I saw Ghostbusters today. In an alternate, sane universe the experience wouldn’t have been very special. I gave this remake three stars. It was fun and entertaining but typical of Paul Feig’s filmmaking style; his comedies would be even better if he made them snappier by cutting jokes that don’t work very well. All his films are bloated but have great stuff in them, and one of his virtues is finding good roles for women. None of this is controversial were it not for an army of online male trolls who for some mysterious reason declared war on this project the minute it was announced because women were to play the new ghostbusters.
The first time I read about this controversy I had to check my calendar to see if we had time-traveled back to the 19th century. But apparently we haven’t. And the whole thing grew out of control. The trolls have stubbornly tried to make this controversy about everything else, the problem with remakes, the trailers don’t look funny, whatever, but none of that bullshit holds up. These people hated the new Ghostbusters long before cameras actually started rolling. And I saw the trailers. They were no better or worse than many other comedy trailers in recent years. There is no valid reason to say “I have finally had enough of all these remakes” based on this very example. In the clip above, Internet critic James Rolfe explains why he won’t see the new Ghostbusters… and every reason he has rings hollow.
I don’t know if Rolfe in particular has a problem with women. But after reading endless comments about the film on IMDb and watching how concerted efforts have been made to manipulate user ratings, it’s pretty clear that it’s the women that have the trolls up in arms. The worst part of it? The barrage of racist and sexist shit thrown at Leslie Jones on Twitter, a scandal that made Jones leave the microblog a few days ago. That finally made Twitter react, and several accounts were suspended for having participated in the attacks on Jones, most famously that of British right-wing blogger Milos Yiannopoulos. He was furious over the ban, saying according to The Guardian that Twitter had become a “no-go zone for conservatives”. Hardly flattering for conservatives having their political brand compared to online bullying by one of their own, as a positive thing…?
Personally, I believe being a fanboy should be something you’re proud of. In the olden days, when I was a kid, being a fanboy meant that you were a nerd who couldn’t get girls because they found you too nerdy, not one of the cool guys. But you were passionate about something. These days, after Gamergate and the Ghostbusters controversy, being a fanboy means you’re a misogynistic shit who, much like a Trump voter, doesn’t understand that the world changes. Is that a good thing? Hell, no.
By the way, the clip starting this blog entry has Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig engaging in more sacrilegious activities, performing a hilarious folk version of Ray Parker, Jr:s classic theme song on The Graham Norton Show.