Guerrillas in the Midst of a Review: Ghost in the Shell

I have very positive vibes for the Ghost in the Shell adaptation. I have felt better about it with each new video they release.

I have come to terms that no adaptation (book, comic, cartoon, anime, video game, etc) will NEVER stay 100% true to its source, big Hollywood doesn't work that way. I more enjoy and look for a devotion to having the same "feel" and look and emotion with solid casting (which I've imagined that Scarlett would be the #1 choice for Motoko for years and honestly, I am ok with that. She's very capable in action roles and has a body type that works) and also the casting of Takeshi Kitano as the Chief is fucking spot on. Perfect casting in equivalence of Patrick Stewart as Prof X.

Ghost in the Shell is a great anime to bring into Hollywood. The series (Stand Alone Complex) works on a level as a procedural police drama, regardless of cyborgs, underlying messages and the standard anime tropes, it is simply a well done cop show a la Law and Order, CSI or NYPD Blue.

Back to casting, I was hoping for Ron Perlman to land the role of Batou, which sadly he did not. I'm willing to give Pilou Asbæk a chance but I don't get the initial father like relationship feel from him partnered with Johansson, he seems a little a green and the older and much more seasoned Perlman I feel would have nailed it, but I can take that in stride.

As long it doesn't have a completely trash screenplay, I feel like this is gonna be a solid movie that can and hopefully will set the tone for more film studios to have faith in anime adaptations.

But that's just my 2 cents.

And we have no one to blame but ourselves...

Here's the rub, kids:

It's not what Trump wants to do in office that makes my blood run cold. It's not his lack of knowledge of politics or foreign policy that has me worried. It's not even his blatant misogyny and racism that trouble me.

There are pockets of supporters of Trump, large numbers even as proven by voter turnout, that are albeists, that are close minded misogynists, that are even outright bigots. There have been chants heard at Trump rallys to the tune of, "WE HATE MUSLIMS, GAYS, AND BLACKS, GIVE US OUR AMERICA BACK!"

These malignant tumors on the American population exists in large numbers and the disgusting platform Trump has run on has made them brazen, given them a leader, and a misguided sense of power and now entitlement with his subsequent win.

I have friends that voted Trump and I'm not gonna begin unfriending or arguing, but know that sentiment is what you backed. That it's ok to treat others as if their basic existence makes them lower than you. That sentiment, that idea, the thought that it is acceptable to treat anyone like less of a human being based on how they were born, that is the source of mine and many others fears.

For the last 8 years we as a people have been trying to fight for progressive change and just like that we have come to a full halt and slammed into reverse. We now are on the cusp of having a president that believes climate change was created by the Chinese. A man that has 76 open lawsuits filed against him as well as being accused of RAPING A MINOR (yet everyone of his supporters are SO QUICK to call Hillary a criminal), a man who plans on making America great yet his own business are majorly outsourced to other countries. A man who openly has put down the handicapped, woman, and a countless number of other races and creeds.

This is what you are supporting, and this is what I am fearing. A group of ignorant volatile bigots finding a common leader to help throw our society back into an age of despair.

As the rest of the world laughs at us, all I can do is remind us all is that we have no one to blame but ourselves.