For those of you who are maybe not as informed on the latest buzz within the entertainment industry, the brand new rendition of Ghostbusters, brought to you courtesy of Paul Feig, the man behind the comedy films, The Heat and Spy, has received quite the heavy backlash recently. Why you may ask? Well, simply because the four protagonists of the film happen to be women, which seems really ironic considering that many films like Kill Bill, The Hunger Games, and Aliens which all feature strong female dynamic characters have garnished an immense following from both men and women alike. To be quite honest, when I read about the comments that some haters have claimed like “‘This is ruining my childhood!’”, I almost burst out into laughter. Whoever the person was that said it clearly had a rough life growing up or is threatened by female empowerment, which someone shouldn’t be so afraid of. Empowerment is something that is prevalent in both genders and while there are various degrees and forms of empowerment that are demonstrated by both men and women, it should not matter which gender boasts the most ruggedness, for having strength is a quality that every person should have. However, I think Kristen Wiig phrased her response to that remark during an interview with the New York Times for the article, “Who’s Afraid of Female ‘Ghostbusters’?” when she said, “ ‘They need to probably go to therapy’”, (Itzkoff 1). Yes, I will definitely second that reply, for that person most certainly needs to go to therapy if he or she believes that a film lead by females which is a remake of a film that was originally lead by males is a destruction to their childhood. The other issue is that this person is probably a close minded individual who wants America to return to the 1950’s in terms of how men and women contribute to society. However, the fact that these four women continue to fight for equality within Hollywood and are not fazed by all the hostility that they have seen, just shows that hate can only do damage if people buy into the comments and no longer speak out and stand up for justice. Melissa McCarthy, who was also present during the same interview commented that, “ ‘There’s one nut on every corner in every city that does it. But so what? The other 300,000 people in a town aren’t doing that’”, (Itzkoff 1). Thus, unlike what the media feeds us daily, there are far fewer extremist individuals than we think there are. Since the media likes to showcase all of the whiny, enraged, terrified, or idiotic people that make statements that are controversial for the sake of attention, you have to remember that these people are far from being rational and do not properly represent the majority of the American people of the contemporary age who are ready to live in a nation where both sexes are equal and who are capable of judging movies based off the quality of storytelling, direction, acting chops, especially from the leading actors and or actresses, as well as emotional poignancy rather than by the fact that the film is led by one of the sexes. In fact, most of the people you will meet will hopefully be able to discuss a heated topic and not resort to insulting or belittling you or reciting stupid and ignorant comments. The reality is that the media likes to feed our negative emotions and thoughts, which is why it projects those who are off-kilter and deranged as being greater in number to begin with. However, unlike these psychotic individuals, I, along with many people, especially those who are part of the younger generations that are known for their tolerance and acceptance of differences, are excited to see this brand new film and what it has in store and are open to the idea of recreating a film that originally featured male leads and replacing them with female leads. Many people from my generation, including myself, as well as several individuals from the generations that came both before and after me, wish to give this film a chance and offer critique based off the presentation and not rely on our gender biases to formulate our opinions.
Itzkoff, David. “Who’s Afraid of Female ‘Ghostbusters’?”. The New York Times. Online. Web. 21 June 2016. 23 June 2016. www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/movies/whos-afraid-of-female-ghostbusters.html?_r=0
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