Pardon me for being a snob, but why are people doing battle over a terrible film? History’s great battles are usually fought for higher reasons in more grand places. Let’s get something straight right away. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing wrong with the casting of actresses in the film. Frankly, in a semi-action/comedy like Ghostbusters, it matters not what you have between your legs. The script is either good or bad, simple as that. Very few people like the script of the new film. Furthermore, the film isn’t a trailblazer, more like a cliché redressing. I hope this isn’t the type of equality actresses were looking for.
The war over Ghostbusters has spread to critical circles as well. Accordingly, they, as well, mostly fall in line with their sex. It has, seemingly, become a War of the Sexes (The Penises vs. The Vaginas) instead of a good movie/bad movie debate. The Hollywood Reporter even falls into the fight:
“Paul Feig’s all-female reboot is a much more timid, less empowering example of big-screen gender reversal than the recent Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates or the upcoming financial thriller Equity.”
However, writer Caryn James fails to recognize the fundamental problem that is the crux of this whole flap. James writes:
“Sweet, stupid and objectified, Kevin is the adorably brainless hunk hired by the new all-female Ghostbusters crew as their receptionist. Hilariously played by Chris Hemsworth, he tries to answer a phone while it’s sitting in a fish tank, removes the lenses from his glasses so he can rub his eyes better, and — sad to say — is the funniest part of Paul Feig’s disappointingly timid reboot.”
“Kevin is a savagely funny send-up, revenge for generations of sexy but incompetent onscreen secretaries played by women.”
Trading Places
Trading one one-dimensional archetype for another isn’t revolutionary, or a show of brilliance. Furthermore, it isn’t even that original. If actresses want equality so they can play in badly written comedies like their male counterparts, more power to them. It isn’t equality. It is stupidity.
Ghostbusters hits theaters this Friday, July 15.
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