MovieChat Forums > Kôkaku kidôtai (1996) Discussion > Reason for the nudity?

Reason for the nudity?

posted 12 years ago by deathscythe_42
32 replies | jump to latest

I just watched this for the first time, and it's clearly a complex piece of work that would take a few more viewings to fully pick apart and understand, but I was just wondering from somebody more familiar with it than I am, what exactly is the reason for the amount of nudity in the film?

I mean, it makes sense that the body with the Puppet Master in it is naked because it's a freshly made cyborg and I doubt they put clothes on them right away, but why does The Major strip when she's in action? Like in the very beginning when she drops from the building, or in the end when she's fighting with the tank? Does she need to be naked for the camouflage to work?

I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of reasons that justify it and I could assume that's one of them, but I get the feeling it was more of an artistic choice than anything else, so what I'm really wondering is if it's supposed to be symbolic of something?

[–] nikegolfclubs 9 years ago

Scarlett maybe nude in it? Was going to watch it anyways.

[–] loepark 8 years ago

Major's "nakedness" throughout the film is to highlight the fact that while Motoko is seemingly a sexual being on the outside, she is nothing but a cyborg that was created to serve the government without the functions of a "normal" human being. Another interesting point is that in order to use user her cloacking abilities, Motoko must undress herself all for the sake of carrying out her duties, further reinforcing the point that Motoko's identity ends with the functions for which she was created.

Raging Bull = Best movie

[–] Hoz_Hun (18) 8 years ago

loepark, well,... no. She IS a sexual being. You should read the original manga, the animated movie based on that.

[–] BenCaesar (612) 8 years ago

This movie is for adults that's why

[–] filmgeek99 (656) 4 years ago

The Japanese are perverts, that's why.

[–] TheArgentinian (7072) 4 years ago

came to say literally the same thing, lol.

[–] darkfrances (47) a year ago

I was actually quite fascinated by how NON sexual her naked body was. She treats it like a tool, like an artificial thing, so she doesn't seem to need to cover it up anymore than you need to cover up your computer or your phone (unless it's for protection). And then you have that intro credits scene where you see not only her naked skin, but her muscles, and bones, and brain - her body is totally presented like a device.
Bato seems to have a different opinion, but that's another story.
Now, why only the female major (and the Puppet Master) was naked, and no male characters, on a meta-story level, I guess it's either because a female body is more interesting for the male movie makers and audience, or because female nakedness is more acceptable than male nakedness.
Or because your only choices were female or male main character, and you went with the former.

So maybe the thing is not entirely innocent, but because of what I wrote in the first paragraph, it was not a problem for me. I did not feel that the "lingering shots" were annoying fanservice - especially since the whole movie is prone to lingering shots of many things. I'm not sure it would have made a difference had we SEEN for instance the Section 6 operatives who stole the Puppet Master (I assume they also wore the type of skin-tight camouflage worn by the Major).
You have a main character who consists of 3 pounds of human flesh and maybe 350 pounds of machinery, and who questions her own humanity because of this. It's cool to show her naked (skin-tight suit or not), because it both humanizes AND de-humanizes her, which is pretty much what you want to do.