Alright, buckle up, it’s time to talk about Ghostbusters.
Depending on whom you ask, the new Ghostbusters is:
- bad because it has lotsa women in it
- bad because it’s not very funny
- bad because it’s a remake of a well-loved ’80s movie
- actually just a perfectly decent comedy movie
(all of these opinions were held months before the movie came out)
I actually liked the movie, because it made me laugh. It’s probably one of the better remakes I’ve seen in the last few years. That’s all it needed to be, that’s all it ought to have been. But, because of its unfunny jokes (and not because of the women, honest) it created a firestorm of controversy MONTHS before its release. Perhaps I should just frequent more pleasant corners of the internet, but to me it seems that Ghostbusters will end up being the most controversial movie of the year. UGH.
What was the most controversial movie in 2015? Straight Outta Compton maybe? What about the year before? American Sniper? Agree with them or not, these were politically-charged movies that were angry and were trying to say something about American life. Then there’s The Interview, which is hardly Dr Strangelove, but for a while it really did kind of sort of feel like it would start a war. Seeing these movies made me feel like I was taking part in history. As stupid and wanky as this sounds, seeing The Interview gave me a swell of pride. Here I was, using my money to cast my vote in favor of free speech, and in opposition of censorship. Aren’t I great? Conversely, watching American Sniper made me feel kind of uncomfortable, like I was, in a small way, contributing to its weird pro-gun pro-war narrative.
But enough about serious movies. Back to Ghostbusters.
I just don’t understand how this movie (A MOVIE WHERE CHRIS HEMSWORTH HAS A DOG CALLED “MIKE HAT”, FOR FUCK SAKE) became such a beacon for controversy. This movie inspired think-pieces, hate-mail, harassment, and protests! PROTESTS! HOW EMBARRASSING!
I mean, if all the man-baby weirdos had just moved on, the movie might have come and gone, and been forgotten in two weeks, like every other remake. But instead, their intense, bile-spewing hatred caused the movie to mutate into a fist-pumping feminist extravaganza. Seeing the movie became a political statement: “I support women in the supernatural workplace!”
If you like the movie, great. If you don’t like the movie, also great. If you think the marketing was bad, I certainly can’t fault you there. We may never convince each other to change our minds. But can we all agree that we blew this way out of proportion? I am more than aware that I am contributing to the problem by writing this. Therefore, I promise that I will never mention Ghostbusters (2016) again if we can all agree now that we’ve been very silly. We’ve been pouring petrol on this fucking movie for months and it needs to stop. We need to relax, and find a movie that is worthy of the word “controversial”. A tough-to-watch racial drama. An expose about child molestation in the Church. Not a goofy movie about women battling cartoons.
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