Caught this op-ed earlier today and really think it gets to the heart of the relentless Ghostbusters hate train in a pretty great way. Some choice quotes:
It's kinda obvious at points, but it's needed in the oddly intense Internet debate surrounding the new Ghostbusters. Here's a link.
This ideathat its good taste and faithful fandom, not sexism, that fuels backlash against an unreleased, as-yet-unseen movie based on nothing more than a trailerhas been capably refuted elsewhere. What interests me about Rolfes response is the way it reflects modern fan culture, and what might be dubbed the fanification of everything. The simultaneous rise of comic-book movies and the internet has certainly brought a fair amount of formerly nerdy pursuits into the mainstream. But while its beloved by plenty of nerds, and has plenty of Dan Aykroyd-penned mythology in its genesis and background details, Ghostbusters has never been a particularly niche interest.
Still, I cant insist that everyone ought to go see a remake of Ghostbusters, because most people see maybe five movies a year in the theaters. If my movie diet was that strict, a new version of Ghostbusters wouldnt be a priority for me, either. But Rolfes video is striking because of its central presumption that he deserves to want to see itthat the movie is letting him down by not following his preferred template for a new Ghostbusters movie, which would be, as he describes, a proper Ghostbusters III where the remaining cast members return and hand things off to a new generation
Yet because of fan-friendly successes like the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars: The Force Awakens, fan service has gotten almost too good of a rap as it has worked its way into mainstream film, often with considerable skill. In this context, its understandable that some fans of another Disney franchise-in-waiting, the wonderful animated movie Frozen, took to the internet to request that unattached princess character Elsa (whose journey in the film has ample coming-out subtext) be given a girlfriend in the forthcoming sequel. More broadly, though, the idea that hashtags, even progressive and non-sexist ones, might determine plot points of movies is a little chilling.
But loving a piece of art or pop culture shouldnt be about constantly looking backward, or placing all of your hopes and dreams in the preservation of a particular vision. Ghostbusters doesnt need to stay a virtually all-male Ivan Reitman filmor rather, it does stay that way no matter what else happens, because the 1984 movie is still around. Frozen doesnt need a sequel that turns its heartening subtext into literal-minded canon to become a truly meaningful piece of artbut at the same time, if it happens to get one, the original movie will still be there as a standalone piece.
It's kinda obvious at points, but it's needed in the oddly intense Internet debate surrounding the new Ghostbusters. Here's a link.