, 106).
Napier writes about Kusanagi’s “falls” and how they facilitate her search for her “ghost” and her eventual transcendence. The first “fall” is in the beginning of the film when Kusanagi leaps from a high building before going to work as an assassin. According to Napier, this scene “reveals a number of contradictory elements encompassed in Kunsanagi’s mind and body” (Napier, 108). The character looks human, but then acts in a way that a human couldn’t; she speaks sarcastically about her supposed human bodily functions. Finally, the viewer watches this female “shell” disappear into the high tech city via camouflage protection.
The second fall occurs after the garbage collector is told his memories are false. This leads to Kusanagi diving into the harbor, a potentially deadly hobby for a cyborg. Napier argues that this is because Kusanagi is “attempting to discover a core self, one that is accessible through the technological apparatus of her diving gear but is encased within the organic womb of the sea” (Napier, 110).
The third and final “fall” is when Kusanagi “dives” into the mind of the Puppet Master and achieves transcendence by finding that she, for all intents and purposes, has a “ghost” and is able to survive beyond her built body.
-Joseph Belknap
Viewing the film “Ghost in the Shell” made the audience consider the use of a body, or what it really is. It also brought up the relationship between the body and spirit. In the movie, when they talked about the term ghost, it immediately brought me to the idea of a spirit. Kusanagi although appearing human, was mainly machine, along with her crew; even the police officer. The body in their cases, and for almost all of the characters’ in the film, was just a vessel; they did not necessarily need that physical body to survive. The puppet master was obviously the greatest example of this; he had started with the garbage man, and then through the main character herself. This was kind of the main theme of the movie; discovering who or what the puppet master was, and then to the conclusion that he could not be identified physically, as he was just a ghost or spirit. The puppet master uses Kusanagi’s body for a vehicle for transcendence by “merging minds” and making her body his own.
-Ryan Bender
In the film "Ghost in the Shell", the use of the human body was very unique. The human body was more or less a temporary "costume" for a machine or spirit. The puppet master was the greatest example of this, as he seemed to jump from body to body electronically. The puppet master would never have a physical appearance, but more a physical presence. The title of the film also had its influences in my processing of the film. The title "Ghost in a Shell" is exactly what it sounds like - a ghost-like person using a human body as a shell or mask. The human in the film was more or less a slave to the machines surrounding them. The humans could not tell who was who, so therefore they had no clue as to what was going on. The only reliable source for catching the puppet master was Kusanagi, since she was able to follow him throughout the electronic jungle they were living in.
In Susan Napier’s, Doll Parts: Technology and the Body in Ghost in the Shell, discusses the position of the human body and the cyborg body as a vehicle for transcendence. The humans in this film are different from the cyborgs in that they have a past and a memory of the past. Napier goes into the contrast between this film and Blade Runner, in which the cyborgs are given artificial memories. The cyborgs in Ghost, also have no emotion. When the main character, Kusanagi, sees how the memory of the garbage man was altered, she had no emotional response to its brutality. Gender is also something that is more attributed to the human bodies. Yes, the cyborgs are given genders, but they don’t identify with the gender they are given. Their thought process can always be relocated to a body of the opposite gender. Napier also talks about references to Shinto and Buddhism. The joining of the Puppet Master and Kuasnagi at the end is similar to sun goddess Amaterasu. Cyborgs are seen as “fallen angels” in a search for something greater. In Kusanagi’s case, it is a search for identity, which parallels a human bodies search for a meaning in life.
In the film Ghost in the Shell, bodies seemed to simply be a form for these ghosts to take. We see in the film that the Puppet Master takes a couple of different forms and the bodies that he chooses are simply used to get around. In the reading from Susan Napier, she mentions that Kusanagi’s body is scene as both powerful but at the same time vulnerable as an object and a subject.
Kusanagi’s search is scene through a series of falls, the first fall privileging the body. The first is scene at the beginning of the film where Kusanagi mentions that there is a lot of noise going on in her head and she mentions that it is that time of the month. She unzips her clothes and jumps off a building appearing both sexual and vulnerable. Through these “falls” Kusanagi seeks to be superior and transcendent and that is why she is interested to combine with the Puppet Master near the end of the film. By the use of the cyborg body we attempt to make the perfect being because we can. The falls shown from Kusanagi are what show her want for transcendence. In society we are always looking to do better we the eventual goal of being perfect. Kusanagi was shown attempting to reach this same goal.
-Logan Lovett
In the film Ghost in the Shell human or physical body seems to be at the mercy of the technology that surrounds it. What I mean is that the physical body is just being used in my opinion has a device for the "ghost" to travel the city unrecognized. The garbage man is a great example of this. Even through he appears as just a run of the mill working class type guy physically he is however, being controlled by the puppet master who is not a physical body but rather more of a presence. I also enjoyed the three falls that Susan Napier points out but most notably Kusanagi's fall into the ocean when she is diving. The scene itself really confused at first glance because if she is a cyborg wouldn't that mean certain "death" but after thinking on it further I agree with Napier in that she is "attempting to discover a core self." (Napier, 110) In my opinion the cyborg was trying to figure herself more of a testing her limitations as a physical body but also a mental body to. What I'm trying to say is that see needed to know where the line stands on the idea of how far her physical body in cooperation with her technological body could exceed.
“Ghost in the Shell” questions the human body by asking what it means to be human. It does this by putting inanimate objects, such as Kusanagi, into the role of human. The viewer builds a relationship with her through her questioning of the world she is in and her search for a spirit/ghost insider herself. Napier states, “It is Kusanagi’s cyborg body rather than her mind that becomes the vehicle for this quest.” This quest is the hunt for spiritual identity. Napier also writes Oshii’s use of Kusanagi is “to underline the vulnerability of all human beings in a world that is increasingly governed by oppressive and incomprehensible outside forces.” I think this is a valid statement inside and outside of the film. I believe humans are becoming reliant on government and other social groups and an attempt to break free of these groups would end with some negative consequences. I think Kusanagi attempts to break free with each one of her falls, each with some negative or positive qualities. I’m not exactly sure “The first fall privileges the body” but this scene shows her body sexual and vulnerable at once. The fall in which Kusanagi is “risking death by diving deep into the rusty waters of the urban harbor” shows her attempt to evoke emotion in herself and is an attempt to break free from oppression because she knows how dangerous it is to do this dive, but she is willing to make the sacrifice to find her “core self.” At this point, I want to believe she is human because of her complex ability to reason. Her last fall makers her biggest transcendence by exceeding the limitations of her body, becoming independent of material and hinting at the concept of the ‘net’ which is unexplained but implies her having the influence of a supreme authority. Without her body, it is no longer mandatory for her to play the role of officer. Her body acts as a vehicle for transcendence because it’s used as a tool for her breaking free, but it also acts as a paradox because it’s a reason for her constrained ‘human identity’ or ghost.
Desten Johnson
The position for the human body in Ghost in the Shell is that of helping national security. The Japanese law enforcement has very advanced technology that allows them to keep people alive by giving them non human parts. These parts are usually metal and help the longevity of the individuals. The non human parts also help the individual who has them because they can stand more strenuous activity, and are physically elite to normal humans. They would be considered a cyborg because they are half human, and half machine. They are also different from most other humans, because they have connections into their brains that other people do not have. These connections allow for quick processing, and it puts them at risk for being hacked by another person. Through the film Kusangi the elite cyborg makes three falls. These falls are an attempt to find out just who she is and where she came from. They refer to a ghost that is almost like a soul. With a body made almost all of synthetic parts a ghost is the last thing that is human. Without a ghost the individual would not be human biologically at all. With a ghost there is still a little bit of human left in the individual.
Robin Christiansen
The position of the human body in Ghost in the Shell is a puppet or a doll as Napier puts it. The garbage collector's memory is hacked into by the puppet master as well as the young woman. Her body was used by the puppet master for speech and voicing it's views. The main body we see in the film is that of a cyborg body. Kusanagi looks to be female in appearance but she is a technological creation. She is known and characterized by being a phenomenal assassin.
At the end of the film, Kusanagi's cyborg body becomes a vehicle for transcendence after a series of falls. The final fall enables her to dive into the puppet master's mind. The puppet master speaks through what is left of the young woman with a male voice. She is able to speak to him through her "mind". This final fall allows her to actually leave her body and merge with the puppet master. Throughout the film, she is on a quest for spiritual identity and she frequently speaks about her "ghost" (as she calls it) or her soul. Merging with the puppet master seems to help to understand what she did not before. At the very end, it is assumed that she did indeed merge with "him" and she accepted what she is and what she has to do.
Besides my absence in class, I hope my uninformed response will add to those that are.
My first thought is regarding our studying the alien 'other' or the body that which is not familiar, or human. The existence of human seems to be the shell that we see as our immediate surroundings or containment within our society. Once something alien to us, in the case of sci fi films that is the space alien, normality is interrupted and we suddenly find ourselves questioning morals, motives, and societal discourses.
Regarding 'Ghost In The Shell,' the 'shell' is a synonym of the familiar 'body' of sorts, not necessarily human, but can relate to the robot, as well. So when the ghost or spirit inhabits this 'shell' what we are seeing is another translation of an alien invasion.
I find it interesting that Kusanagi's self revealing epiphanies were called 'falls'. This seems to be an anti-furthering that most individuals would agree is better than delving deeper into a personal abyss. Napier talks about Kusanagi as being "not completely comfortable in her cyborg identity," but "unconcerned with origin" while being "profoundly concerned about whether she possesses something that she and the film call her "ghost"." The falls, seen as "theological subtext", find Kusanagi's body as being "both vulnerable and powerful", two aspects that can typically be compromised while finding one's self.
The position of the human or physical body in the film "Ghost in the Shell" is merely to serve as a host that can be hacked into for purposes of the net or hackers. The body is seen as an entity that can stand on it’s own because it has the ability to reproduce and to experience death. Napier's "Doll Parts: technology and the Body in Ghost in the Shell" also says that the body in a way is in a quest for the soul or “ghost” to give their life meaning in a technological world.
The three falls of Kusanagi cyborg body lead “her” to become a vehicle for transcendence. The first fall happening in the opening scene when the naked cyborg body leaps from the building in a very vulnerable but deliberate way. The viewer sees this as a “birth scene” even though she expresses no emotion has no parents.
The next fall occurs when Kusanagi goes diving alone in what appears to be adark and dangerous harbor. When she arrives back to the boat she is scolded by Batou but responds very emotionally even quoting the Bible. To Kusangi this dive was an attempt to further discover herself and if she really has a ghost.
During the final fall Kusanagi decides to merge with the Puppet Master essentially leaving behind her own identity to merge and form one entity with that of the Puppet Master. As she dives into his mind the Puppet Master speaks through her and in this instant the viewer feels a bit of sorrow for the “death” and loss of Kusanagi. Even though we experience this there is a mix of emotions to the viewer because in the same moment there is a new “birth” with the new entity that is created.
This new entity is not help back by any cyborg nor human body form. The entity is free to move throughout the vastness of the “net”.
-Monica
Napier describes the physical body has always being manipulated by outside sources. Clearly Kusanagi’s body was manipulated by outside sources; she was created by them. The garbage collected has his mind hacked into by the Puppet Master as well. “…but also in terms of the possibility of spiritual development offered by an artificial intelligence known as the Puppet Master.” (Napier 104) Napier offers the Puppet Master as a spiritual connection that he can offer to people, and manipulate them in the process, when they’re in difficult times, like the garbage man. Togusa offers an interesting point of view being the only all human besides the chief essentially. Kusanagi explains to him when he questions why he’s on the force that because of his human nature, he reacts and does things differently than the cyborgs. As Kusanagi transcends through the movie, she’s attempting to find the meaning behind her ghost. When she makes her first dive into transcendence, it’s when she dives, literally, off the edge of a building in order to carry out assassin duties. She seems completely tough and in-tune with herself. As the movie progresses we can see she does have insecurities. When the garbage collector is told all of his memories are false, it makes Kusanagi worry about her own memories and real identity. She then takes a second, even more so dangerous, dive into the ocean. Napier points out that Kusanagi has no biological past; she doesn’t have a memory connection to a mother or father. This makes the possibility of not being in control of her memories even more real. Her final transcendence occurs when she connects with the Puppet Master, and he offers her a chance to be connected to him and the net. I think that Kusanagi gets her answer of self after she disconnects with the Puppet Master, her cyborg body is destroyed, and she is placed in another. Her ghost is still hers, regardless of her body, or her connection with the Puppet Master. She has to just find what to do with herself after she found it.
Ghost in the Shell presents an interesting view of the body and soul. The body itself is presented as no more than a physical form. In the case of the main character – it seems to be for some reason an “attractive” and often naked girl. Unfortunately, I cannot look in to this body being used as Anime often depicts girls in this manner for the only reason I can figure as for the men to get off to. Therefore, I am going to disregard the sex of the body of the protagonist and antagonist in the movie. Anime as a whole uses female bodies inappropriately, and I cannot find a rationale use for it in any Anime movies.
I will give credit for the story presented, and the idea of a soul inside only human bodies, however it only exists if there is self awareness. The puppet master – a machine that gained self-awareness – includes and interesting question on what defines a soul, or living being. The concept of machines being a means to enhance the human bodies also backfires as it turns into a means of control and chaos within the humans. It does comment on the idea of machines being more powerful than humans though. Only a single character was immune to the machine corruption, though it was simply because of his stubbornness, just like his passion for a traditional revolver.
I don’t believe the cyborg body is a vehicle for transcendence. Instead, it simply exists as an enhanced human. I don’t feel there is any spiritual reference in this method.
In the film Ghost in the Shell, the position of the human or physical body is that of a host. The greatest example of this is the Puppet Master, who used the human body as a mere host or vessel, and would jump from host to host as it was seen fit. According to "Doll Parts: Technology and the Body in Ghost in the Shell", the human is on a mission to find the "ghost" that will fill them to make them complete in a world of technology.
I do feel that the Puppet Master used Kusanagi's cyborg body as a vehicle for transcendence. There is a merger which takes place, and the presence of Kusanagi's spirt is replaced. Not so much replaced and meshed together with another being or presence. There is a new being created, while at the same time, a being is destroyed. The three "falls" , the fall into the harbor was one of the more interesting, because it seemed as though she was challenging herself to find identity. As Napier said, find a "core self" which we see in more films than just this one. We see this "quest for self" all through cinema, and this was a good example of the struggle that the "human" has.
-Brandon Savage
In the animated movie, Ghost in the Shell, its shell does not decide the Ghost’s identity. The Shell is a very indefinite form to a very definite presence that is not bound to its temporary flesh. The ghost and its character that it chooses are almost separate identities. The puppet master uses the cyborg body as tools similar to how we possess machinery. The female body in this movie in a way reminds me of how Hitchcock portrays women in his films. We view the female body in a very typical way that Hitchcock feels is almost cliché. However, what Ozu is asking is what it is to be feminine today in modern society or even what it means to exist. This movie can easily be compared to Blade Runner and the question of identity. Like Blade Runner no shell is finite in fact shells are quite the opposite. The tangible bodies of the ghost are only visually characterized through their tangible features. However, the puppet master switches human sex. The female sex does not identify with his character so he acts in almost a default setting of masculinity. Or at least what we consider as masculine in postmodern times. We form the conventions of this mortal existence while cyborgs, in a way, make us aware of an immortal identity.
Tony Lopez
Major Kusanagi’s body seemed to reflect her surroundings. It was a romanticized body that reflected the urban futuristic surroundings. The body of the Terminator was almost contrasting. It did not reflect its surroundings so much as it dominated its surroundings. His impractical size and hyper male capabilities just were not fitting to this time shift that he traveled to.
Major Kusanagi’s body had never been defined by the fact that she resembled a female. In the end of the movie she even refers to herself as a man, and is no longer a child. It was her ghost that decided what she was, and the sex did not matter for sexual identity is only necessary for beings that reproduced not beings that are a result of production. Arnold Schwarzenegger had been cast the part because of his reputation for his masculine qualities. The bulging muscles, the leather biker jackets, the way he deals with situations are all decided with what his body is.
We look at Major Kusangi and assume the role for her. We assume that she is sexy, and our eyes are directed to the spectacle of her body during scenes where she is nude. However, this Science Fiction definition of women is not bound to their sex. She only looks like women, but is truly only a machine.
Tony Lopez
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