Characters in the movie refer to the Puppet Master’s psyche differently from its body. It has a traditionally female body with a masculine voice. When the Puppet Master does acquire a body/shell, its identities are mixed. It is therefore untethered to assigned gender identity from society. Not born, but revealed to have emerged from networks of information, the Puppet Master is a consciousness that lacks sexual characteristics and a permanent shell/body. The main antagonist, the Puppet Master, is a perpetuation of the themes of gender identity. With this dilemma comes thoughts of isolation and feelings of loneliness, unfathomable to those around Motoko. They are trapped inside a body which they have not chosen and have had their identity forced upon them by society. What Motoko feels in this montage matches sentiments shared by many non-cisgender people. Also like Motoko, they have been assigned a rudimentary gender identity. Just like Motoko, the mannequins are artificial constructs that do not have any inherent sexual identity. Motoko’s identity crisis is further brought forth when she stares at blatantly gendered mannequins in a store front. Feelings of Motoko’s loneliness and displacement are evoked. Her robotic movements and unblinking eyes juxtapose the fluidity of the regular citizens around her. Motoko melancholically wanders around the bustling city, sitting in restaurants, riding on public transport, and gazing at the decaying yet evolving cityscape. Backed by ethereal yet organic Bulgarian harmonies and shot from a jarring mixture of grand landscape and close-up angles, the montage gives a sense of the self-analysis happening in the Major’s mind. They look away and also cover her up.Īt the end of the first act is a montage where the audience can get a true glimpse into the psyche of Motoko. Even without any sex organs, her more human cohorts still feel ashamed to look at her. This is apparent from her affinity to be in the nude and feel no embarrassment. Motoko feels disconnected from her given artificial body.
Her hormones and muscles are both synthetic and are controlled as necessary. Her insides are just as undefined as the outside. She lacks organs needed for procreation and has breasts that only serve aesthetic purposes. Her body is feminine only in shape and voice. Motoko bears a female body in the barest sense. The primary antagonist is the cryptic hacker known as “The Puppet Master,” a rogue sentient AI with the ability to infiltrate a person’s shell. What constitutes a ghost or shell is never explicitly defined. The crux of the technology are “ghosts'' and “shells.” A ghost is described as the consciousness that inhabits a body, the latter of which is typically the shell. The universe of Ghost in the Shell is defined by the advancement of cybernetic technology, where the line between human and machine has been blurred. Set against the neon-lit backdrop of a Hong Kong inspired cyberpunk mega-city, Ghost in the Shell is the story of Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cybernetic special forces officer and her exploration of her own identity in an evolving world.
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