Bustin’ makes me feel good

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If you hate the new Ghostbusters, you’re probably a terrible person

*Something clever, something clever* Who you gonna call? / Kyle Leitch

*Something clever, something clever* Who you gonna call? / Kyle Leitch

The 1980s were a magical time, except for A Flock of Seagulls and the oil glut. There was something about ‘80s pop culture that has withstood the test of time. There was something magical in the air (large traces of cocaine is my bet) that made art, music, and films from that era the rightful subjects of nostalgic pining.

This week off has given me a lot of time to do two of my favourite things: watch ‘80s movies on a near-endless loop and get “Old Man Yells at Cloud” angry on the Internet. When those dual passions of mine marry, you get an article like this.

Recently, it was announced that long-time holdout Bill Murray had given his blessing to a Ghostbusters reboot. The Paul Feig-helmed reboot is already causing quite the stir because of the announcement that the new film would star women. If you listen carefully, you can hear the trolls gathering their torches and pitchforks.

“It’s official. I’m making a new Ghostbusters & writing it with @KatieDippold & yes, it will star hilarious women,” Feig announced on his Twitter account. The backlash was predictably stupid.

Let this be understood: if you are complaining about the new Ghostbusters film because of the announcement that someone with a vagina was starring in it, you are being a misogynistic piece of crap, and you should probably stop speaking.

“But the movie was funny because Bill Murray was horny!” Cram it. “The joke about ‘dickless’ doesn’t work on girls!” Cram it. *Prolonged mouth fart* followed by, “Boys rule, girls drool!” Cram it. All of you are being terrible people.

There have been some fair criticisms of the idea of a new Ghostbusters nearly thirty years after the release of the last film. These vocal minorities typically point to the death of Harold Ramis as a sure sign that God doesn’t want this franchise to be touched. While the creative genius of Ramis is sure to be missed, I think that nostalgia for what was should be replaced—just a little bit—by hope.

These filmmakers that have been rebooting our beloved ‘80s franchises were typically the people who lived through them and grew up with them. All Michael Bay films aside, I think it’s kind of exciting to experience the vision of a filmmaker that was as inspired by these films as we were pay homage with their own projects.

I’ll be the first one to jump on stupid-sounding films before pre-production begins, but I’ll make an exception here. If the casting is bad, let the film be judged on those merits (if, for example, Melissa McCarthy makes two hours’ worth of self-deprecating fat jokes, I’ll just snap). If the film is bad from directing to production assistants, let the film be judged on those merits. But, let it be on those merits alone. Don’t let patriarchy guide your beliefs about a project that, for all we know, could be really okay. An all-female cast is not the equivalent of Stay-Puft nor Vigo trashing New York. The world will keep turning before the premiere of the new Ghostbusters, and it will likely keep turning after.

And, for the Internet Men’s Rights Vigilantes encouraging people to take the red pill: you should really consider updating your film references to prove a point. There’s no need to be doubly stupid, is there?

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