I Ain't Afraid Of No Gender-Specific Social Tropes

[ladysprite]

So. Ghostbusters 2016. It's a thing. A kerfluffle, maybe even. It's also, in every possible way, pretty darn amazing.

Is it the best movie ever made? Nah, it'll take a lot to reach that bar. Was it perfect? No; it still has room to grow. But neither was the original Ghostbusters, and I still love the hell out of that one. And the existence of this version doesn't erase that one; nor does it ruin it or spoil it or do much of anything to it except complicate Google searches for it.

What it *does* do, though is finally fix the situation of not ever seeing a character or characters I can identify with in movies. I have lost count of the number of times I've come out of a theater after watching an otherwise-awesome movie with umbran, wondering aloud why they couldn't have made ONE of the background/second-tier scientist characters female. This? This was an entire movie of smart girls being smart at each other. Eating pizza and goofing and being excited about learning things and showing off their niches without kicking other people for their lack of expertise in that area and not once bringing up 'when are you going to have kids?' or training a man who will ultimately do their job for them.

And it's funny, and it's cool, and it's GOOD. It's good enough that I kind of want to go see it again.

Oh - and to everyone who's Just Seriously Concerned About Remakes, and wants to know why it couldn't just be a sequel? Because having it be a sequel would erase most of that legitimacy. In this story, the women are self-made. They learn and discover and invent and become entrepreneurs on their own merit. In a sequel, they wouldn't *earn* their positions - their roles as ghostbusters, and their legitimacy, would be handed to them my guys who did it first, no matter how smart or talented they were. This story - where they blaze trails and succeed on their own merits - is a better story right now.

These are the characters I've been wanting since I started watching movies. I can only hope there are more to come....

Comments

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I am glad this movie has been made with these characters.

I enjoyed Ghostbusters, but I dread watching it again. I remember too much of the sexism that was in it, and I'm afraid I'll see far more now on a re-watch.

I don't know if I'll see this one, though. Not because I in anyway object to the re-make, but because I see maybe one movie a year -- and it is usually something that is available on a long flight.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'll see this one, though. Not because I in anyway object to the re-make, but because I see maybe one movie a year -- and it is usually something that is available on a long flight.

That's pretty much the way I feel. Besides, Monster Alice isn't interested, and I don't like going to comedies alone...

I'm glad it was made and that it was good and you liked it, though!

[arachne8x.livejournal.com]

I loved it for the same reasons and will definitely go see it again.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Another point I've seen made is that there were NO FAT JOKES and no sexual fetishization of women eating. Not. Once.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

And the existence of this version doesn't erase that one; nor does it ruin it or spoil it or do much of anything to it except complicate Google searches for it.

SO MUCH WORD. All the people carrying on as if this version overwrites the original... sigh. Honeslty, all the hatred has gotten me down a bit -- people flamed Leslie Jones off Twitter, they even went through Amazon down voting all the TOYS -- so this commendable, accurate post is a good reminder to concentrate on the love.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Well, now, maybe I'll have to see it. It'd be weird though - I've missed Star Wars, the latest Captain America, and I just realized I have several Spider-man on Netflix, and was there an X-Men I've missed?

But this might still be worth finding the time to see.

[mamatiger.livejournal.com]

You haven't missed much with the latest X-Men from what I've read. However Star Trek Beyond doesn't suck, although there are more than a couple giant plot holes. Which is par for the course for Star Trek so, there is that. Next up: Doctor Strange!

[mamatiger.livejournal.com]

The only thing I worried about was the badly done first trailer which *appeared* to make Leslie Jones' character seem like a racist caricature? But none of the reviews seem to single that out as a criticism. (Although why the WOC couldn't be a scientist, and a white girl be the "expert on the city", I don't know.)

If you want to read a splendid take down of the girl-bashers, look no further than John Scalzi:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2016/07/17/a-short-review-of-ghostbusters-and-a-longer-pummel-of-manboys/

"BUT THEY’VE RUINED MY CHILDHOOD BY BEING WOMEN, wails a certain, entitled subset of male nerd on the Internet. Well, good, you pathetic little shitballs. If your entire childhood can be irrevocably destroyed by four women with proton packs, your childhood clearly sucked and it needs to go up in hearty, crackling flames."

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

"BUT THEY’VE RUINED MY CHILDHOOD..."

My observation on people like this is, "I've noticed. You're acting like a child."