Does It Hold Up is a chance to re-experience childhood-favorite books, movies, TV shows, video games, and other cultural phenomenon decades later. Have they gotten better like a fine wine, or are we drinking cork?
The last time I saw the original 1995 Ghost in the Shell film was when I was in college, more than a decade ago. It was the most recent DVD release, which at the time looked amazing on my convex curved CRT TV. What stuck out to me at the time were the action scenes — they’re slow to build, but quick to unfold, with quick flashes of extreme violence that verge on body horror, as the organic and inorganic parts of people are torn apart. Recently, though, I re-watched the film in a theater. The action scenes were as I remembered them, but what struck me more this time around was the world where Ghost in the Shell takes place.
At first glance, you might call that world a cyberpunk dystopia. It looks dirty, rundown, and chaotic. Everything seems to be made of concrete — nothing natural grows in the city. The only hint of green comes from the water stains on the ground, and the only other colors are found in the signs and billboards draping between buildings like overgrown ivy. But even the signs appear faded by age and water damage.
This is exemplified during a sequence that follows some garbage collectors. Along their route, the buildings feel too close to the street. It’s day, but it somehow seems dark. No one else is out on the streets. And though the signs for businesses block out much of the sky, all the shops are shuttered.