ScarJo for GITS? Alternative Actresses (Image Montages) & Thoughts on the Remake

Recoloured sketch augment by me (2009)

'News' of the possible casting for Ghost in the Shell seemed rife the other night (Guardian, io9, IGN, etc, etc). Probably because Facebook's algorithm can clearly see that I've LIKED the GITS film and SAC pages. Dipping briefly into the milieu of rabid fan comments, some alternative names cropped up that sparked me to think I might feasibly use this topic to squeeze a few film reviews into a single post (but then time and length over-ran, so they got their own posts).

Firstly, let me apologise for abbreviating Miss Johansson's name in the title, since she's reported as stating that the contraction "...sounds tacky... lazy and flippant... violent...[and]...insulting..."; a press convention designed to diminish women. This according to The Atlantic on "Scarlett Johansson's [Subversive] Vanishing Act" Note the partially redacted title! lol.

I would actually be fairly pleased with this casting choice in general. I have been pretty impressed with the direction she's taken with her acting roles (aside from the big Marvel money makers): oozing charisma through voice alone in "her", then reversing that completely with the disturbingly cold, emotional sparsity of "Under the Skin" (both 2013). The latter film could be taken quite literally as a metaphor for how the media industry feed on male weakness, using up successive starlets; all lust with no real intimacy pay-off.

Scarlett Johansson's shown she has the intensity. (Left: Under the Skin. Right: GITS 1995)

Whether she's deliberately challenging herself or even being a feminist heroine via clever casting choices is debatable. Obviously her sexuality never goes unnoticed, or uncommented. Supposedly it is flaunted in "Lucy" (2014 - though I've yet to watch it), in which her character uses "looks... as a utilitarian instrument of revenge" [Atlantic]. Obviously these 'looks' also woo a certain audience segment, too. This sounds just fine for Motoko's role, in certain respects. If this live action film leans towards the more overtly sexualised Major of the TV series (even more so the original manga...), then Johansson's reputation may be even more fitting (for better or worst).

On "Her" (2013)

My enthusiastic review extended into a whole blog post.

My concerns with Scarlet are more on how convincing fight scenes might look; I remember Scarlet's secret agent action role in "Iron Man 2" broke the 4th wall for me, in terms of believability for the physical capabilities of her body shape. Actually not so terrible, reviewing that scene. But the major generally goes toe to toe, rather than mauling opponents like a demented, Kung Fu squirrel. Maybe this inflexibility is a sexist failing on my part; "refus[ing] to embrace women in their entireties." [Atlantic].

Emily Blunt - has greater stature and already filed a military command role as Rita Vrataski (image above). She also has under her belt (the pretty decent) sci-fi action "Looper" (2012), with "Adjustment Bureau" (2011 - blogged here) rounding out the A-list of male action stars shes played support to. She actually turned down the 'Black Widow' role that now lets Johansson net serious money as an establish action star ($10M on the table for GITS). So if the current casting falls through (again), maybe history will be mirrored.

On "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014)

My blog post with analysis and criticism.

Blunt reminds me strongly of Keeley Hawes (in Ashes to Ashes): aside from being somewhat identical, both are type cast as indomitably assertive women with posh English accents. Which is all good. But I've yet to see Blunt in a lead role, and she seems to have a tendency towards hanging slightly agape, rather than tight lipped, steely determination.

Rinko Kikuchi - you might have hoped, would be more of an obvious choice, given that she's a japanese actress who has starred in a number of (English language) action blockbusters, (including 'Mako Mori' in the terrible Pacific Rim, see linked post below). Sadly, I think her accent is too strong to deliver the necessary philosophising with any serious weight (in a language I can comprehend, anyway).

Continuum - Review (Spoiler Free!)

Knowing nothing about Continuum, beyond iO9 repeatedly name dropping it in my Facebook timeline, I was expecting no better than Jean Claude Van Damme, ricketing down a tunnel o'time in a two seater Sinclair C5 lookalike ("Timecop" 1994), with irritatingly clashing flavours of causality in each successive episode.

But Continuum is far more grown up, with unexpected attention to detail. We're not talking "Primer" (2004) level mind strain, but it is more grounded than the "Back to the Future" (1985) style paradoxical paradox resolutions, also present (but better executed) in "Looper" (2012). Of course there wasn't a blockbuster budget here, so the CGI is relatively light and tasteful, with the all singing/dancing views of the future carefully rationed. Action/fight scenes aren't it's forté either, but are always passable, without any cringe-worthy flaws.

It is pretty clever at setting it's own tone, in the first season, by building up towards opportunities for obvious (dramatic tension building) clichés, staring them square in the eye, then casually bypassing them with a barely glimpsed smirk.

It's fully Bechdel test compliant too (unlike "Elysium"). In fact, the central female character is of a convincingly conservative disposition, despite supermodel looks and that skin-tight, nano-weave onesie. More of a Major Kusanagi of 1995 (my personal GITS preference) than the harlot of the (still highly recommended) 2002-2005 series, or the original manga (I've not yet seen the new "Arise" reboot).

Major Kusanagi (GITS 1995) vs Kiera Cameron (Continuum)

Simon Barry (show creator) was almost certainly influence by Ghost in the Shell. One obvious similarity being the full body invisibility cloaking, despite exposed head and hair. But don't be expecting weekly servings of bad guys gratuitously beaten up by a ghost: TV budget limitations, remember. Similarly, in parading all the cool, semi-magic, future-cop gear, they do risk the viewer wondering why certain toys aren't used more often. But these are clearly fallible characters, and any FPS experienced gamer will be able to empathise with the difficulty of scroll-selecting the ideal weapon in a panic!

Usually it's a compliment to be more akin to the works of Masamune Shirow than J.K. Rowling's...

The appearance of Jericho's (2006-2008) gawky-young-post-apocalyptic-small-time-commerce-king-pin-of-the-year award winner, as another central protagonist, was slightly distracting for me at first. Erik Knudsen perhaps feels a little under-energised to be typecast as a super-geek. From their résumés, it looks like most of cast will hold similar familiarity for fans of other American/Canadian sci-fi shows. It took me a good couple of episodes of mental groping to put my finger on a Caprica (2009) actor in the second season.

Many monitors maketh the 'Great Man'..?

Seemingly disposable background characters become central, which is cool. It even goes some way towards mitigating over-reliance on the Great Man theory (of innovation). There is (ab)use of the Swiss pocket-knife style, omni-scientist/technician, trope; there's a glaringly backwards setup comprising 7 terrorist grunts to 1 all-purpose geek, which is toned back towards acceptability as characters are all fleshed out. Anyway, for a full memetic deconstruction of the series, you could just read the ever prescient TV Tropes.

The plot does feel a little more unfocused, midway through the second run, but never jumps the shark in terms of confusing complexity. It actually comes together very tidily, disdaining a frustrating cliff hanger, or "Hero's" (2006-2010) style hanging segue to season 3, in favour of a deliciously dark full stop.

Social Behaviour Catches up with Art

This latest statement from 'Anonymous' to copyright enforcers, blogged on Boing Boing, but currently disappeared from YouTube reminded me (again) of the Ghost In The Shell TV series: "Stand Alone Complex" from 2002 in Japan; 'Anonymous' is near identical to the "Laughing Man" incident that unravels through the GITS SAC series. (and I'm not the first to blog this)

"What separates the Stand Alone Complex from normal copycat behavior is that the originator of the copied action is not even a real person, but merely a rumored figure that performed the copied action. Even without instruction or leadership a certain type of person will spring into action to imitate the rumored action and move toward the same goal even if only subconsciously. The result is an epidemic of copied behavior-with no originator. " [Wikipedia]

This prescience of the GITS anime is an example of why it's so damn good; so much deeper than the unapologetically moody, fast paced action romp of Cowboy Beebop (though admitidly not quite as stylish). Anonymous and the SAC also share much with the V for Vendetta meme (Anonymous even employ the stylised Guy Fork's mask). This is an excellent movie, and probably a brilliant 1980s comic book series too (though I've not seen that). 

“Creedy: Die! Die! Why won't you die?... Why won't you die? 
V: Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.” [V for Vendetta 2005]

This is not the same as the previous two examples because V is clearly responsible for initiating the social uprising, most importantly seizing temporary use of state controlled TV broadcasts. In the GITS universe and our current world, this prime mover is not so important: 

Web 2.0 means that any one person's message can reach a massive audience, either by attracting a traditional media frenzy, or purely online with a catchy YouTube video. And every individual with whom the idea resonates can be a secondary source (as with wave propagation in physics). Synchronicity of people's mental states, possibly (but not necessarily) all outraged by a scientology/copyright (par example) incident, primes society. Now a single 'spark' can tip the balance, starting a 'chain reaction' (like self sustaining nuclear fission); a widespread state-change in activity: a demonstration (for example) emerges near spontaneously. 

The emergent event may easily overshadow the, apparently, precipitating message in terms of notoriety, to the extent that it never happened in the 'mind of the general public'. Like a cover song is thought original by a younger generation. As J.D. Salinger's short story, "The Laughing Man" (1949) effectively overwrote it's inspiration: Victor Hugo's “The Man Who Laughs” (1869). The Stand Alone Complex series draws heavily from Salinger's short. Not just the title, but characterisations too. The quote on the identity censorship spot (cropping up frequently in SAC and pictured above) is from Salinger's “The Catcher in the Rye”:

"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."

Which brings me full circle: evidencing how all art (and EVERY idea of man) is predicated on previous ideas, ridiculing argument to extend copyright laws, or even their very application in the first place.