So, what was originally a day of massive joy has
turned into something a bit funky. The trailer for the Ghostbuster’s reboot has
released, and the initial reaction seems to be mostly negative. Granted, this
is just from looking at Twitter, but as a hip young person ™ I don’t have a lot
of other research venues.
Clearly, these women must be destroyed.
There are issues with the trailer. That’s what the
internet tells me. So as a Ghostbuster’s fan, and an avid hater of reboots, let
me break down the most prevalent issues with the trailer and my thoughts on
them. Spoilers, so take 3 minutes to watch it before you proceed.
The Ghostbusters are women.
This has been the cry since the casting
announcements were made, and the new trailer hasn’t stemmed the flow. First of
all, this is NOT the first time there was a female Ghostbuster:
Janine in the original series
Kylie in Extreme Ghostbusters.
Janine, Kylie, and agent Ortiz from the Ghostbusters comics.
Granted, these are extended universe situations and
characters, but they still count. A long line of proud female Ghostbusters,
just as funny, smart, and good at Bustin’ as the men. Next argument please.
It’s racist.
Okay, HEAR ME OUT. I get that Leslie Jones’s character doesn’t
APPEAR to be a doctor. But you’re all assuming that she’s not; the movie’s not
out, we don’t know for sure.
Second, you assume
she’s uneducated based on the way she speaks. Isn’t that racist?
Third, she’s already way more involved in the trailer
than Winston was for the original movies. She is represented just as much as
the other characters.
Forth; she has a distinct personality outside of ‘the token
Black person.’ She’s funny. She knows a good opportunity when she sees one, and
wants to join up. Courageous. Strong, physically. Strong emotionally. Her
friend gets possessed and instead of falling apart she does what it takes to
solve the problem.
What’s not to love?!
There shouldn’t be a remake.
Yeah, in a perfect world there would be no remakes.
Except The Fly. And The Thing. And Hateful Eight. And Django unchained. And
Star Trek (yes, Star Trek, wanna fight about it?!).
Tell me that's not perfect.
These remakes, like Ghostbusters, are about a fresh
take on the material with new stories to tell. If they were just straight
remaking the old movies I’d be the first one ready to burn down Hollywood. But
this is a new story that clearly respects its source. That’s a great and rare
thing, and needs to be acknowledged.
It’s no good.
This is a toughie.
I thought the trailer was funny. Was it laugh out
loud, fall down, crying funny? No. But it was funny. Did the effects look
perfect? No, but it’s still a work in progress. They looked alright, and the design
work was fantastic. I love the blue
class 4 ghost, and the shot of Slimer was great.
The spud looks good.
Long story short, this was a 2 minute clip. I don’t
think you can judge the whole movie from that. I also think people are being
unusually hard, as it has quite a legacy to live up to. If there was no original
Ghostbusters people would be just as excited about this as any comedy starring
the people it stars. We all just need to give Ghostbusters a chance. Will it be
better than the original? No. But it’s not trying to be. It’s trying to be a
fun movie that respects its source; at that, it will succeed.
