Ghost in the Shell

[Technology and Protest]

By Hannah Peterson

The Inspiration● Based on the manga

Kōkaku Kidōtai by Masamune Shirow

● Compiled of 8 issues published in 1989

● Full of footnotes and annotations by the

author about technology

The Movie● Ghost in the Shell

was released in 1995 and directed by Mamoru Oshii

● Animation is in the Japanese Anime

style● One of the

inspirations behind The Matrix

Plot SummaryGhost in the Shell is a futurist ic sci-f i where cyborgs

l ive amongst humans. Each cyborg has a shell which is the outer body and mechanical construction of their

body. Inside the shell contains what they term as their ghost, basically the essence of a soul. The ghost

contains emotions, memories and all other elements that make us human.

Motoko Kusanagi (Major) is a member of an elite police task force f ighting to f ind a hacker by the t it le 'Puppet

Master' who is hacking into people's ghosts to manipulate memories and personalit ies. Uncovering government cover-ups and a whole scheme of l ies,

Motoko discoveries a way to change reality as anyone knows it.

Main Characters● Major Motoko Kusanagi – Cyborg Squad Leader of Public

Security Section 9 and the main character.● Batou – Major's second in command, he is extremely well trained

in fighting and combat. ● Ishikawa – Major's third in command. He is the least cyber-

netically augmented of the crew and more human-like than the rest.

● Chief Aramaki – Chief of Section 9.● Kubota – Army Intelligence Officer and colleague of Aramaki, he

tends to put a lot of grief on Section 9.● Puppet Master – Also known as Project 2501, Puppet Master is

an artificial intelligence unit once controlled by Section 6 .

ThemeTechnology is advancing at an extremely fast pace which has

helped society move forward but it has also limited the privacy an individual can attain.

Ghost in the Shell is a perfect example of this. In the future, humans are intertwined with technology that makes civilization

technologically superior than the past. However, the Puppet Master has hacked into what makes them human; emotions,

memories, and all other feelings of identity.

Power isn't based purely around money or manipulation but intelligence with technology. All reality can change if hacked into

the correct ghost, where all power can be achieved

Censorship● Within the fi lm a lot of nudity and

violence is included, so the censorship for viewers is very l itt le

● As for the storyline, technology enforces censorship. The government can control what people can or cannot watch, see or learn. Also the Puppet Master isn't even known about to other government sections.

Questions● If Major had been a man instead of a woman, how would

that have changed the feeling of the story? ● With the choice of being either almost completely cyber-

netically altered or minimally altered, which would you choose? Staying as human as possible or not?

● Would we still be human if we had no control over memories or emotions? Why or why not.

● If technology continues to advance at the rate it is, what will happen to society? Will it be positive or negative?

Works Cited● http://movies.nytimes.com/2004/09/17/movies/17GHOS.htmlhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt011356

8/

● Google Images

● http://solidstatesociety.manga.com/index.php

● http://www.explore-science-fiction-movies.com/ghost-in-the-shell.html#axzz22uZwXRa4

● http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=465

● Ghost in the Shell

Thank You