Cyborgs: A Cybernetic Transcendence or Just a Mechanical Body?
As technology and humanity seem to grow ever closer to a singularity, one in which humans and machines can become part of one another, it is important to consider the case of the “cyborg,” an organism that is aided or controlled by electronics and machinery. The aspects of cyborgs have led some to believe that the human race will transcend not only their mortal bodies, but concepts such as gender and nationality. One of the most major proponents of this philosophy is Donna Haraway, whose Cyborg Manifesto explores the concepts of cyborgs and transcendence. To her “The cyborg…serves as a representational figure that embodies the capacity of information technologies to erase gender and racial boundaries and the structures of oppression which have historically accompanied them” (Silvio 54). Mamoru Oshii’s film adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s popular manga (the Japanese equivalent of a comic), Ghost in the Shell, tackles these issues in a more metaphorical sense, while weaving a tale of political intrigue in a not-so distant future. Some will argue that Ghost in the Shell’s main character, Major Motoko Kusanagi (“the Major”), does not transcend gender, but reaffirms it. In my analysis, I hope to tackle this issue of femininity within the film.
A naked, human-like form floats through various vats of liquids, while images of a cybernetic brain and a robotic face appear on the screen accompanied by the names of the production crew. At first, the form seems androgynous, but begins to take on the female form as the process continues. Layers of flesh and skin are piled upon the mechanical framework of this cybernetic body that happens to be that of Major Kusanagi. She awakes from this dream dressed in only a shirt and panties, and thus the movie begins, with an obviously sexualized female lead. The next scene with the Major standing on the rooftops of a building in
Throughout the movie, the Major is placed in the position of power compared to her male counterparts. While her male partner Togusa drives an armored van, Major Kusanagi adorns herself in battle vestments and weaponry. Even Batou, the cyborg male with the body of a superhero, is relegated to a more passive position as the Major engages the suspected “Puppet Master” in brutal hand-to-hand combat. Here, the suspect is completely defenseless to the attacks of Major Kusanagi due to her invisibility. Again, the man is placed into a position of absolute weakness in the face of the Major. Although her body possess characteristics of the female sex, the Major possess strength comparable to any man. In Sharalyn Orbaugh’s words, “[Her] body perfectly incarnates the modernist idea of autonomous subjectivity; in this sense, [she] [is] coded "male," despite the strong visual dimorphism” (Orbaugh 445). With the introduction of the “Puppet Master”, this notion of a “male” in a “female” body is taken one step further.
Project 2501 or the “Puppet Master” is a being created out of pure data. As the data traversed the net, it gained sentience and adopted a personality and agenda. It had the sole desire of uniting with a partially organic humanoid in order to bear an offspring that fuses the best of both the digital and real worlds. We first see the Puppet Master when “he” (this is what one of the scientist refers to it as) inhabits an empty cyborg body and escapes the MegaTech Corporation’s factory. The body he inhabits is that of a female cyborg, but the voice it projects is that of a male’s. “The Puppet Master…can be read as a less equivocal representation of how technology can enable one to transcend the prescriptive limits of our contemporary social environment” (Silvio 59). I believe Carlos Silvio’s words somewhat undermines his arguments and the arguments of others saying that the beautiful, female-cyborg bodies reinforce gender stereotypes. Money not withstanding, my feeling is that being given the liberty to choose a body, similar to how Project 2501 chose his body, gives people that much more autonomy to embody physically how they feel mentally, or just for vanity. It is this freedom of choice that I believe helps us transcend gender.
The issue of the identity of gender, especially in the case of Project 2501 brings us to the next and probably the most metaphorical and interpretable segment of the film. First and foremost is the Major literally ripping herself apart when attempting to rip open the hatch of a large tank-like entity. It can be seen as either her own Harawayan transcendence of the limited physical form or her victimization at other hands (
The metaphors do not end here though, as Kusanagi desires to “dive,” or connect, into the Puppet Master’s cybernetic brain in order to discern his origins. He has other plans though, as he instead dives into her mind and speaks directly in her thoughts, to the dismay of Batou who can not hear the ongoing discussion. Again, Kusanagi is at the mercy of the male as the Puppet Master has complete control over her mind. However, he desires to “merge” his mind with hers, in a process that would produce “a higher form of consciousness from the intermingling of human and machine intelligence” (Chute 87). In this way, they emulate humanoid reproduction with the offspring being a fusion of parts of Kusanagi and parts of the Puppet Master, similar to the passing of the male and female genes in human offspring. To further the cycle of reproduction, Kusanagi awakens from the whole ordeal in cyborg body of a young child, a body that Batou found on the Black Market. The new-Kusanagi even “wonders aloud, ‘Where does the newborn go from here?’” (Chute 87). It seems the Mamoru Oshii is propagating the gender stereotype of females as a means of production, even though Project 2501 states that he only needs a person who is partially organic and does not specify that it had to be a female. This implies that he could have merged with Batou, if he so chose too, but he has a vested interest in Major Kusanagi. It is with this information that one could challenge the notions of some who feel that the Major furthers certain female stereotypes.
Overall, Major Motoko Kusanagi and Project 2501 are diverse characters who neither truly reaffirm nor deny traditional conventions. While Project 2501 seems to be the ideal representation of an entity that has transcended gender, Major Kusanagi seems to still be attached to certain gender stereotypes and ideals. I do disagree though, with the majority of critics who seem to feel that the film furthers the archetypal “ideal” female, one who possesses a sexualized demeanor. It is because of these contradictory elements that the film allows the viewer to draw his or her own conclusions to the possible ramifications of a world containing cyborgs and the possibilities of erasing social norms through the transcendence from our mortal shell.
Works Cited
Chute, David. "The soul of the new machine: Oshii Mamoru's Ghost in the Shell." Film Comment May 1996: 84-87. ProQuest. ProQuest. Georgia Institute of Technology. 28 Feb. 2008
Silvio, Carl. "Refiguring the Radical Cyborg in Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell." Science Fiction Studies 26.1 (1999): 54-72. Academic Search Complete. EBSCOhost. Georgia Institute of Technology. 28 Feb. 2008
Orbaugh, Sharalyn. "Sex and the Single Cyborg: Japanese Popular Culture Experiments in Subjectivity." Science Fiction Studies 29.3 (2002): 436-52. Academic Search Complete. EBSCOhost. Georgia Institute of Technology. 28 Feb. 2008
Sor Fern, Ong. "This busty cyborg looks familiar." The Straits Times 22 Aug. 1999 [
