Major's Motivations

General discussion about Ghost in the Shell

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marto_motoko
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Major's Motivations

Post by marto_motoko »

Throughout the entire life of Ghost in the Shell, there's been a few things that have really intrigued me more than others.

One of them is - what do you think Major's universal motivations have been? Is it one unifying image, or is she different enough from series to series, to presentation media that she's ultimately a completely separate character?

I would like to think that there's that one certain thing that drives Motoko to be who she is.

In my opinion, simple enlightenment - big and small. Whether it be a small mystery, or a profoundly large point of near-nirvana realization of some sort, I think she strives to know.

Any thoughts?

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Whisper
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Post by Whisper »

I simply think she's just a human.

Just a girl. A woman. A person.

Nothing she's said has hit me harder than when she's talking about the tachikomas.

"Human curiousity."

The drive to find out? It's in all of us. That search to find answers.

Funny how what we usually wind up finding is ourselves and others.

2nd GiG had the most impact on me. I think it was a pretty good glimpse inside the Major. It warmed my heart and I felt bad at the end.
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Chroma
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Post by Chroma »

There is no universal motivations I think.

It may be some reccurent topic maybe, individuality vs group, ghost and human body, machine vs human.

The all point would be by my point of view, not stopping searching and learning. In fact curiosity is a good way to achieve this objective.
She also is greedy of acquiring information, such as when she dive into the decatoncale and talk to Gouda's image. She stay to the last extend of what she can to collect more info.

That's just, don't stop moving, let's go ahead.
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Post by Freitag »

That reminds me of Dr. Who "The Impossible Planet" where the Dr. hugs a guy because he is overwhelmed by human nature.

(not really a spoiler)
In case you've not seen the episode, there is a planet orbiting a black hole in a manner that is simply not possible, so a crew of explorers went to the planet to discover why/how.

The Dr. describes a number of reasons why coming to such a place is a freakishly silly/dangerous thing to do and then observes that they came anyway just to find out.
People tend to look at you a little strangely when they know you stuff voodoo dolls full of Ex-Lax.
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marto_motoko
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Post by marto_motoko »

I think that it's interesting how the major questions her human nature so deeply, yet at the root of it all, she enforces her human nature so avidly just due to how insecure she is in its overall substance.


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Post by alfonso2501 »

In the movies I'd say that she's someone who strives to be more then she is in a dystopian, almost degenerative future society. Survival was the order of the day for most of her life & after a while one would start wondering "is this what life's really about?".

In the series everyday life is set in a less harsh, more of a "normal" everyday background. In this instance she's more someone who's good at what she does, doing the best she can do. She's less philosophical & more action.
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Post by Rien »

I see Motoko Kusanagi as a woman who "lost" her humanity at an extremely young age while growing up in an extremely corrupt and violent world, trying cling onto her individuality, her "ghost", while being inside of an empty "shell"; trying to find a purpose while becoming more and more jaded to the point of apathy at times to the world around her.

Despite her many skills and a successful career, Motoko is a very empty and lonely person. She has friends at Section 9 who she cares for, but still keeps them at an arm's length(she'll confide in Batou every once in a while, but still keeps her walls up as though she's afraid of letting him in too deep); her relationship with friends outside of work are even more distant. I think she tries to be "alive", but is too overwhelmed by void inside of her that she can't seem to fill. Kuze was the only person who seemed to fill that void briefly.

I'm mainly talking about SAC Motoko, but feel in general that's she is an empty and lonely person who is trying to find her identity and purpose. I understand that feeling since I'm going through it myself which is why I can now identify with Motoko now when I couldn't when I was younger. In fact, I used to think she was too perfect.
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Whisper
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Post by Whisper »

Rien wrote:I see Motoko Kusanagi as a woman who "lost" her humanity at an extremely young age while growing up in an extremely corrupt and violent world, trying cling onto her individuality, her "ghost", while being inside of an empty "shell"; trying to find a purpose while becoming more and more jaded to the point of apathy at times to the world around her.
But that's just the thing that makes her so complicated, despite allusions to such a thing she still forms connections, meaningful at that. She continues to grow close to people on a human level, despite having nearly all reason not to be.

Kuze is a similar case. He's a soldier. He WAS a boy, one that had all but given up hope. Later on, after that whole issue in the army, he has every reason to fall into that despair. To just take the punishment. Most soldiers are taught to do just that, after all, the war isn't his own. However, he doesn't. He sets out to make the fight his. Then he leaves with a camera and starts traveling to different refugee camps. Taking pictures and forming memories. In the end, he desires to create a haven for those people.. the people deserving of such a thing, in his eyes.

To be motivated in these ways (both the Major and Hideo Kuze) it shows a very fragile, very strong aspect of base human nature: Compassion.

Compassion makes the world go round. Bad guys tend to lack compassion, reject it, or give it sparingly.

I've watched the two movies, SAC, 2nd GiG and Solid State Society. I haven't read any of the paper media.. So my opinions come from those. Since I'm not familiar with the other material, I don't know whether I'm at a disadvantage or not. Thought I should state it either way.

SAC's a real gem. There's so much to be found within.

It's been a year since I watched it... I'll be rewatching it again soon though. Just want to find the right time, ya know?

Don't really want to overwrite my initial interpretations, but my memory is failing me, and I'm starting to forget the minute details. (And I'm sure there are details I never acquired to begin with.)
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Post by John_234 »

Books are better with the second read. Same with animes. Do it.
"If I believe I have a ghost, I will." Is this true? That's quite a controversy.
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