There is no Ghost in the Shell

[Clancy Stein]

I found the following video to be quite intriguing. It looks deeply at the concepts of the machina, and raises the questions present throughout all cult favorite sophist cyberpunks. At the end of the video there is even a debate worthy of the controversial divide of the DX3 universe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upwkqW6REpA

Enjoy

[Psychotic]

Very fitting thing to watch after I just rewatched The Matrix Trilogy.

I actually have to watch (or even read) the original Ghost in the Shell one of these days.

[Clancy Stein]

Very hard to fully comprehend the implied meaning of the Matrix trilogy, not to mention even after appreciating it, going back it really seems to be but a convoluted fiction having fun with itself in a way that is commercially and artfully appealing.

I love the series and its universe because it has a consistency throughout even its video games which I enjoyed as their own movies as well. AniMatrix was even more outstanding, in certain ways, than the films. But that might just be my fondness for animated motion picture as the conceptual epitome of creativity. Awesome soundtrack is the finishing touch.

[Psychotic]

A friend recently asked me for my opinions on the sequels after watching the first. He was advised by his animation tutor not to watch the sequels because the Wachowski's were simply fishing for money.

I thought that was a bit disingenuous, given that the AniMatrix and the games tried very hard to adhere to the context of the original films plot. I believe the sequels are an all or nothing affair, you either watch them both or you don't, and whilst I don't think they were as good as the first film I do think they were, in their own way, necessary.

Ghost in the Shell is a film that asks you very philosophical questions. Deus Ex is the same. Both are incredibly philosophical but only give broad responses to what could be the answers. Deus Ex, for example, even goes so far as to give multiple, allowing you to choose what you want to believe.

I told my friend that to listen to someone else's opinion on something is to do you a great disservice. Reviews and advice is fine but I try not to base my entire opinion on what someone else has said about something. Being that my friend does to I hoped he'd watch them for his own sake.

On The Matrix specifically, I believe the first one was the question and the last two were the answer. The Matrix asked the question relating to what is reality. Is what we see reality, or just another disguise? Would we really want to know if what we see isn't true, or is blissful ignorance worth more?

The last two were the answer in the context of the plot. They were philosophical in their own right but they weren't trying to break new ground, merely finish what they started. In this way I do not think their needed to be a third (only a second) but I understand why some might have considered them very mediocre in comparison to the first.