I am notorious for not watching movies. There, I said it. I’ve never seen “The Goonies,” “Forrest Gump” (at least not all the way through), “Avatar” or even “Ghostbusters.”
“Ghostbusters,” being the 1980's classic that it is, stirred up controversy when Sony decided to release a new installment to the franchise in 2016. In addition to the fact that sequels are always hit-or-miss, tensions rose even more among fans because it was revealed that the main ghost-fighting squad would be played by a group of women. Personally, I was ecstatic; I’ve spent years watching older generations idolize Bill Murray and the like for apparently being absolutely hilarious in the original “Ghostbusters.”
I was so ready for people to appreciate my favorite actresses — Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon — in the same way. Sadly, not everyone took so well to the news. Despite the funniest actresses out there appearing in the film, people were quick to assume that it would be a poor sequel simply due to the fact that four women were the stars. Now, I can’t judge “Ghostbusters” (2016) as a sequel to the original because I’ve never seen the original masterpiece. What I can do, however, is speak for the film from my perspective as someone who loves comedy and badass female ghost fighters. Potential spoilers ahead!
My favorite thing about the new “Ghostbusters” is the group of awesome and diverse characters. Of the four main characters, three of them are scientists and the other has almost superhuman knowledge of the subway system in New York, which ends up saving them in the end. This latter character is Patty Tolan, played by Leslie Jones, who has had me in tears from laughing so hard watching her on “Saturday Night Live” countless times over the years. Jones is a black woman, and I can’t tell you how glad I am that she is a lead in an iconic reboot. Hooray for high-quality representation!
Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy’s characters — Dr. Erin Gilbert and Dr. Abby Yates — were best friends since childhood, who eventually wrote a book together (which can actually be found online). Basically, they were both geeky kids who got made fun of, but went on to show everyone that despite it all, they would be smart and successful. That message is extremely important to young girls. There’s plenty of media that shows “nerdy” boys eventually getting rewarded for their suffering, but for girls who get bullied, there’s not nearly as much material. Not to spoil too much, but the villain in the new “Ghostbusters” is a man who had been picked on during his life and then felt entitled to hurt others because of this. When he asks Abby if she thinks that’s fair, she responds that she and her friends had been given the short end of the stick their whole lives, but they never let it manifest into being destructive. They didn’t let hatred get the better of them and went on to become the literal Ghostbusters. Sounds like a good plan to me.
In addition to having some racial diversity, the women all look different and the characters aren’t made up to look conventionally pretty. McCarthy and Jones are bigger women, for example, and throughout the entire film, not one comment is made about their weight, joke or otherwise. Kate McKinnon’s character, Holtzmann — my personal favorite new Ghostbuster — is very “out there,” quirky and a great example of representation in the film. She’s not dressed in a traditionally feminine way and has been confirmed by the director to be gay, even though they didn’t say anything about it directly in the movie. I’m sure McKinnon, who is gay herself, thought that was pretty cool. (Here’s to hoping I get to play Holtzmann’s girlfriend in the sequel -- a girl can dream, right?)
In fact, the only instance when appearance is explicitly focused on in “Ghostbusters” is when Kevin, played by Chris Hemsworth, becomes the squad’s receptionist. Although I hear that the female receptionist from the original film was not portrayed as one-dimensional or ditzy, I love that they played on this still-overdone trope of air-headed blonde women by creating an air-headed blond man to show how ridiculous it looks. Beyond the symbolism of it, Kevin’s character is very funny — at one point, he’s really proud of a graphic design that he made, and when he shows it to the Ghostbusters, it’s literally just the 7-11 logo. Same, Kevin.
Overall, I enjoyed the “Ghostbusters” reboot. Honestly, I think a lot of viewers went into it looking for this mind-blowing, perfect sequel, but what they got instead was a well-done 2016 comedy movie that didn’t try too hard to become a cookie-cutter redo of the original. At least, I don’t think it did, but what can I say? I haven’t seen the 1984 version, after all.
In the end, I was able to see a slightly sci-fi film featuring my four favorite actresses making me laugh and busting ghosts, and I loved it. Plus, it has the Bill Murray seal of approval. Who am I gonna call? Dr. Erin Gilbert, Abby Yates, Jillian Holtzmann and Patty Tolan, of course.
