After rewatching the iconic 1995 anime film “Ghost in the Shell” I realized something.

The older I get the more I understand why we as humans hold onto nostalgia. We hold onto nostalgia tighter than the dad from the tv show “Everybody Hates Chris” holds onto a quarter.

Ghost in the Shell made me realize that no one should have any shame for holding onto things in the past that were not only great but life changing. Why would you accept the slop that they’re pushing out to us today? Hold onto the good things.

Ghost in the Shell is an example of what you get when you handle everything with care. The music, the animation, the sound design, the overall message. Its focus is to capture you and bring you into a world that questions your perspective on human existence.

It’s a very simple story with a heavy concept.

I never saw the movie “The Matrix” which some people may feel is blasphemous for me to admit but "Ghost in the Shell” was my Matrix and The Matrix was actually inspired by Ghost in the Shell.

I watched Ghost in the Shell for the first time in the early 2000’s and I had no business watching this movie.

My dad took me to Blockbuster to rent games and movies and my parents philosophy was “If it’s a cartoon what’s the harm of letting them watch it?” They knew I was into nerdy things and nothing has changed decades later. I love being a nerd. It’s changed my life.

When I got home and put the dvd in my PS2, it was almost 4 to 5 minutes in there’s titties and a person was getting their head blown off. Buck nakey-ness and blood. I can’t lie. I promise I'm not a sick human but I was hooked immediately. I soon learned that the main character didn’t care about being naked. She was freeing the girlies every chance she got.

I love anything cyberpunk. Akira is usually the best example and I will stop what I'm doing to engage with anything that has a cyberpunk aesthetic. Ghost in the Shell fits that aesthetic and the scale of beauty of how this movie looks my words can't really do justice. The animation is very gritty, gutter, and industrial. The whole film is hand drawn which shows how much the creators cared.

In this Ghost in the Shell world in New port city, human brains are connected to a global computer network and cybernetic enhancements and full cyborg bodies are normal and souls and consciousness are described as “ghosts”

The shell is the cyborg body and the ghost is the consciousness which gives us the title “Ghost in the Shell.”

Cybernetic enhancements and full cyborg bodies are normal in this world.

The main character Major Motoko Kusanagi is a full-body cyborg and elite public-security agent in an agency called Section 9. She is hunting an elusive, sentient cyber-criminal known as the Puppet Master.

The Puppet Master hacks into cybernetic brains to rewrite memories, manipulate individuals, and commit corporate espionage. While Section 9 is constantly on the chase for the puppet master, a rival government branch, Section 6, tries to capture the A.I for its own political and classified gain.

Major Kusanagi is completely cybernetic and the only thing human about her is her brain and consciousness. Outside of trying to capture the puppet master, Kusanagi is trying to understand her identity and if she’s really human.

Her partner and second in command “Batou” is the contrast to her where he’s just a guy who is grateful to be alive and that’s his vibe.

Batou is the opposite of the major. He's about free will. He believes everyone is human because regardless if you have all human parts or all cyborg parts, if your decisions are your own then you’re human.

Between Kusanagi, Batou and The Puppet Master you explore the theme of “What it means to be human and the fluidity of identity.”

This question is what makes the film an interesting watch because it opens up a vital conversation and you question your own humanity.

I always heard that flaws are what makes us human. If we don't define being human by our biological base but define it by our flaws, choices, and awareness of self then if you can put those things in anything biological or synthetic then the argument can be made that they’re human.

Are our consciousness independent of our bodies? Is a mind a mind regardless of where that mind is placed into?

This the type of shit I would talk about after I’ve had 5 shots of vodka and nobody understands what the fuck I’m talking about but I’m speaking on real shit and what could happen.

This brings me to the subject of A.I and how in 1995 Ghost in the Shell covered it.

With A.I being the topic of discussion more and more as years go by, the movie Ghost in the Shell was the warning of what total A.I dependency could look like. The movie was predicting what could become of the world.

The reliance on digital convenience starts small but then it grows and grows and the next thing you know your privacy is invaded and your memories and experiences are compromised and now you’re completely controlled. It’s a control system. Is this growing reliance and trust in technology taking humanity to the next level or is technology turning us into cattle?

What if someone had the power to hack your mind, erase your memories and place a made up life story in your mind and now that’s what you truly believe to be real? The shit gets deeper and deeper when you look around at the fuckery in this country.

First it starts with the economy which will take years to repair. They want you poor so when they present you with an option that looks like a light at the end of the tunnel you wont fight the urge to accept it because you have been down and out for so long and now you’re a prisoner to them.

Different things start to get placed in front of you and next thing you know you wont have control over anything not even yourself.

This is a movie you don’t need to be high to watch. It’s something that will maybe confuse you or enlighten you by the time you finish it.

Thank God for 90’s anime.

Love, Benny