A lot of people seem to expect that the new Ghostbusters movie is going to suck. I watched the trailers, and it seems like a mixed bag. If the best jokes and moments are in the trailer, then it might be pretty weak. But if the trailer is just a taste, then the movie could be really great.
The above paragraph could have been written about a whole lot of movies, by the way. There are plenty of movies with pretty mediocre trailers. Want to know what is most exciting to me about the new Ghostbusters though? The female cast.
And yes, I’m excited because I like the idea of better representation in Hollywood. But I’m also excited because it’s a fun idea.
The original Ghostbusters was a bunch of dudes from SNL goofing off and pretending to be action scientists. Now it’s a bunch of ladies from SNL goofing off and pretending to be action scientists. So it’s not all that innovative, really. Except that for some reason, when you make a movie with a female cast, it ends up being about “women’s stuff.” This is a movie about slime, ghosts, and pseudoscientific nonsense. It’s not men’s stuff, but it’s also not “women’s stuff.” It’s just stuff. And traditionally, movies about stuff always seem to star men.
Usually, nerds get excited when creators break old boundaries. Game of Thrones is awesome because someone finally decided to take a fantasy series seriously on television. Modern superhero movies are awesome because studios decided to take comic books seriously. Breaking boundaries is inherently nerdy and inherently fun and creative. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but I think most nerds like to see people at least try.
In that spirit, I’m excited to see the new Ghostbusters. Is an all-female cast a gimmick? Well, kind of. Superheroes were a gimmick too, until they conquered the box office so completely. The original Ghostbusters was kind of a gimmick, taking a bunch of goofballs and letting them screw around on screen. Everything is a gimmick, right up until it is copied and becomes the new normal. I like things that are different, things that are new. In that spirit, I’m excited for the new Ghostbusters.
