Who Ya Gonna Call?

[Erik Setzer]

Ouch! My penis!

The great thing about the Internet is that these folks might not believe in what they're doing, or might not even have a penis, but we can throw all men under the bus and point to this kind of stuff as "proof" that anyone who doesn't say GB cures cancer is incredibly sexist and anti-women, even if the people criticizing it are women or the people criticizing GB have stated their interest in other movies with female casts.

THAT is why this movie sucks. Not even because of the movie itself, where the critics are saying, "Eh, it didn't give us cancer, so... okay." It's because of the stupid narrative around it, which Feig wanted to push as hard as he could to get more publicity for his movie. It's created a whirlpool of stupid on the Internet, from all sides. Can't have an honest discussion of the movie because the narrative's set that either you love it unquestioningly, or you're some kind of anti-women sexist pig.

And this kind of stuff, shown above? Considering that I've seen people do this stunt to help "their side" before (and it's happened on the Internet with this kind of stuff, too), I don't believe it. Anyone with any intelligence knows not to point to that stuff like it's evidence of anything, but sadly the Internet is full of people lacking intelligence, which is why that kind of nonsense continues to happen. Why not put on a fake name and claim a different gender even online? If you can fake people into supporting your side, go for it!

I'd say politics made me cynical, but this is a lesson I learned on the Internet 20 years ago, before I dealt with politics. (The political stuff, though, did teach me a lot.) Two decades ago, people were posting as fake people to stir up trouble. So I don't believe this kind of stuff for a minute, especially if it fits the movie's narrative.

Speaking of which... negative points to the movie for actually including references to that stuff in the movie. WTF? They actually rewrote parts of the script to take shots. That's just stupid, for any movie.

[Erik Setzer]

Hey, what do you know, my cynicism was right... It was a trolling post.

[url]https://www.reddit.com/r/moviescirclejerk/comments/4sdx9y/tfw_youre_the_posterchild_for_reddits_misogynist/[/url]

Media latched onto it quickly, and everyone spread it as "proof" of the haters and what they'll do, and it was just a troll all along who may or may not have a penis (seems to be they don't, but hey, it's hard to know for certain on the Internet, but it's hardly relevant). Point is, people fell for a troll, and passed off something fake as if it's real, and spread rumors of some kind of conspiracy that wasn't happening. Of course, now the defense will be, "Yeah, but it *could* be happening, and uh... yeah." Or some other lame excuse.

And that's just how stupid that whole argument has gotten. People so eager to defend their side they'll jump on anything.



On a more positive topic, someone asked on the GB Reddit, "How would you have done this movie with the same (2016) cast?" Here's my response:

1. Set it in a different town, establishing that they're a franchise of the original Ghostbusters (dropping a hint of other teams, to allow for more movies, TV shows, comics, whatever, giving more space for more stories and, from a business perspective, more money to be made).
2. Create a different threat. Could approach it as something major in a world that's gotten used to minor ghosts. Or even maybe suggest that the ghosts have "gone quiet," which leads people to think there weren't any, which invites skeptics to question the GBs, but also sets up the back story for the main threat (like maybe a major spirit is "sucking in" all the lesser spirits to power itself).
3. Avoid any kind of social or political commentary. Just don't bother.
4. Pace the humor and serious bits. Overall semi-serious tone with jokes dropped in where appropriate.
5. Let Kate McKinnon's character be a lesbian and roll with it. No big deal made of it. If she has fun being herself on screen, write it in, don't mention it unless asked, and when asked, don't run from the question. It could add some more humor (while being careful not to be insensitive, but you'd trust she would say something if it was), and would be just an extra layer to the story that's just kind of "there," without being a "big deal."
6. If any of the original cast were interested in cameos, let them provide a mentor role or moral support, or maybe have a scene where they're talking about their team's history on TV, or being interviewed about the lack of ghosts and "Are GBs really necessary?"
7. Don't give in to the temptation to make jokes based on McCarthy's body or Jones' skin color. Too easy, and also insensitive (if not to them personally, then to other people who might be bothered by it).
8. Let the supporting cast be multidimensional.

Thinking about it, it could work so well, and could have been something at least pretty decent, and not had to worry about being compared to the original too much, because it wouldn't be an attempt to replace, but rather carrying on the legacy into the future.

I'm not exactly a McCarthy fan, or Jones fan (just because she feels like a terrible stereotype, even if she chooses to be that stereotype), but I don't think their presence would ruin a movie if it had a good script and utilized them well. Granted, that *might* take them a little out of their comfort zone, but heck, actors do that all the time and use it as a chance to grow.

The creative type in me kind of wants to slap together a rough outline of what I'd have done with the story, using the main cast in the movie. Could be a fun exercise.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Pretty fair review of the movie IMO. Might look into seeing it some time.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I think I'm more curious about them doing a more original storyline and sequel with the same cast, I think ill find the movie "alright" personally.

[Rissan4ever]

I saw it this evening, and I LOVED IT! I laughed so hard, my friend had to cover his eyes.*





*You'll get this after you see the movie.

[eldargal]

Everyone I know, including die hard fans of the originals, who has seen it has loved it, with some saying it is better than the originals. Hopefully taking my little cousins to see it tomorrow. Or possibly tonight.

[Gotthammer]

When ur gay and someone asks u about Chris Hemsworth for the 80th time

[eldargal]

Lol.

[Erik Setzer]

So many sexists out there, like these guys.





I mean, never mind that in both cases they said they liked previous Feig movies (the one guy even has one or two showing in his movie collection) and all. Nope. They're critical, so they're sexist.

Like this horrible sexist here, who clearly hates women:
(Mild spoiler warning on this one, in case you plan on seeing the movie and haven't.)



Even she pointed out the issue with the way the movie treats men... which is something that would be (rightfully) bashed if the genders were reversed, but here people seem to think it's okay?!?

[eldargal]

Oh give it up. Only a moron can try and deny the majority of criticism BEFORE the film was even out was misogynist, no one is saying everyone who genuinely dislikes it ONCE THEY HAVE SEEN IT is sexist. A huge percentage of IMDB reviews from US IPs before the film was released were giving it 1 star, there is a clear, measurable gender divide in the reviews, it is simply insupportable to argue there is not a strong misogynist element to the treatment of this film.

Even she pointed out the issue with the way the movie treats men... which is something that would be (rightfully) bashed if the genders were reversed,

Gosh, it's almost like by reversing the misogynist status quo they are highlighting how ridiculous it is! If only there was some kind of word to describe that kind of humour... Love the implication this doesn't happen to women, like yep when was the last time you saw a dumb blonde stereotype in a film? It must be at least the 1970s.