Maybe It’s Time to Let the Ghostbusters Die
Just stop bringing back the Ghostbusters already.
So we’re getting a happy medium on this new Ghostbusters movie. According to Comicbook.com, it will feature teens: two boys and two girls. Okay, but what if we just stopped redoing Ghostbusters? I personally loved Paul Feig’s take on the classic, especially with odes to the original four (including a bust of Harold Ramis).
Obviously, people were mad because the movie somehow ruined the childhood of men even though they could go watch the Bill Murray/Dan Akroyd/Harold Ramis/Ernie Hudson movie whenever they wanted. So, the backlash was so great that we got one movie from the female Ghostbusters and then nothing else.
For me, I thought, “Well, it was fun while it lasted, but now we have three wonderful Ghostbuster movies to watch whenever we feel a little spooky.”
And then Jason Reitman said, “Hold my beer.”
Look, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued. Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman’s father, was the man who directed the original franchise, and if the rumor is true and the movie will follow two boys and two girls, it’s the happy medium of the two different Ghostbusters crews.
All that being said, there are other movies we can be making. Yes, I love the Ghostbusters movies. I remember watching them as a kid and loving Egon. I wanted to dress up like Kristen Wiig’s Erin Gilbert after I saw the 2016 Ghostbusters. When I saw the fire station in New York city that has the logo on it, I screamed and promptly made my friend take multiple pictures of me in the rain.
But I could also do without another movie. All you have to do is purchase Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, and then you got it! It’s just that you can make this movie under any other name and it’ll work fine, but you put the name Ghostbusters on it, and suddenly every man who ever watched the movie as a kid is going to crawl out of his mom’s basement and cry because girls can’t fight ghosts, even if they have boys helping them.
Slimer has had his time. He lived a good life and he terrorized our screens. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man became an icon, we all were the key master, and we questioned everything we’ve ever known when we watched Kate McKinnon lick her gun. So do we really need to go back and watch another Ghostbusters movie with teenage leads? Probably not. Am I going to watch it and love it? Probably.
Here’s the thing: They’re all great movies, but original content also isn’t dead. I trust Jason Reitman, I know myself and that I’ll love it, but also, can we just make a movie that hasn’t been done before? Please? For my sanity?
(image: Columbia Pictures)
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