This is it. It’s a fluff movie. It’s a bit of fun - a laugh as they say. As a fluff movie, it sounds like it’s not surprisingly great or surprisingly terrible. We are only talking about it because some men got mad about women being in a movie. Those men are trying to one-up that by saying that we are actually talking about it because, apparently, Hollywood has duped us into spending out money to see a film just because of a faux feminist message. But were it not for the complaining men, I strongly doubt anyone would be taking great notice of this film of any feminist importance.
The only reason Ghostbusters is “feminist” is because it stars women. If that is where the bar is currently set, then we need more feminism very badly.
And this is what is so distressing to some posters in the thread. Not that anyone is “forced to like ghostbusters” (a gist that they are “feeling” yet cannot explain) but that persons do plead with them in other areas of their life to support feminism. Not false feminism through capitalism but if they’re going to conflate the two, yes. Persons will defend the movie and its fans from concern driving trollies.
It’s absolutely a stand-in for their undigested fears, and it’s not our fault that there’s a lot of lurking insecurities causing the kneejerk responses we see in pretty much every thread on the movie, which, if they hate the movie without watching, they are also free to sidestep without reading.
This is true, but it’s also because it’s a new Ghostbusters. With a few decades separating us from the movie people saw as kids, it’s grown in some folks’ minds to something really amazing, a defining film of their youth. Following that up with anything is a challenge to begin with, and to create a new movie with the same title that’s gender-flipped – well, for a fluff movie, nobody can say that Sony and Paul Feig don’t have some brass balls. By no means is it perfect, but all credit to them for making a worthwhile film that can stand on its own merits when all’s said and done.
Both those movies featured the lovely Megan Fox.
Part of what the backlash is … these four ghostbusters are NOT Megan Fox. They’re not “traditionally” sexy or beautiful and they are not performing sexually or for the male-gaze. I’ve not seen any of the knee-jerk reviews that spew vitriol actually come out and say this but its there between the lines ;“they’re just not funny” = and they’re not sexy either? OUTRAGE!
I’m not saying nobody has a right to complain about reboots.
But-
Some are confusing how they felt as a child and trying to regain that magic, which will always lead to disappointment regardless…
And some are using that premise to inject highly questionable babyman rhetoric.
Of the people compulsively posting their opinions, the Internet sees the latter self selections to post in these sorts of threads surprisingly common. Usually I think better, but there’s such an interesting/disappointing cultural backlash over this particular topic.
Sure there are plainer “ehhhh reboots” comments. But many still with “I don’t like how I ‘feel’ like I’m being forced to like it!” and clomping on because they feel it gives them a position to war for their preferable view of gender relations.
Totally agreed. And y’know, if I saw that Seth Rogen was making a new E.T. film that seemed like it was the same movie but with “Ellie” befriending E.T., I’d probably have a knee-jerk WAH MY CHILDHOOD! reaction at first, too.
But there’s been a distinct lack of fun cool movies starring women in the last thirty-or-so years. Especially tentpole funny-action films. I’m glad that the new movie isn’t a straight up remake and that it gives a theater full of women something to cheer and laugh for. And hey, I can enjoy it too! That said, I saw it with someone who was angry afterwards that he didn’t feel like he could complain about how much he loathed it because he’d be seen as a misogynist, which says a lot more about how he views his Facebook feed than what’s actually going on in the world, really.
Projection is really such a funny thing about right wing politics, you see so many people complaining about “outrage culture” and “identity politics” while gleefully participating into both.
Oh, I know. Just being silly, really, in the face of a shortage of kick-ass ladies starring in films in the past few decades, Grace Jones in Conan the Destroyer notwithstanding.
By that I don’t mean that these women are not attractive, I mean they are not “performing sexy/attractiveness” - there is no greasy/sweaty midriff bearing back arched motorcycle repair scene. (Because one needs to be sexy while fixing motorcycles, obvy) - and I think for a large swath of people (men and women) the idea that women do not need perform in this way is… confusing.
What? It’s brilliant! It has a masturbating satyr, a moronic dwarf, and a flying lion for no reason.*
Well, okay, it’s terrible.
*fun fact: the movie has a flying lion in it because the poster designer put a flying lion on it; the producer thought it’d make the poster look better. So then they decided to add scenes of a flying lion with laser eyes since it looked cool on the poster.
Ahh in anime terms no fanservice… which can be okay in but also can get into really creepy zone really fast too. And I can happily live without that these days.
Yeah, they’re just people going about doing people things, nothing sexy at all. And THAT is what is bothering a lot of them I think, tho I doubt they’d say it in so many words.
