Your thoughts on rebooting Ghostbusters with a female cast

[Ban my account ffs!]

Kind of a stupid idea.  There's nothing wrong with casting women to play prominent and traditionally male roles...

But rebooting ghostbusters was dumb, period.  It is a product of the 80s and the attitudes of that time.  Things are so stylistically and societally different that no ghostbusters remake was gonna be any good.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Ghostbusters is dumb as it is. I won't see the new version nor will I watch the old one again.

Yeah, I finally saw the original version a couple weeks ago when it was on TV.  I wasn't impressed and I didn't understand all the hype for it when it was over.

I found it was all right, got a few good laughs out of it, but didn't understand all the hype either. Eighties kids are weird.

[FairBol]

Ugh.  I'm all for the whole "women can do anything" argument, but gag me with a wooden spoon. 

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I'm sick of constant remakes of movies that don't need them to try to turn a cheap buck. Tacking on a hamfisted girl power message didn't really help this one. That the trailer looked godawful and the studio reacted to the criticism by complaining about TEH MISOGYNEEZ didn't help.

[Antonio the Sixth]

     I'm sick of constant remakes of movies that don't need them to try to turn a cheap buck. Tacking on a hamfisted girl power message didn't really help this one. That the trailer looked godawful and the studio reacted to the criticism by complaining about TEH MISOGYNEEZ didn't help.

I saw the trailer, and it seemed perfectly fine. I don't see any other explanation for the massive knee-jerk reaction it's got.

Anyway, the movie's out in France this week, so I'm gonna watch it and see what I think of the movie.

[RaphaelDLG]

I've only seen like a third of the original ghostbusters on TV when I was 5, so I went in with no appreciation for the franchise/nostalgia and found it to be good but not great - 3/4 stars.

Kate McKinnon was a big highlight, even though she wasn't given much to do.

I don't really give a sh**t about the cast being all female and think the MRA outrage to the casting is obnoxious/unwarranted, but I have to admit I probably find male characters easier to relate to.  The story was generic but serviceable, there were some laughs but not quite enough compared to other great comedies I've seen in the past few years.

I agree with the people in this thread that the single biggest problem with the film industry is the reliance on established franchises and sequels/reboots. 

The result, as has actually been documented, is that (based on reviews and cinemascores) the quality of major blockbusters has been going down in the past few decades as the number of sequels has gone up.  This is because, if something is part of a beloved franchise, we go and see it, regardless of how good word of mouth is.

The only way we can stop this cynical behavior on the part of movie studios and get back to quality filmmaking is by... not going to see sequels/franchises.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I'm sick of constant remakes of movies that don't need them to try to turn a cheap buck. Tacking on a hamfisted girl power message didn't really help this one. That the trailer looked godawful and the studio reacted to the criticism by complaining about TEH MISOGYNEEZ didn't help.

I saw the trailer, and it seemed perfectly fine. I don't see any other explanation for the massive knee-jerk reaction it's got.

Anyway, the movie's out in France this week, so I'm gonna watch it and see what I think of the movie.

     The trailer was rather unfunny despite branding itself as a comedy. I do recognize this is a matter of taste, but most people I spoke to and whose opinions I read thought the trailer looked like garbage.

     Not to mention other recent movies with prominent female roles and not getting any backlash. The new Star Wars movie had good reaction to its trailer. Sure you got some conspiracy theorists freaking out, but they were a tiny minority.

[Figueira]

The movie itself might be bad (I haven't seen it) but the idea is a good one.

Edit: to be clear, I don't actually think rebooting Ghostbusters itself is a good idea (I hated Ghostbusters) but more women in movies is always good.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I thought it worked out; I enjoyed the movie and the cast, especially Kate McKinnon.

[Slow Learner]

I liked it, I thought it was funny.

[Antonio the Sixth]

...are akin to my thoughts on rebooting Teletubbies with an all-female cast. Find something to care about other than vapid media culture created for indolent children.

Oh come on. That's horridly snobbish.

[Joe Republic]

^ You must be a riot at parties.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

I think it was C.S. Lewis who said that a children's book that only children can enjoy is not a very good children's book.

[Slow Learner]

^ You must be a riot at parties.

Yeah wtf.

[Antonio the Sixth]

...are akin to my thoughts on rebooting Teletubbies with an all-female cast. Find something to care about other than vapid media culture created for indolent children.

Oh come on. That's horridly snobbish.

Would refusing to eat pounds of candy in one sitting make me a food snob?

Very few major movie releases, as of 2016, are worth any thinking person's time, and I have read and heard enough commentary on this one to know that Ghostbusters is not an exception.

Obviously, I'll take (very mildly) feminist vapidity over sexist vapidity, but it's a bit like the choice between soda and diet soda. One is clearly better than the other, but why choose either when you have access to a multitude of alternatives that are not harmful garbage?

Moreover, most commentary - including even much of the most compelling critical commentary - fails to recognize that this is, at its core, a children's movie. This is true, by the way, of most major movie releases as of 2016 other than straight drama and highly sexual comedies. If you're a literate adult who usually watches movies without children, I'm not sure why you should be watching this.

I'm confused, is this post supposed to refute the accusation of snobbishness? Because referring to yourself as a "thinking person" in contrast to the vast majority of people is the dictionary definition of snobbishness.

Guess what? Even a "thinking person" can enjoy a little mindless entertainment every once in a while. Sometimes that's just what we need to have a good time. Not everything we ever do in our lives has to foster our intellectual development. If high-brow, thought-provoking works are the only kinds of works you enjoy, then I'm sorry for you, sincerely, because I realize it must be hard to put up with everything pop culture produces. That doesn't give you the right to blame it on those of us who are able to enjoy both.

Christ dude, you know I think you're one of the best posters on here and you're clearly a very intelligent person, but a little humility really wouldn't hurt you.

[RFayette]

Did Richard Hofstader hack into Averroes's account or something?  Wow...

I am not really a Ghostbusters fan so I don't really know how to respond about that specific show, but as a veritable Fairly Oddparents fan to this day, I don't see the problem of enjoying kids shows.  Also, aren't movies just for fun?  I generally don't want to be thinking hard while watching; I just come along for the ride.  Apparently that makes me "illiterate" but that's OK I guess. 

[Goldwater]

The world that Averroës apparently wants sounds incredibly boring and humorless.

[Slow Learner]

^ You must be a riot at parties.

Yeah wtf.

Don't blame me if you're sensitive about your preoccupation with disposable pop culture that can't even be defended on its own terms. Blame yourself.

Um, okay then?

[Slow Learner]

Did Richard Hofstader hack into Averroes's account or something?  Wow...

I am not really a Ghostbusters fan so I don't really know how to respond about that specific show, but as a veritable Fairly Oddparents fan to this day, I don't see the problem of enjoying kids shows.  Also, aren't movies just for fun?  I generally don't want to be thinking hard while watching; I just come along for the ride.  Apparently that makes me "illiterate" but that's OK I guess. 

There is also the fact that, yes, a lot of 'children's media' can in and of itself carry strong underlying themes or at the very least good messages.

[Oakvale]

The reaction to Nix's posts here reminds me of when outraged fans worldwide were horrified to learn via the inclusion of Jar Jar Binks that Star Wars are children's films.

[Hammy]

The movie itself might be bad (I haven't seen it) but the idea is a good one.

Edit: to be clear, I don't actually think rebooting Ghostbusters itself is a good idea (I hated Ghostbusters) but more women in movies is always good.

Pretty much agree with this (though I'm indifferent to the original). At least they're giving it a different spin (female vs male cast) rather than most reboots which are just carbon-copies of the original.