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When we talk about streaming culture, we’re usually enthusing about what’s new, but one of the best things about streaming is how it’s made old and obscure cult hits available to a new generation. Presenting Cult Corner: your weekly look into hidden gems and long-lost curiosities that you can find on streaming.
If you’ve been paying attention to commercials or advertising in any way, you’ve probably seen a near-naked Scarlett Johansson staring at you in a skintight, flesh-colored bodysuit. You know what that means — the live action remake of Ghost in the Shell is almost in theaters. Based on the trailer and teaser footage, Rupert Sanders’ (Snow White and the Huntsman) adaptation looks really beautiful. However, do you know what else is incredible and isn’t plagued by a whitewashing controversy? The original Ghost in the Shell.
Whether you’re looking for a protest watch or you’re craving a refresher on this classic anime mythology, the original 1995 film is certainly worth checking out. Based on the manga of the same name created by Masamune Shirow and directed by Mamoru Oshii, the original filmed version told a haunting story about identity’s connection to technology before social media was ever a thing. In case you’ve never seen the animated epic before, Ghost in the Shell follows Major Motoko Kusanagi, an assault team leader and all-around badass with nipple suit that makes Val Kilmer’s batsuit look tame. Major — essentially a digital copy of Motoko’s mind in a prothetic body — is assigned to capture a mysterious hacker known only as the Puppet Master. What follows in a crime saga that leads to Major questioning the very concepts of humanity and identity.
Ghost in the Shell is remarkable for several reasons other than its female action hero protagonist and revealing costume. The film, which has been praised as being one of the greatest anime films ever created, beautifully incorporated cel animation and CGI, creating a rich sci-fi world that later several as the inspiration for the Wachowskis’ Matrix trilogy. It’s a work of art that has come to define sci-fi not just visually, but emotionally and thematically.
One of the most prominent themes in Ghost in the Shell is how technology helps and hinders self-identity. Throughout the movie, Major knows who she is and what an identity is even though she’s forced to question what those nebulous concepts are. It’s a frustrating duality that speaks to our core anxieties as humans — how can we be sure that the things we think we know are real? This link between technology and identity is one that’s appeared time and time again, from Spike Jonze’s Her and the Wachowskis’ The Matrix to USA’s Mr. Robot and HBO’s Westworld. However, it’s a question that’s so powerful and all-encompassing, it will likely still be asked by the sci-fi projects of the future. Ghost in the Shell is far from the first work of art to make these connections and ask these questions, but it was one of the first critically-acclaimed films to do it well. As The Guardian’s Steve Rose explains, this is the movie that’s been haunting Hollywood for years.
There are certainly problems with the original that the remake seems determined to include. Major and the other women of the movie are sexualized to such an extent, the movie is almost embarrassing to watch at parts. While all the male characters are given actual clothes, Major gets a spandex suit that leaves little to the imagination. It’s a frustrating element that detracts from the film’s powerful themes, though it’s been argued that Major’s costuming choice is also a commentary on gender and sexuality. Typically when movies make wild guesses about the future, the result is cringe-worthy in retrospect. However, that’s far from the case when it comes to Ghost in the Shell. We may not have cyborg-human hybrids in the year 2029, but we are more connected to technology and each other than ever before. With all this closeness, Ghost in the Shell illuminates how unsettling and claustrophobic the result can be.
