The Ghost in the Shell

There are several themes addressed in the movie “The Ghost in the Shell”. The first theme is that identity is formed from what we are told and how people react to us. The input we receive from external sources is so great it can cause us to question our own identity. For example, in this particular movie, the Major’s shell is that of a female and is human in form. However, the reality is, that the Major is a man and that he is no longer human. Instead he is a cyborg. In one segment of the movie, the Major tells Batou that his transformation has caused him to question if he is human or not. The external reaction that the Major is receiving from people is in reaction to his outward shell. Eventually this juxtaposition causes him to question his own identity because the information he is receiving is different than how he sees himself.
Another theme that is largely addressed in this film is gender identity. Because the movie only subtly touches on the fact that the Major is actually a male in a female form, the viewer is afforded the opportunity to later reflect on their own limited ideals of what makes gender. The viewer will realize that they believed the Major to be female purely based on his outward appearance. Early in the movie, there is nothing to differentiate the Major as male or female, other than his physical form. Gender and identity are more effectively argued when the viewer’s own reliability is called into question.
Batou’s attraction to the Major is a good example of how the outward appearance affects how we feel about an individual. Nothing about the Major has changed other than her shell is now that of a woman. A critical viewer might question why Batou’s attraction is more acceptable now that the Major is physically female? He is obviously uncomfortable by his attraction to the Major and this is never more evident than in his interaction with the Major after his new shell becomes that of a young child.
Overall, this film questions how much of our identity is formed by how people relate to us by our outward appearance. The Major struggles throughout the movie with several aspects of his identity and how his shell relates to how he perceives himself.