Since the time the second Ghostbusters came out in 1989, the audience (and studios) have been hankering for a third film. Such was the demand that the franchise spawned two animated series and a plethora of video games. In fact, one was not only written by the creators of the franchise and featured the voice of the original cast, but was also labelled as effectively being the third instalment of the story following the movies.
So why not follow up from then? If the point was to simply cash in on the franchise, it would make most sense to simply continue the series as sequels.
Knowing full well that this reboot would probably tank (why else get Fallout Boy and Missy Elliot to do the theme song?), it’s probable that all in-continuity connections were nixed so that in the event of a flop, the studios could simply green light another Ghostbusters film, brand it Ghostbusters 3 and declare “Hey, nerds, we heard you wanted a proper sequel instead of a reboot with girls, so here it is!! Please watch it and make us money.”
Now, of course, a lot of this hinges on Sony not actually having any faith in a property led by a female cast. After all, the intentions behind it were quite benevolent: Equal rights! Feminism! Other things that sound nice with exclamation marks!
But really, is feminism so shallow a movement that all it takes is to produce a movie that simply gender bends its leads? Sure, having four women in the lead of a sci-fi comedy is pretty damn awesome, but when you replace the geeky, smart-mouthed female receptionist of the original with, well, Thor, and have the femme-busters ogle him, then you know that this isn’t about feminism but simply a gimmick to pander to the audience.
Annie Pott’s Janine Melnitz, while displaying some attraction to Egon (and, later, Louis Tully) is portrayed as a no-nonsense receptionist with a sharp wit that would just as easily tell off a client as she would Pete Venkman. Even despite her attraction to Egon, at no point does she compromise her personality and often labels his intelligence as her favourite feature.
Skipping forward to Ghostbusters 2, her relationship with Louis Tully has progressed from a professional one to that of something more intimate. Tully, like Egon, is an intelligent person (lawyer by profession) keeping Janine’s taste consistent at the very least.
And don’t even get me started on Sigourney Weaver’s Dana Barrett. Had she not been turned into a dog, she’d have taken Gozer on herself if she could.
Instead, in this version, we get:
Admittedly, Wiig’s character does point out that it may make them “look bad,” to which he follows up with making “them bigger.”
Now, sure, sexism exists and it’s real. But I don’t recall the original movie ever requiring a joke hinged on the logo having a penis. Or, for that matter, utilising race for a cheap laugh.
Yeah… Don’t you just love it when a modern day remake decides that being progressive means racist and sexist jokes are the way to go?
In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t actually watched the movie and all of my issues are based off the trailers and TV spots. In fact, I very much want to like this movie (theme music remake aside).
After all, the original Ghostbusters is my favourite movie. And not just in a “haha, it’s really fun, I love it!” kinda way, but in a straight up “of all time!” kinda way.
Yes, I rank Ghostbusters even above the likes of Avengers, Superman, and frikkin’ Empire Strikes Back. So trust me, when I say that I truly want this to be a good movie.
Let’s just hope there’s more to it than the trailers.