The “Ghostbusters” reboot released earlier this year received highly polarized feedback. It was considered a commercial disappointment, or a box office bomb, but I consider it a success. It may not have been overly profitable for the production studio, but the amount of influence it’s had should be worthwhile enough.
“Ghostbusters” is a comedy. It’s also an action movie.
Gender didn’t matter in this movie. The Ghostbusters were shown doing crazy, gross, or awesome stunts. It was fantastic to see women doing funny, physical comedy and action scenes because in most films, women don’t get that.
Women don’t get to be the protagonist either. But “Ghostbusters” reverses the typical 4:1 men to women ratio with four Ghostbusters and one male secretary. The women in this are not defined by a relationship to a man, compared to normally being a hero’s sidekick girlfriend or damsel in distress. Women are the heroes in this movie.
But because women are heroes, they don’t always have to be sexualized. None of the Ghostbusters wore anything embarrassingly cringeworthy, and there were no distasteful jokes made about a woman’s appearance. This movie showed women should be confident and embrace their uniqueness.
Now About the Ghostbusters.
Abby is a strong, independent woman involved with her scientist career.
Erin is a genius introvert who created her own success after being fired.
Holtzmann is confident and carefree, in addition to being a crazy engineer.
Patty is supportive and a history buff, something unconventional but equally important.
The women have a wide range of personalities. But all of the Ghostbusters are smart, determined, and fearless. They show little kids that they can be strong, independent, and save themselves too.
They're representation for a new generation.
Representation is important. Children are impressionable and they soak in anything they see like a sponge in our current society of media. Showing little girls they can be anything a boy can be and vice versa is vital so nobody grows up feeling inferior. When diversity isn’t depicted in the media, not all stories are shared. Relating to characters is sometimes how we understand ourselves. Seeing yourself in a hero matters.
“Ghostbusters” shows women as heroes. In a film industry ruled by male superhero movies, seeing unexpected female heroes is refreshing. We were able to see more of the world’s possibilities. Women were shown as brilliant, strong, emotional, forgiving, serious, and more. If I’m a young adult feeling these intense emotions, just imagine what a little girl might think. She can be a Ghostbuster, but really, she can be anything she wants to be.The Future in Film.
"The question isn’t who’s going to let me. It’s who’s going to stop me." -Ayn Ran d
When the Ghostbusters fight the ghosts single-handedly at the end, it gives me chills every time. It shows women can fight. In the media, girls are not portrayed and represented to the extent they should be.
Kate McKinnon said it best when she talked about what Paul Feig helped to create. “His true subversion lies in creating female protagonists who are striving for the universal goals of friendship, connectedness, justice, and personal growth... By building stories around female protagonists who are striving not for romance, but simply to become their best selves, he has permanently changed the game for us all.”
“Ghostbusters” isn’t perfect, but it's a huge leap in the right direction to finally break the glass ceiling.
The Impact.
Director Paul Feig said all they wanted to do was to make a fun movie, and they succeeded. It doesn’t deserve the 5.4 IMDB.com rating. It didn’t deserve the media backlash.
This movie does deserve praise for being refreshingly funny and overwhelmingly inspiring. What spoke volumes was not only seeing the pictures of happy little girls at the premiere but also seeing a little girl with her grandma at my local video store excited to rent the DVD. The message behind the film spoke volumes even if some people had deaf ears.
“Film is incredibly democratic and accessible, it’s probably the best option if you actually want to change the world, not just re-decorate it.” -Banksy
