The film of the week was Ghost in the Shell, but the blog for the week regards this film, along with Akira and Perfect Blue, and what they teach us about personal and social identity. I will be honest; when I first viewed all these films without explanation I did not pick up on any of that. College has me so stressed out mentally that it is difficult to think these days, luckily the class discussions help me out in regards to that. Majority of the time those discussions help me piece together things in the films and I figure out other ideas. But I digress… this blog isn’t about my mental state, it’s about the films and their relation to identity.
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| Image taken from www.absoluteanime.com |
The first film would be Akira. This film mainly had me traumatized from gore but the point of the film was how Tetsuo was kidnapped and the military tampered with his mind. He gained “god-like” psychic powers similar to that of the mutant Akira. When he gained his powers, his personality changed. This movie just reminds me of how some people become so nasty when they gain so much power, but of course he was just glad to be the “top dog” and not the “underdog” for once in his life. He took advantage of that beyond the fullest extent. This is more of how power can alter one’s identity into something they truly aren’t. Tetsuo seemed like a really decent guy based on the things revealed about his past in the film, just once he got a hold of all that power he completely changed. Money can sometimes do that to people as well. The whole idea is that power is the key thing causing the alteration. It’s rare that neither things can change a person, but possible. This film will probably always keep me in check about how “power comes great responsibility” so don’t just run amok and cause mass-murders when you gain ample amounts of money and power.
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| Image taken from amazon.com |
The next film is Perfect Blue. This one was a complete mental nightmare. The aspects depicted are definitely realistic. Humans can have mental issues based on their surroundings. Mima was completely normal before she got into the acting career and the people around her manipulated her identity. This film gives insight as to how celebrities are treated (maybe not ALL of them, but I’m pretty sure some have gone through something remotely similar to Mima’s situation). She had a stalker that followed her around and made a web diary all about her. He posted things that seemed like Mima was the one doing it. Her stalker created a “virtual Mima” that her fans would think is the real Mima. This is similar to what anyone could do on the internet really. The internet is a mysterious place, and we can’t control what occurs online. Also, the acting industry morphed Mima into something that was a complete opposite of her, a more adult image. Yet overall, Mima was not sure who she was in real life, the virtual world, or in the acting world. Everyone around her controlled her identity in the media. This movie did have me think a little more about what I do on the internet. I became a little more aware of how horrendous the virtual world can be. How most people create a virtual identity of themselves that does or doesn’t always reflect who they really are.
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| Image taken from mondocoolcast.com |
The last film would be Ghost in the Shell. This film dealt a lot with the relation between humans and technology. It is in a futuristic setting which leads me to believe that our technological dependency now will eventually shape into a world similar to the one in this film. Hopefully it doesn’t happen in a bad way, but our world is nowhere near a peaceful planet. Besides the violent nature of humans, technology could also turn on us. The population in this movie is probably half cyborg (or majority) and half human (maybe even less). With that divide, cyborgs question whether or not they are truly human or what is their true identity? In our world, humans wonder about their origins and identity. I just live through the day and enjoy my life as it is, because if I think too much I may miss what is right there in front of me. Some people may be that carefree while others must ponder every aspect of their lives. I’m pretty sure no one knows who they truly are or where they came from if you’re speaking in a philosophical sense and not a literal one. The universe is a mystery, and may never be solved. So questions about origin may never be answered, or maybe there is no answer and things are just as they are.
