“Who you gonna call?”
June 8th was declared “Ghostbusters Day” by the entertainment world. Celebrating the 32nd birthday of this classic movie, Twitter even dedicated a special emoji to it when one tweeted the hashtag “#Ghostbusters”. The cult classic that once took the world by storm has recently been given a breath of fresh air.
Everyone was taken by surprise earlier this year when Sony Pictures announced a remake of the famed Ghostbusters with a little twist: the Ghostbusters are set to be all females. In the 1984 original, four men—including now well-known celebrities such as Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd—starred as the hilarious, audacious crew many of us have come to know and love. However, there was one serious aspect the original lacked; in the first film, there were hardly any women! Now, the reboot is on its way, and all four main members are female. This may lead one to ask, is Ghostbusters attempting to correct the past?
The movie, set to be released on July 15, will have four prominent women as its stars. The crew making up the Ghostbusters has been announced as Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. This fiery cast is sure to elicit laughs from audiences across the world, yet many are questioning the reason for this specific casting. Is this new movie meant to compensate for the lack of women in the original? Will we see more reboots of 80s and 90s originals with new female leads? As Hollywood is duly criticized time and again for non-inclusion, many believe they will change their ways to prevent protests. Hopefully this means the late 2010s will be the years of female actresses gaining the spotlight.
While many strive for change in the movie industry and seeing women in leading roles, the announcement of the new female centric film has aroused much negative feedback. The all-female idea for the reboot came from Paul Feig, the director and avid Ghostbusters fan. In an interview with Yahoo Movies, Feig addressed the backlash on assigning females to the main roles, saying, “I have been hit with some of the worst misogynistic stuff.” He also spoke of the media, claiming, “We still get called, in the press, a ‘chick flick.’” Feig has been forced to defend his decision for females continuously and has never shown any ounce of regret for choosing the cast he did.
In fact, Feig even posted the below picture reiterating his love for the Ghostbusters family, old and new.
I mean, c'mon, how can this picture NOT make you happy? This is an epic group of people. Happy Ghostbusters Day! ??? pic.twitter.com/s5kSvaRZs5
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) June 8, 2016
Hollywood has been known for remakes such as these, usually making them “bigger and badder” than before. As Hollywood has remade so many movies already—Annie, Poltergeist, The Great Gatsby—everyone is kept on their toes about what’s coming next. The new Ghostbusters has a lot riding on it, for it may determine if many more classics get a much needed female update.
Whether the movie is funny or a flop, and whether critics adore it or insanely scrutinize it, everyone must admit that it is nice to see a badass girl four-piece fighting ghosts.
3 cheers to Ellen from all the remarkable women of #Ghostbusters.When we stand together we are unstoppable!#GirlPower pic.twitter.com/fEq7PpD78G
— Melissa McCarthy (@melissamccarthy) August 25, 2015
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