{"id":337243,"date":"2017-03-31T07:11:52","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T23:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1471105"},"modified":"2017-03-31T07:11:52","modified_gmt":"2017-03-30T23:11:52","slug":"i-have-a-lot-of-feelings-about-the-new-ghost-in-the-shell-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/i-have-a-lot-of-feelings-about-the-new-ghost-in-the-shell-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"I have a lot of feelings about the new \u2018Ghost in the Shell\u2019 movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Will you enjoy the new version of Ghost in the Shell<\/em>? Depends\u00a0on what you want when you go to the movies.<\/p>\n

If, like me, you\u2019re mostly hoping to see<\/em> something new, well, you\u2019re in for a treat: This is one of the best-looking science fiction films in years. Yes, many of the shots\u00a0were clearly inspired by the Japanese film<\/a>, but director Rupert Sanders and his team have\u00a0translated those animated visuals into a lovingly detailed mix of live action and CGI.<\/p>\n

And while\u00a0this new Ghost in the Shell<\/em>\u00a0certainly draws from\u00a0its manga and anime predecessors, it seems even more inspired by Blade Runner<\/em>. Of course, any movie depicting a gritty, cyberpunk-y city sits in Blade Runner<\/em>\u2018s shadow, but this one doubles down on the debt, crowding its\u00a0skyline with enormous holographic advertisements \u2014 an obvious echo of the giant\u00a0billboards that dominated Ridley Scott\u2019s futuristic Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Somehow, though, Ghost in the Shell<\/em>\u00a0doesn\u2019t feel purely derivative \u2014 it\u2019s\u00a0updated Blade Runner<\/em>\u2018s oh-so-\u201980s mix of rain, steam and neon into something more that feels more contemporary, with bright splashes of comic book-y color that almost overwhelm the screen.<\/p>\n

And like Blade Runner<\/em>, the movie\u2019s best ideas are conveyed visually, rather than in the script.\u00a0One of the most compelling elements is the way that\u00a0almost\u00a0every character has been altered cybernetically, but for the most part,\u00a0no one makes a big deal about it. Just seeing<\/em> the kind of future that Elon Musk might envision<\/a>\u00a0is a million times more thought-provoking\u00a0than endless conversations about \u201cWhere do you draw the line between man and machine?\u201d and \u201cWhat makes us human?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ghost<\/a><\/p>\n

On the other hand, if you want a good script, you\u2019ll have to keep looking. While most\u00a0of\u00a0Ghost in the Shell<\/em>\u2018s best scenes (the violent, slow-motion ballet that kicks off the film; an eerie raid on the villain\u2019s headquarters midway through) are wordless, you also have to make it through annoying moments when characters talk tediously on and on about grand abstractions like Humanity and The Soul.<\/p>\n

Perhaps those scenes would be more forgivable if the script had anything interesting to say about this\u00a0cybernetic future. After all, the main character Major (played by Scarlett Johansson) is basically a human brain connected to a robotic body, so you\u2019d think the movie would find time to explore how much of Major\u2019s human self survives without her old body, or how much free will she retains despite being literally programmed by her corporate masters.<\/p>\n

But no. All we get are those clunky conversations that never lead anywhere, followed by a\u00a0final act that drops the bigger questions entirely so it can focus on\u00a0action (which is perfectly enjoyable), strained attempts at emotion (less enjoyable) and establishing a new status quo for any sequels (eh).<\/p>\n

Plus, the script\u2019s lack of subtlety makes it all the more glaring that it pretty much ignores\u00a0the issue that has dominated so many discussions of the film<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 namely, the fact that this is\u00a0a Japanese story with Japanese characters that\u2019s\u00a0been adapted into a Hollywood film with white leads.<\/p>\n

To be clear, Ghost in the Shell<\/em> is hardly the first movie\u00a0to \u201cwhitewash\u201d Asian characters. But the fact that this is still<\/em> happening, and that it\u2019s happening\u00a0to\u00a0such a high-profile\u00a0and beloved\u00a0Japanese property, seems to have led to a particularly intense backlash.<\/p>\n

How does the movie deal with the issue? Mostly by not talking about it at all.<\/p>\n

\"Ghost<\/a><\/p>\n

It does depict\u00a0a cosmopolitan city filled with characters of many\u00a0races, and a law enforcement team at Section 9 (where Major works)\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0similarly diverse.\u00a0So the filmmakers might<\/em> have been able to claim \u201ccolor blindness\u201d \u2014 except, of course, that\u00a0the biggest\u00a0roles have gone to white actors. (The only real\u00a0exception is the\u00a0casting of legendary Japanese director\/actor \u201cBeat\u201d Takeshi Kitano as the leader of Section 9. And yes,\u00a0he does get to kick ass.)<\/p>\n

Since Johansson and her co-star Michael\u00a0Pitt (who\u00a0plays the mysterious villain Kuze) both deliver solid performances, I might have been able to stifle my reservations about the casting, just as I\u2019ve done with other Hollywood movies.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in a late-film\u00a0twist, Ghost in the Shell<\/em> actually doubles down<\/em>\u00a0on the whitewashing\u00a0in a way that I can\u2019t reveal here without spoiling things. (If you really want to know, knock yourself out.<\/a>) What I will say is that the movie\u00a0kind of<\/em> acknowledges the problematic casting\u00a0by using a head-clutching reversal of\u00a0Get Out<\/em>\u00a0\u2026 and then\u00a0it tries to sweep\u00a0the whole thing under the rug. It raises all kinds of questions, and then seems to hope that you immediately forget them.<\/p>\n

So despite how much I enjoyed Ghost in the Shell<\/em>, it\u2019s hard not to see it as something of a missed opportunity. And despite all the creativity and skill that went into the\u00a0production design, the movie\u00a0also serves as a reminder that in a few key ways, Hollywood\u2019s imagination remains severely limited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Ghost Ghost in the Shell is one of the best-looking science fiction films in years. Yet, despite how much I enjoyed it, it’s hard not to see it as something of a missed opportunity. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-337243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}