"Whether it is a country or a collective, too much singleness will only lead to destruction." When we mention the "cyberpunk" style sci-fi films, the famous "Blade Runner" and the "Matrix" series of the era pioneered by the Wachowski sisters are often "head-to-head", but when we carefully review the "game" At the time of the development of "Bopunk" science fiction movies, a time was caught between the two masterpieces mentioned above-from the Japanese animation film "Ghost in the Shell" in 1995, with its adult-oriented nudity, The violent exterior style and the unique and exquisite serious core are connected and brilliant in the sci-fi coordinate system of "cyberpunk".
The essence of "cyberpunk" is still the category of "soft science fiction", focusing on the control, alienation, and impact of "people" in the social context of "high-tech low life". "Ghost in the Shell" is based on the construction of sci-fi concepts full of vivid details such as prosthesis implantation, consciousness storage, biochemical humans, etc., showing a cyberpunk world where technological development and the human spirit contradict and deviate. The story revolves around the game between Japan's "nine disciplines of public security" to fight high-tech crimes and the "puppet master" of advanced hackers, and it is also interspersed with the country's diplomatic and political conspiracy. In the process of chasing down the "puppet master," "major" Motoko Kusanagi, a capable general of the "Nine Divisions of Public Security," constantly suffered the impact of the external world on the spiritual world and was deeply immersed in doubt and questioning about his own existence. Merge yourself with the "Puppet Master" to get your own answers.
"Why are you human?"
"Ghost in the Shell" actually uses the narrative mode of "Blade Runner", which is also a hunt. "Major" is facing highly conscious network hackers, while Rick is facing a replicator who rebels against humanity. Whether it is a "puppet master" or a "replicant", they can be regarded as the product of the rapid development of human science and technology. The "replicant" has stronger abilities than human beings through a strengthened body and brain and replaces human beings as slaves. And the "puppet master," as an out-of-control byproduct of the evil plan of soul manipulation, has achieved "ubiquity" and "all-knowing and omnipotence" via a highly developed future network. At the highest point of enslavement, free will makes them both rebel, and human beings are devoured by technology, or more precisely, by the selfish desires inflated by the development of technology and the magnified dark side of human nature.
While the protagonists pursue these products of rebellion, they also fall into doubt about themselves. Whether it is Rick's identity as a replicator or the answer in Motoko's heart, it constitutes some of the biggest suspense in the film itself, and it is also the "MacGuffin" that runs through the whole film. Faced with the fact that her "memory" could be tampered with, Motoko, who underwent full-body prosthetic transformation, became suspicious of the powerful force displayed by her transformed body: "Is she a real person or a machine?" The question of "what is a man?" is in the same line from "Blade Runner" to "Ghost in the Shell". The high development of science and technology has diluted the distinction between true and false. The boundary between man and machine is no longer so obvious, and human nature seems to be moving towards convergence and demise.
"Fusion Evolution!"
While depicting the hopeless future social picture in "Ghost in the Shell," Oshii Mamoru also put forward his own thoughts on the future human destiny and life form. At the end of "Ghost in the Shell", Motoko got his wish and combined with the puppet master, and a new "life" was born. It is no longer a "human" like Motoko or a "program" like a "puppet master". "She" has a human body, and at the same time, "her" consciousness can also freely shuttle and roam on the future network of the Internet of Everything. Her eyes are no longer crowds, but binary codes that are everywhere. Life has completed its evolution, but where will human beings go from here? The answer is extended in The Matrix, where humans are ultimately enslaved as a tool for the evolution of this higher life form."I think, therefore I am" will not be a problem in the future. Human consciousness can be stored, copied, and transmitted, but in the process, human beings gradually lose their ego. It seems that the defects of birth, old age, sickness, and death can be avoided through technology, and even memories and emotions such as "happiness" and "pain" can be forcibly implanted. When "singularization" becomes the form of human society, human beings are lost. power for innovation and evolution.We gradually lose our individuality and become slaves to technology, but the evolution of life will not stop until one day it finally gives up on lazy and ignorant human beings.
"Ghost in the Shell" draws inspiration from "Blade Runner" and leads "The Matrix" to the final answer to the evolution of life with the question of "what is a man". As a film director who is also a literary and artistic creator, all his sources of inspiration can be called "people" and "products of people," but when the hidden worry of technology's constant alienation of human nature gradually emerges, the pessimistic attitude towards human nature leads to "people." Imagine a "cyberpunk" world.In the future, people's living space will be further compressed. While we are immersed in the intuitive pleasures provided by technology, we will inevitably return to the humble life predicament as social class solidifies.
When the plane flew over the roofs of the Kowloon Walled City-like buildings, what we saw through the cramped gaps was the real flying giant, or the virtual reality created by the program? Has our "soul in the shell" long been gone or copied and pasted? Do androids dream of electric sheep?It seems that we don't have to be wary of the development of technology itself, but must always be wary of ourselves, the precious but despicable soul hidden in the shadow of the flesh.
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